MechWarrior: Living Legends

Hey All! With a successful Betty Contest concluding the month of November with both a German and English submission, we've decided to kick off the month of December with a Billy Contest!

Billy, is the male version of the Battlemech and Vehicle Computers that we will be using for MW:LL. As far as we know, there have been no male versions in MechWarrior, so this will be a first!
Since we have way more males participating in the Mechwarrior universe than females, we expect this one to be BIG and include MANY submissions! Unlike the previous one however, this time we will announce that there WILL be two winners! English and German versions.

The winner(s) will be showcased in the December Newsletter for MW:LL and included into the first release of the mod! As an enticement, winners will be getting Early Version Access when it becomes available (when we pack the mod into something MP playable). Don't worry Betty's, you will get access too.. :)

AS A VOLUNTEER CONTESTANT, BE AWARE THAT WHEN YOU WIN, YOU WILL BE ASKED TO CONTINUE TO PROVIDE YOUR VOICE FOR THE MOD AND BECOME ONE OF THE TEAM MEMBERS!

What you need to do:
(1) Start clearing your throats
(2) Record a line from Mechwarrior Betty's (Bottom of this post) examples
(3) Host the file somewhere or upload it here on the forums
(4) Post link here!

DEADLINE IS THE 31st of DECEMBER!

Recording Format: 44khz, 16bit, Mono
File formats we will accept:
.ogg, .wav, .mp3

Here's an example file my girlfriend did:
http://landrosradick.shackspace.com/Mech/AP-AYT.wav

We'll be providing the "effect" of sounding like a computer, so there's no need to edit the file itself! Just send us the voice sample and we'll modify it and post it back here! Again, PLEASE do not add your own effects to the audio file!

Some tips for recording:
Have a noise canceling microphone (most microphones, including desktop ones provide this these days)
Hold the microphone about 4-6 inches AWAY from the mouth and nostril area, preferably to the side as to not pick up any breathing.
Give it multiple takes (and it's ok to host the file with multiple takes on it) until you or her feel comfortable with the recording.

Example Text:
"Ammunition Level Critical"
"Shutting down"
"Light Amplification Engaged"
"Autopilot Engaged"
"Autopilot Disabled"
"Image Enhancement Engaged"
"Shutdown Sequence initiated"
"Heat Level, Critical"
"Shutdown overridden"
"Enemy Mech Destroyed"
"All Points, attacking your target"
"Heat Level, Critical"
"Satellite link, established"
"Chain fire, engaged"
"Group Fire, engaged"
"All points, report target destroyed"
"Enemy Power up detected"
"Self Destruct sequence initiated"

From the previous Thread:

If you can, have the microphone about 2 inches above your head, and the diaphragm (the receiving part of the microphone) facing your mouth.  If available, you can also provide a pop filter as well. This can be bought anywhere, or you can make one out of a clothes hanger, and womens stockings. 

This filter prevents 'plosives such as the P, sounds, and T sounds. It's preferred that you have a large diaphragm condenser microphone, but usually a small diaphragm dynamic is the cheapest, they are like 20 bucks or something at any electronics store. This is NOT required though and don't let it scare you from recording!

As Landros said, 4-6 inches away from the mic or the easiest way is to take your thumb, and place it at your mouth. Then open your hand away from your face, and thus creating the proper setting for the most sufficient vocal transducense through the microphone.  Be sure to look up a bit, and speak at the mic.  Also it would be preferred you are in a quiet room without much background noise or echo effect. 

We want to try to limit any outside noise or sounds from the recording, as possible.  Seeing how most people aren't in a recording studio (or have the proper acoustic treatments), follow the examples!!  Keep all of the above in mind and you should be able to provide a fairly clear and concise recording of yourself with most household/desktop microphones.

 ;D Alright, i had three tries at this; First one was alright, Second was good, and the Third I think is better, but you're the judges.  ;)

Wolves In Exile,


~Werewolf

Hmm... I sing Tenor- alto (and soprano ::)) Let me try if tenor is good.

Quick submission, thanks Werewolf!

http://landrosradick.shackspace.com/Bruce/Werewolf-Bruce1.mp3
http://landrosradick.shackspace.com/Bruce/Werewolf-Bruce2.mp3
http://landrosradick.shackspace.com/Bruce/Werewolf-Bruce3.mp3

You're very welcome Landros. I think it would be cool to be in a game and then i can brag to my pals at Mechwarrior Leagues (http://www.MechwarriorLeagues.com), lol

Alrighty, I've been playing around with it and ought to have a final submission ready for you by the end of this week.  Waiting for my congestion to let up >:(

What is the deadline on this, good sir?  I didn't see it in the original post.

DOH! Hah, thanks for reminding me! Deadline is the end of this month the 31st.

Hello Guys, here are my Voice Samples. I have create one in German and one in English.

German www.proud-krauts.de/Uploads/TempUploads/PapaX-German.wav (http://www.proud-krauts.de/Uploads/TempUploads/PapaX-German.wav)
Englisch www.proud-krauts.de/Uploads/TempUploads/PapaX-English.wav (http://www.proud-krauts.de/Uploads/TempUploads/PapaX-English.wav)

Wow this thread isn't getting much activity..

come on people! we got 23 days left in the month to get our voices recorded, submitted, modified, and judged. Now get those vocal chords in gear!

~Werewolf

Oops, yeah, I'll have those PapaX mp3's online today

BUMP~~~~~

20 Days and counting

18 days and falling!

Bumpity Bump Bump

15 Days left, get those recordings in fellas.

Hey just so everyone who posted knows Landros Raddick had a family emergency that needed to be dealt with so when things clear up on his side he'll be getting back to everyone with his feedback as soon as possible.

hope all is well.

Intresting, I kinda want to do this.  Checked out the Betty topic and it was pretty cool. Just wondering, where you looking for more mono-tone robotic voices, or something a little more human?  ???

Just like Betty, Billy is supposed to express some kind of "personality". The robotic sound will be engineered into it later on.

Submissions:

PapaX:
http://landrosradick.shackspace.com/Bruce/PapaX-GBruce.mp3 (German)
http://landrosradick.shackspace.com/Bruce/PapaX-EBruce.mp3

Squint:
http://landrosradick.shackspace.com/Bruce/SquintBilly1More.mp3
http://landrosradick.shackspace.com/Bruce/SquintBilly2More.mp3

Cell:
http://landrosradick.shackspace.com/Bruce/Cell-Billy1.mp3

Squint and Cell are two gents from my Armed Assault group ShackTactical.

Im really liking Squint1billymore. keep them coming!

well Squint blew me out of the water, haha. Nice job bro.  8)

 Hello all! Here's my little submission. I tried to do as many different voices as I could (within reason) so you could get an idea of what I can do. I just used a few phrases over and over to save time. There's also a little surprise at the end, just for fun. ;)
 Just one note: the mic I used was just off of my camera, again for time purposes, but I do have access to higher quality mics (have been used for voice recording for CDs). Good luck to everyone and thanks to the Living Legends team!

http://www.mediafire.com/?6zupi2mhvlc (http://www.mediafire.com/?6zupi2mhvlc)

Thanks for the Submission Bird of Prey! Will get it posted tonight when I get back from work.

Here's one from Skuggi over at NBT:

http://landrosradick.shackspace.com/Bruce/Skuggi-Billy1.mp3

Bird of Prey, if you could, record it with the higher quality Mic(s). There's actually quite a bit of noise in your submission and its proving to be a big pain to remove!

 Hmmm... Well, I'll see about doing it tomorrow night, provided we still have power (it's snowing right now). Sorry about the inconvenience.

 Here you are. A bit larger file but that will let you see how good these mics really are. :P If you need the file to be smaller, let me know.
 Turns out that it was a good thing to redo it all anyway. Did several more voices all doing the same six phrases. Should give you a good sampler. Enjoy!

http://www.mediafire.com/?dziadabzbjm (http://www.mediafire.com/?dziadabzbjm)

Hi everyone.  I just thought I'd throw 2 final mixes I through together before the deadline  :-X.

I was going for more of a robotic tone versus a personable tone.  One clip is my normal speaking range and the other is more of a deep extreme range/tone.

I know they aren't THAT different from eachother but the deep mix may be preferable if you are looking for a very monotone robotic voice.

-You can also take note that I recently put together my own recording studio.
-These mixes were all recorded with a professional cardioid condenser microphone, pop filter, audio interface, headphones, etc.
-It was also recorded in a soundbooth that converted my closet into :).  So the acoustics of any recordings sound great.

I have a very flexible range and can definitely add more personality to the voice if requested.  I just kind of went with one style on these mixes.

I uploaded them as mp3 for quick listening.  If you would rather have the wav files let me know and I'll upload them.

Billy Deep Range: http://pantsofninja.com/billy/billy_deep_final_pyr0x.mp3
Billy Normal Range: http://pantsofninja.com/billy/billy_normal_final_pyr0x.mp3

Thanks!

Good job guys!

Here's Bird of Prey's submission:
http://landrosradick.shackspace.com/Bruce/BirdofPrey-BillyShort.mp3
*Note: I removed most of the Voice changes Bird of Prey and did the first three good ones I heard.

Pyr0x's submission:
http://landrosradick.shackspace.com/Bruce/Pyr0x-Billy1.mp3

Excellent quality guys! The condenser microphones definitely helped!

OMG GUYS! I am blown away by these submissions i was getting goosebumps listening to them all!! I honestly was so worried about voice acting because any project i've ever heard voice acting in were just horrid but these are un freaking real....this is going to be WAY harder than I expected to judge!

Contest Over! Winners will be announced in the Newsletter!

Thank you all for your submissions!

Can I add my own? I hope I'm not too late!  ;D
I struggled to make my voice low, try it with an echo, it sounds good!

http://www.filefactory.com/file/d29754/ (http://www.filefactory.com/file/d29754/)

Edit............ - 2 stupid 2 use this Board

Yeah i have won.

Do u need more from me or have u all what u need?

We'll definitely need more, but not at this point as the voice acting will take place at a later development stage.

yeah you had a great voice for it bro! We will definetly need more but at this point we have all we need to get the basic placeholders in which is the most important at this moment.

Criminal, thx for the manual validating of my Account. And thx for the compliment.

PapaX, I sent you an email with a list of new dialogue, did you not get it? If not, do you have an alternate I can send it to?

Landros Radick and I are now doing preliminary directed sessions in Teamspeak, and I'll be sending him higher-quality takes in the near future.

Glad to be on-board!

Wow, I would have liked to have participated in this. I just learned about y'all when Kamikezex posted this at Mechwarrior Leagues Forum:

http://www.mechwarriorleagues.com/cgi-bin/comms/forums/ikonboard.cgi?s=47a633d647a5ffff;act=ST;f=5;t=34263

Anyway, I know all the Mechwarriors at MWL are pumped  about your projects. Would you be interested in participating on MWL Radio "Live" to discuss the release? We could do a planned interview along with Qs from the listening audience. (just a thought)

Here are my Speakfile for the german Billy. Sry thats so late. If u dont like some parts i make it new how long if u like it.

(Link removed but sent to Radick)

Good day Gentlemen,

Simply needed to verify with you guys if it would be too late to help out ??

Let me know, Thanks !

Welcome to the forum Ghorghorbey - not sure if they are still taking examples but never hurts to ask :)

Thanks!

Well i will send in a demo to see we never know. Appreciate it !

Sorry Gents, the Billy contest is closed.