Giving Cassidy a voice.

Dravean

Dravean

Where'd That 6th Toe Come From?
Alright, since Cassidy is getting a sweet new talking head, the dude deserves to get some proper voice acting.

Since I've had previous experience with acting/voice acting, and since I got a semi-professional recording studio in my home (which I got due to my role as a voice actor in another mod--the Half-Life remake, Black Mesa), I thought I'd give ol' Cassidy a shot.

I recorded some test lines the other day, but before I go any further with it, I thought I'd see what the community here thinks of the results. I'd hate to go through the process of recording every line only to discover most people don't like it and it was all for naught.

Personally, I'm a bit conflicted. Mostly because I'm a 29 year-old from Michigan and it's not easy for me to pull off the voice of a weathered old dude from the south, but I gave it a shot.

You can download the demos here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JGW15OOS

Give them a listen and then let me know what you think. Should I keep going, change up the voice somehow, or just give up on it? Your honest feedback will determine whether or not I continue this endeavor. Thanks.
 
Hey I actually quite like it! Didn't think it could be pulled off, but it looks like a solid first attempt at Cassidy voice...

Few things (of course that's entirely my opinion)
- He should sound more Southern (you're doing pretty well though ;) it'll come to you with more practice)
- His voice should be rougher (I imagine him as a real two-packs-a-day kinda guy, in spite of the heart condition)
- He should sound slightly older (I'm not a sound engineer, but I'm bet making the voice deeper wouldn't be too difficult)
- He should be a bit louder (all Fallout THs speak pretty loudly and clearly, IMO)

You're doing a good job here... Facing a real daunting task, but it's so worth it seeing Cassidy come to life!! Keep it up, PLEASE!
 
Ran some processing for the files, some harmonic distortion and pitch shifting really does magic there. Also applied de-esser and slight compression to make the audio louder and more balanced. The processing is a bit excessive so that you'll get the idea what can be done.

http://www.4shared.com/audio/8RGfdKG7/Cassidy_103_edited.html

What comes to acting, you're trying a little bit too much in a few parts, reminds me of mr. Christian Bale doing his Batman-voice. In my opinion you'd need a little bit more relaxed and natural flow there. Sounds pretty good overall though.

Maybe try to down a few shots of whiskey and a nice cigar next? :wink:

edit

funny though, was looking at the new head for cassidy a few days back and was wondering when someone's going to give a shot at voice acting. looks like we are getting somewhere now.
 
I just listened to both and I didn't here too much of a difference in the editted version from the original other than it being louder.

But I do agree it needs to sound older/deeper.

I can here the youth in the voice especially at the tail end of the word "why".
 
Glovz said:
I just listened to both and I didn't here too much of a difference in the editted version from the original other than it being louder.
Click to expand...

Shifted it down for 1,23 semitones or 123,7 cents which translates into down minor 2nd if that makes any sense. Tried to keep transposition the same so it's the same length but the voice is lower. The distortion is light, mostly to "beef up" the sound. De-esser is used to soften ESH/SH -kind of voices so that the final product's loudness can be properly adjusted in manner that the s-based phonetics won't break your eardrums :roll:

Pitch shifting any lower would make the voice sound kind retarded, so I tried to adjust it just enough to mask the fact that there's a young fellow behind the microphone.

O well enough technical crap, let's see what happens.
 
So, about Cassidy...

Tomorrow, I'm going to get my Dad to voice a few lines from his file, because honestly, I think he would be perfect. He's 55, and can pull out his deep Southwestern accent if need be :drunk:

I'll bother him about it tomorrow, for now, I was just trying myself, but no good. :scratch: I can't figure out why my 16-year old, still maturing voice doesn't quite fit :P

--EDIT--

You're giving a good effort Dravean, but you can't force your voice to get a certain accent. If you relax while you're speaking, it might yield some better results, and make your voice more flexible :wiggle:
 
Nice job. It's kinda forced, yeah, but if David Hayter can get away with it in the later MGS games, then so should anyone else. It could work for a Man With No Name type character, but for Cassidy, a 55-year-old man who looks his age, it just doesn't sound old enough. Could work for Ian, though.
 
It's a very good first try, but as you said it sounds like a youngster who tries to sound like an older man. But basically it's like I imagine Cassidy.:D
 
It's actually quite good. Not perfect, it doesn't match the face for me quite yet, but damn close. I think you'll get it with time and a bit more practice.
 
I thought it it was pretty good as well, I would give the demos 8/10 nearly there but not quite, if you can get your dad to voice act, that would be great to listen too, but I think it would be nice to give Cassidy a nice headshot and a voice to go with it, will watch this thread like a hawk

but yeah, not a bad first try, :D :D
 
Elronologist said:
It's a very good first try, but as you said it sounds like a youngster who tries to sound like an older man. But basically it's like I imagine Cassidy.:D
Click to expand...

I wouldn't describe it as a "youngster's" voice. Could easily pass for a dude in his thirties trying to sound gruffer. A "youngster" voice would be Leonardo DiCaprio's, or Casey Affleck's, who still sound like teenagers sometimes despite being about 35.

And it's definitely leaps and bounds better than 99% of the amateur voice acting I've heard.
 
Installed Cassidy's head with RP 2.1.1, now I'd really like him to have a voice, too :wink: especially since I have him in my party all the time.

While I like Dravean's voice acting (I'd say it's definitely good enough for a talking head), it's not quite what I had imagined Cassidy to sound like.
I accidentally listened to President Tandi's voice, and I thought that is pretty much what Cassidy should talk like, only more...male :) sounds southern and old enough to me.

But what do I know, not being American and all :D
Just my 2 cents (those we got here. Cents, I mean).
 
also sounds like a younger Clint Eastwood, Im also at a toss if it for Cassidy, I suppose it could, but the voice does need to be older, as Cassidy is quite old (not sure how old?)

maybe if someone did a head for Vic? then it may fit? as I think he would be a lot younger, and probably not as touch looking or sounding, not sure, but still a pretty good voice :D
 
I think its quite good also the audio quality is ok too I'm looking forward to see where this will lead.
 
Personally I think it sounds like a 30-year old about to pinch a loaf :D But it's a hell of a lot better than I could do myself, being so young and fresh and all... I always imagined Cassidy more like Clint Eastwood and less like the average country singer, think John Marston in Red Dead Redemption or General Knoxx in Borderlands. Good work so far!
 
We're trying to remake Cassidy

Hi everyone, I know this is a really old thread but if people are still interested at all I've been working on recreating Cassidy in New Vegas, with a backstory explaning how he's still alive and how it ended up in the midwest and professional voice actor if anyone wanted to look into it.

"If I was twenty years younger, I'd go east and explore the Midwest."
- John Cassidy

Here is the link to it on Nexus.

http://www.thenexusforums.com/index.php?/topic/302991-read-if-youd-like-to-finish-our-cassidy-mod/
 
Dravean voice quite fits Cassidy, I always imagined him with that badass but kind voice. Like it has been said before it needs to be more natural.

But good work :clap: , I always thought that Cassidy would need a voice
 
I actually finished recording all the lines a week or so ago. However, I ran into a bit of an issue with rendering the sound clips. Someone offered to assist me, but then I never heard back from them. :shrug:
 
I'm here, don't worry. :P I'm just not at home at my recording rig, so I can't do any audio processing. As for the rendering, I sent you a PM.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top