Audio Narration Tips
December 15, 2016 12:00 AM
Perhaps this isn't the place for this post, but I was having difficulty determining where else to post it.
I was hoping to see if anyone in the community had any tips or best practices when it came to recording audio narration. Specifically, focusing less on the technical and more on the procedural aspects.
For example: you work with your SME/customer to develop a five minute voiceover script for a video scenario. You work together to create the script, read through it, and maybe even perform a test recording - all of which meet with their approval. Once the voice actor designated to record the script does so, and the audio is implemented in the video, the SME/customer decides, "Oh, I want to rephrase that section in the middle and rewrite that section near the end."
Now, the customer is always right, so it looks like you'll have to re-record. Even with a proper set-up and recording techniques, there will be notable differences in the audio, and sometimes the changes are so great that it means completely re-recording the entire script (eliminating the quality issue, but taking more time).
Does anyone have any procedural/planning/design tips on how to mitigate re-recording?
Discussion (2)
This has little to do with audio. Similar issues arise with any other aspect of course development: content, design, audio, video, tech etc etc.
- Hey, thanks for sending me the final version. I opened it on my phone and it didn't work. What's up with that?- It is not supposed to work on phones. Nobody ever said it had to work on phones.
- Umm... If you could make it work on my phone before Monday board meeting... That'd be great. Mkay? I actually promised our CEO the course would work on phone. I heard you use Lectora and it makes courses responsive so I assumed it would work.
- &*^%^%^$%$#!!!
I use two-pronged approach to dealing with this stuff. On one hand, project management kung-fu:
- make sure your budget is defined and known to (internal) customer and SMEs
- make sure any changes are reflected in the budget and customers know that either they eat away hours from other stuff or pay for extra hours
- have everyone sign off on everything every step of the way and make it clear that revisions are expensive/impossible
- have a way to enforce the contract (even internall, have a boss who will put the SME in check if you say the SME is jeopardizing your project budget/timeline with unnecessary changes)
- set expectations, communicate clearly, focus on the final goal, exercise "better done than perfect" approach
- etc etc etc
The other prong is to just relax and sweat less about it. SMEs will always act irrational, budgets will always be exceeded, deadlines will always be missed, we don't live in a perfect world and key to happiness is to realize and accept it.
Thanks, Sergey. As I'm not a PM, I don't have much control over the first prong - though I will bring up these points with future PMs and see what we can get integrated.
As to the second point of your two-pronged approach, well, I guess that's just not my personality type. It's easier on some projects than others to do this, but it's never easy.
Thanks again, I appreciate it.
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