I'm not sure if this is out of the realm of possibility but will there be any voice acting for this game?
Thu, 12/31/2015 - 13:09
#1
Voice Acting?
Voice Acting?
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I think the semi-official answer is "most likely no". Cost is a factor (the devs have a limited budget), it would slow down the production of new content, and there are concerns over quality (cheap, quick or good - you get to pick two, heh).
At one point, the community was begging for Hooks into the Game, so 3rd parties like myself could add Voice Over packs, for Cut scenes and the like... but the issue still remains of The Mouth wouldnt Move for the Lip Synching of English, French, Spanish, etc...
So, there has to be a way to Explain Away (lore or other reason) why we can hear them Speak but not see their Lips Move.
Like:
Science based: Implanted Translator Chips
Magic Based: Basic Mind Reading.. limited to Skimming the Surface, just Immediate Thoughts.
Etc...
So, the Science Based Voice Samples might have a Post Process effect applied Initially the 1st Cut Scene, but its clearer.. and the player just Accepts HOW it actually works and sounds clear. Same for Magic, just a different Post Process effect initially.
Something like that would be needed. Not there just yet. :P
There are a few programs that convert sound to face animations automatically. Even if they don't intend to put voice into the game (and I feel its a mistake not to include it) they could always add this feature in....games like GTA and L4D use it to pretty good effect.
Yes, you're right. This might be doable... But, I'm not sure The Unreal Marketplace has any ready made LipSync tools like that, yet. :{
I've lost track of how many things games [i]had[/i] to include. Will CoT fail because it lacks support for rumble? Please. All CoT needs to include is [i]fun[/i].
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I have lost track of how many times someone uses hyberbolic mistrepresentation in an attempt to discredit anothers opinion/suggestion.
I honestly have no idea if UE4 has native software. I was speaking about 3rd party software that is relatively cheap. From what I understand its not a huge chore to use this software in game design...but I have little actually evidence of that ...just what I have been told. Plus the modelers would have to include properly named and designed morph targets in the face of character/npc models to make use of it.
If all of this was done, even if the devs never used it officially in the game, modders and the machinima crowd could use it to great effect. Whats more, it can be applied to a VoiP to allow characters in game to 'say' what the player says in real time. But that's getting pretty far into the 'feature creep' arena.
While voice in cutscenes (if there are any) is something I would like to see, allowing for any kind of speech animations outside of cutscenes is probably not worth it in terms of cost/effort vs gain.
As long as that can be turned off so that rigid sections over the mouth don't behave like it's a piece of the actual face/head then it's all good.
The bigger question would be if the resources spent on this (regardless of how they do it) are worth the benefits gained from it.
This is a bit longer a discussion because it pertains to actual methods of 'dressing' the models. Basically, if its a separate clothing model there would be no need to turn anything off as it would not be the target for the animation....if its a texture change only then yes it would need a turn off. This means that for flexible cloth type items over mouths, there would need to be additional morph targets in order to utilize lipsync software.
I actually stated my opinion on its cost vs gain....the whole point to talking about lipsync tools was in relation to Izzy bring them up in his post about 3rd party modders. I don't think lipsync tools are important enough personally.
At this point there is no plan for any VO for the game. It's not only a matter of cost of implementation but cost of the recording and VO actors not to mention time. VO takes a lot of time to do right and it is one asset that will go stale the fastest. There will be the usual foley grunts, death yells, oofs and ughs of course. Just no dialogue.
[color=#ff0000]Sound Lead, Bullpen Writer[/color]
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Totally Agree.
That's a reason for me trying to Offload Voice Overs to 3rd parties, players mostly.
- 3rd party VO Actors that are looking for work (or players) record it.
- Upload for MWM Approval to the Cash Shop.
Side note:
>>>
VO Packs can be FREE, well, more and more people will want to show off to their friends, and you might see Allot of them as FREE, so... eventually Almost All will become free... even the Trained Voice Over actors trying to sell their Talent...
Wait, that's not good for them. :/
Ehhh.. Nah, Trained VO Talent might just lower the price, since the community can rate their Favorites... and most likely the Trained VO Actros will have their VO Packs rated very high. ;)
<<<
- When the VO Packs are Approved, Each Audio sample is processed by MWM's internally automated software that generates the Animation Morphs that Syncs the Lips to the Audio.. and Includes those as part of the VO Package.
It's probably Cheaper to have one license of the Software that Creates the Lip Synced Animations, instead of spending allot more Dough on a SDK that would do the same thing on the Client End... which would be Cached after its generated 1st time, anyways. :/
Yes, this means players cant just drop in a VO MOD from just anyone, and expect the Voice Overs to Lip Sync properly. But thats ok. ;)
Just because any VO work is off loaded / using third party soft ware does fully alleviate burdens from the design time. Some of the suggestions can actually add to them.
Having to design the character models to articulate lip movement is not an easy process. Nor just because it is done once means that it will always properly work. Games can sometimes be fickle beasts were one minor change results in one or more unintended changes to other things.
If something goes wrong with with systems used by third parties to integrate into the live game and the devs are required to step in to resolve them, but since the devs aren't familiar as the players are is just aking for trouble. Any systems meant for the live game should be familiar to the developers so they know how things should work, why they work, and what to do in order to resolve issues or know where to look when something unexpected occurs in a not-so-related-system is inadvertantly affected by another system.
Third party systems come with monetary costs. Licensing software comes with its own troubles, especially when we are trying to plan for the future in case of a possible sunset where players can pick up the pieces. We've had quite a few hurdles to overcome already because of licenses as is. Then again, we are hit with costs in dev time in learning the software (see the first paragraph here).
We've discussed the possibility of player mods entering the cash shop and it is something that will most likely not happen. The issue of time devoted to the vetting process is a major hurdle. There are also a number of business related hurdles which are time intensive and could lead to complications down the road which we are not sufficiently capable of managing properly. The costs to do so are far better spent on providing, maintaining, and growing the game and company as a whole.
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Yep, I forgot. ;)
My mind is on a one way track... no, not an audio track. :P
I guess its just Wishful thinking on my part. :{
I'll try* not to bring it up again. :)