Recording audio for videos?

The *best* way would be to book time in a local recording studio so that you don't have to buy your own professional recording equipment. Good voiceover work isn't usually done on a $10 PC microphone from Staples.

I use camtasia while making my videos if i want them to have voice

A couple of different things: I use Sound Recorder on my Windows Machine and drag the files into Camtasia I use Garageband on my Mac and import the files into Camtasia. Try recording your voice overs in smaller bites and stitching them together instead of trying to do them in one fell swoop.

I understand where you are coming from on the not liking the sound of your voice. The only thing I have found short of some professional recording equipment to change the sound of your voice is

Voice Changing Software - Online Gaming and Utilities

It only works on Windows machines. Some people like to play around with their pitch which you can do in Camtaisa directly, Garageband or in Audacity, but I find even small adjustments there tend to make my voice sound too computerized and artificial.

Because you stated that your voice always sounds terrible and unprofessional rather than I sound like I'm in a tin can or you can hear background noises in my recordings, I'm assuming that it's not necessarily your recording equipment, but rather your technique when recording.

What you could do in this case is just experiment around at the different ways you can make your voice sound sort of like you were trying to do impersonations and find one you like the best.

You can also treat your scripts as though they were actual scripts for acting. Memorize them, practice them, become familiar with them. While you're doing this, imagine that you are just naturally speaking and think how when you have conversations with people in real life, how you would express those ideas paying attention to the voice inflections while speaking, and which words reflect the emotion of what you're saying.

Once you've determined those and have rehearsed them to the point that you feel comfortable with your script and presentation, you can then record them. It's very similar to interpretative reading. In order to convey the meaning of the words spoken, you must interpret the emotions and animation of the content and present it accordingly. This brings the words to life and is much more appealing for an audience to listen to.

I hope this helps.

Terra

Thanks for the replies. Also I am using the microphone on my razer carcharias headphones.

If the problem is your voice (Some people, me included just don't have a "radio" voice)
then i can't help.
BUT
Your gaming headset may not be best for what you want to do, i suggest you invest some money in a good USB Mic like the Samson G Track, Blue Yeti, Blue Snowball... A good Mic really makes a big difference.

As others have stated, it could be a combination of equipment or vocal technique. Either subject is a fairly large area of study on it's own, but here are a few pointers to get you in the right direction...

1) Equipment
a) Get a decent mic, of the several that have been mentioned, any will do a passable job. Don't obsess over which is "best", just get one and get started.
b) Get and use a "pop filter"
c) Optional - get and use a compressor. Any compressor is better than none, assuming the settings are close to correct.

2) Technique
a) Terra K gave you great advice, use it.
b) Experiment with your position and proximity to your new mic. Being closer will usually make your voice sound more full and rich, too close and it sounds boomy and unnatural.
c) Practice speaking clearly, and most people need to slow down. Consciously practice speaking every day without saying ummmm and aaaahhh or whatever useless fillers you tend to use.
d) Reading books out loud can be great practice for vocal technique.
e) Whether you use a pop filter or not, try to direct your breath past the microphone, not directly into it. Avoid sniffing, snorting, and other nasty noises near the mic. I'm sure we've all heard the recordings where the presenters nose was whistling the whole time, let's not be that person!
f) Drink lots of room temp water while recording.

Hope these things help you!

One thing I'd like to mention, you may think your voice sounds "terrible" and unprofessional, I would say it sounds "real" to the prospect, and there is much to be said about that. They don't really care about your voice except if it tell them stuff they want to know, i.e. they are less interested in the messenger than the message.

If you want a professional sounding voice over there are a lot of people on fiverr that will do 30 second and even 60 second spots for $5. I have not used them myself because I happen to have a deep voice that sounds pretty good when recorded but $5 for a professional quality voice over is hard to beat.

I listened to your sample (kind of short to make a good judgement) and I would say the quality is not bad. Your voice is your voice and it will always sound unnatural to yourself. The audio quality was decent considering the equipment.

You have a little bit of a high frequency tone buzz/humm in the recording but an audio editor can take care of that pretty well. Volume was too low, either turn up your mic or boost it after you record ("normalize" in most audio editors).

The tone of your voice is not harsh or grating, but I suspect your delivery was a bit unnatural. Try talking like you talk to a friend, unless of course, you are going for the professional presenter type sound.

A little tweaking and I think you'll be fine for most purposes.

I have used camtasia to record my little video and audio. Can I rip the audio to edit it? Or can you edit directly in camtasia? I normally use Audacity to edit audio.

Get a mic and a filter from radio shop or your local music entertainment store. Or... just hire someone to do it for you.

Okay I decided to record the audio from my sony IC recorder. How can I deal with pops/clicks from this methods? Should I use a pop filter? I was looking on amazon for cheap pop filters.

- Record it yourself: a $40 USB mic works wonders for audio quality. No need to spend more.
- Voice over: plenty of voice-over actors for a few bucks in Fivver.

I am recording it my self and for right now I do not have money to spend on a usb microphone. So I decided to use my sony voice reocrder which seems to have good quality and will edit the audio in Audacity. The question I have is should I use a "pop" filter with my voice recorder or should I just Audacity?

If you are looking for software to record the audio, camtasia is the best.
If you are looking for someone to do the voice over for you, go to fiverr Music & Audio section, you can get cheap and professional deal.

Have you looked at fiverr for voice overs?

is there a friend or family member who
has a great voice?

I'd rent my husband to you.... he has an
awesome "radio announcers" voice that
you can hear the smile in .....

If you're going to record your own voice on your computer, use a high-quality mic. I recommend a Samson C01U. It's a usb mic, and it has a large enough diaphragm that it will reproduce the full range of the tones in your voice far better than any built-in mic.