On being a bad blogger...

I just read Kara Edward's confession, and nothing personal Kara but I put you to shame (though Kara's posting is definitely worth the read; as usual she makes some very simple and salient points).

It's been forever since I've put up a blog posting. In that time a lot has happened, but most of it would bore you so I'm not going to get into the details right now. The big thing is that I used the time off to do a little research and experimentation with the site. One of the biggies is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Despite the fact that my blog is not directly tied to my website (since it's hosted by Blogger, as opposed to those folks using WordPress or something else hosted on their site), it still affects the SEO of my website so one of the things I've been doing is to chart some progress on what happens when we stop blogging (opposed to someone who blogs at least 3-4 times per week).

I think a lot of people will be surprised with what I found, and also, there's never really been a good clear guide to those starting out just what all this SEO stuff is anyway (at least I've never seen one in relation to voice over, or put in any format other than that of a Web designer or admin). I'm going to use the opportunity to do that as well, since the algorithms can be pretty scary for those who don't have a background with that sort of thing (I can do encryption in my sleep and I had to spend a few hours wrapping my head around all of the different algorithms that each search engine uses).

In the end though, I've got some simple insights and suggestions (some of which are positively dumb for the technically savy amongst us... not everyone is, so I want a level playing field) so that this whole SEO thing is a lot less scary for the beginners, and maybe provide a different spin on things for the "old goats" amongst us.

This isn't all going to be covered in one posting, but starting tomorrow I'm hoping to shine a little more light on the subject.

-G

PS: after my last article in Voice Over Extra, I've been getting a lot of requests for a posting or two relating to two things: passwords, and backups. I'm going to try and keep this blog to no more than two "technical" posts/threads per month, but once I'm through the SEO postings, I'll be doing those. Thanks to everyone who's been asking for help... you've giving me a lot of new material to write about (frankly, I didn't expect so much feedback on the more technical side of my persona). Keep them coming by clicking on the contact link here or on the upper right-hand side of this page.

Anime Auction to Aid Injured Boy

This was originally posted over at the Funimation Update and I've been following it for the past few days, since it's gotten such interest from the anime crowd. Being acquainted with more than a few of the folks involved, I couldn't help but to post it here:

An online charity auction is being held to benefit a Minnesota family who has experienced a sudden and tragic event. Seven-year-old Ian Hoy was struck by a car when crossing the street and sustained serious injuries and brain trauma. Though he has made drastic improvement and is recovering, Ian has to re-learn just about everything. Of course, this situation has created significant financial strain on the family. The Hoys are close friends of Tiffany Grant (Asuka in Evangelion) so many people in the industry have taken notice of the family’s situation. The article over at Anime News Network goes into more detail, but I wanted to help pass along the word.

From ANN:

We have many fantastic items generously donated by FUNimation Entertainment, New Generation Pictures — courtesy of Jonathan Klein (Hellsing, 3×3 Eyes) — as well as a few things from Tiffany Grant’s personal collection. Thanks to Carrie Savage (Ikki Tousen, xxxHOLiC) and Clarine Harp (Burst Angel, Negima) who helped gather signatures. The sale started this past Sunday, September 20, at approximately 7pm CDT (GMT – 6hrs) and will run for one week. International bids are welcome. The auction is being hosted on eBay by Power Seller, Joe Grisaffi (Cyberteam in Akihabara, Saiyuki). For a full list of items on auction, please follow this link: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2009-09-20/anime-celebrities-auction-autographed-memorabilia-to-aid-injured-boy

For more details regarding the story please visit:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ianhoy

Controlling the noise.

Voice Over Xtra currently has part one of what I think will be a nice compendium of articles regarding home studio acoustics by William Williams.

From my own experience, I can tell you that soundproofing a pre-existing residential structure is problematic and expensive at best, downright impossible given most circumstances. You can do a lot to absorb and diffuse the sound, but true soundproofing requires DCID or ANSI style requirements to the room, and frankly there comes a time when even yours truly has to question the cost-benefit ratio (or in my case, the "would they lock me up for doing this..." ratio).

William takes a smarter approach IMO by assuming that the voice talent already has a setup and begins by addressing those items which can be removed from your recording chain that might be causing you to have a lower quality output than you should be, given the quality of equipment you're using (aka. "noise").

From an audio forensic perspective, I'm a huge fan of eliminating as much unnecessary interference from the chain as possible. This article looks like the first step in addressing such issues.

For those who are interested, the full article can be found here.