Black Listed?
A couple weeks ago I noticed I suddenly stopped getting notifications about contests & speedies. After checking my profile I see this: "Bummer! This voice actor is no longer accepting bookings." Which is not really true, and nothing I set on my own.
After looking through this forum, I see that other pros have had such issues when related to quality control. However, prior to my profile being blocked, of the last 7 projects I submitted in the past 2 months, only 1 was rejected by QC and that was due to my "voice age" not being as requested. So, this is not an issue of the most recent quality of my recordings, as QC, (and a number of clients) have accepted a number of my submissions.
I did recently receive a three star review after a booking, but that was because I followed the written directions a client gave me, and then they were very dissatisfied that I didn't copy exactly a sample of mine they preferred and attached to the booking, even though the directions seemed to be in direct contrast with the sample, and the client never specified to recreate the sample exactly, I did my best to find a balance of the two. After receiving my first submission, the client's mind was already made up and not happy as was VERY evident in the revision notes, giving me no real chance to deliver a 5 star VO in their eyes. But whatever, I'm not proud of it, I will have to take that 3 stars on the chin. BUT AGAIN, the submission that was forwarded to the client was APPROVED by "Mr. Bunny."
So I'm a bit more than confused as to why now, after so many mornings of waking up seeing my email box STUFFED with opportunities from the Bunny, I'm suddenly gagged and stuffed away in a darkened corner of the rabbit hole. I feel black listed especially since I was given no notice or explanation as to it happening or as to why it is happening.
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Also, please remove all the samples I shared above! This will prevent your profile from being deactivated once we have reactivated it.
I am not Thom, and all those links lead to a 404 page not found error.
Hi Andrea!
For some reason, the message I was sending you and the one I was sending Thom got mixed up. I'm going to investigate what could've happened at the moment I sent the message. I'm really sorry for the confusion. I've deleted the message now.
Your actual rejected samples are the following:
https://voicebunny.com/samples/32874
https://voicebunny.com/samples/33140
https://voicebunny.com/samples/35332
https://voicebunny.com/samples/35333
https://voicebunny.com/samples/35339
https://voicebunny.com/samples/49070
https://voicebunny.com/samples/53787
https://voicebunny.com/samples/58973
https://voicebunny.com/samples/67995
The issues presented in the samples are, indeed, the ones I mentioned before.
- Critical level of hiss noise.
- Mouth noises and plosives.
- Brightness and sibilance.
- Filtering as if you were using a noise reduction.
Would you mind sharing a current recording of your setup? Again, I apologize for the confusion!
Hi. I have deleted my old radio samples from when I first joined VB years ago. The following is a link to my most recent recording, which also happens to be the last speedy I did that was accepted by Bunny QC and the client. Hopefully the link works... https://voicebunny.com/projects/1-both-sides-of-the-fence-280c912b78-3cc5-4166-a663-0f78e9b88d39-29
Thank you
Hi Andrea
Thanks for sharing! I listened to the file and it doesn't sound very well.
The recording sounds very boomy and has a critical level of hiss noise. The overall sound is as if you were using a low-quality USB microphone. Can you let me know how you're recording?
No, my microphone is not of low quality, nor is my set up. I'm not some person who woke up one morning and just decided out of the blue to do voice over work on the side. I have a degree in audio production and broadcasting and have many years experience in doing so. I would suggest that perhaps you are listening to the audio with low quality speakers or headphones. That could be the only explanation for the seemingly inconsistent quality in the quality control department at VB.
I say that because it is the same set up I use when VB QC approved the quality of the clip I shared with you above.
As well as this clip that was approved by QC:
https://voicebunny.com/projects/1-both-sides-of-the-fence-289f4108ea-8614-4a8e-8f8e-f6720eac0f43-29
And this one:
https://voicebunny.com/projects/1-just-ask-spring-2018-28bfee0040-73a3-4365-bce4-31384bbaa559-29
And this one:
https://voicebunny.com/projects/1-volley-horoscopes-libra-march-2018
This one, which was rejected for the voice age not being correct, but no complaints about quality:
https://voicebunny.com/projects/1-california-mom-young-adult-28367ea0ee-242d-4202-83e9-f4f4afd15e91-29
This one also approved by Voice Bunny Quality Control:
https://voicebunny.com/projects/1-version-1-3A-put-merrimack-on-your-list-28f65f51c2-566a-4d57-8a68-ec8156f5ef2b-29
Prior to that, there were a total of 4 contest/speedies I did that were reject due to sound quality, and I do see that. It was actually due to me having been sick, and as a result attempted to move my studio to a room that was not sound treated well. After realizing it wasn't working, I returned to my studio. YET, prior to THAT, there are a number of other clips in my completed project history approved by VB QC and the client, for which I was paid dating back to 2014. So maybe you'll understand when I find it hard to believe that after all these years and approved recordings that SUDDENLY my equipment is the issue. Specially seeing as it is also the same set up with which I've recorded 100's of audio books and other audio projects for clients who were more than satisfied with the quality of my recordings.
I think this has more to do with the experience with the client that gave me the 3 stars just before I was blocked - that I had mentioned in my original posting. Maybe VB could do a little better job at sticking up for their voice over pros, and not play into the client's expectation OR convey an expectation of being delivered a voice over that is perfect in tonality the first time. It's unrealistic to think that requesting a revision with a clarification in direction somehow shows a lack of quality in a voice pro.
Hi Andrea,
I've listened to some of your submissions and they do have some hiss and some words sound slightly distorted. This could be from the recording itself or caused by processing. I'd suggest lowering the gain during recording as this could help with the hiss and distortion issue.
-Seb
I'm sorry, but I don't hear it. Plus that still doesn't explain the previous project samples passing Bunny QC and being approved by clients, most of whom left positive reviews. But, whatever. It doesn't matter.
Hi Andrea
Keep in mind that we're becoming stricter with our quality control requirements as time passes by. Also, keep in mind that some of your recordings weren't subject to our team's review because you were marked as a reliable user. This sometimes led to some of your submissions to pass that could not be up to our current standards.
I apologize for the confusion, however, we would appreciate if you can take our comments into consideration.