after effects voice over help

Hello!

I am very bad with audio to be honest so please help me.

What can I do to make my voice over more like a "real one" in After effects. I know I can use reverb and eq but which values? I understand you cant give me an exact answer but just give me a hint so I have something to start with. Any other effects?

Thanks, Daniel

It depends a lot on what microphone you're using and how you're getting the audio into your computer.  That's a good starting point before we start talking about the order of effects and how to use them.

There's no single "silver bullet" solution to make your voice sound "like a real one".  Every voice is different--and, indeed, everyone's expectation of what they want to hear is different too.

Blair Trosper is right that you want to start with a recording as close to what you want to hear as possible, before you even start thinking about effects. 

Even before we get into technology, practice projecting your voice and speaking from your diaphram.  Some vocal coaches call this your "chest voice" as opposed to a "mouth voice".

Microphone choice and make a big difference.  Quite a few announcers use a cardioid (or even hypercardioid) mic because of what's known as the "proximity effect".  This is an artificial boost in bass frequencies when the sound source is very close to a mic designed for more distant work.  You'll need to experiment with different mics and see which one best suits your voice (and what you want to sound like).  At this point, it's also worth considering the acoustic of the space you/re recording in.  Most radio booths are pretty near dead acoustically.

Finally effects.  Reverb tends to be a "special" effect, only used when you want to sound...er...reverberant.  Think "voice of god" or "dreaming" effects.  You wouldn't normally put it on a simple announce voice.  EQ, yes, you might use but this has to be adjusted by ear--theirs no one setting.  A bit of midrange boost can make your voice warmer but too much and it goes nasal.  Similarly, a bit of bass boost can help but too much makes you muddy and boomy.  I'm afraid you'll have to play a bit.  Finally, almost every voice you hear on radio has some compression added.  Much of this happens at the transmitter end, so don't do too much in your recording/mixing stages...maybe just a light setting to cut off some peaks and bring up the low bits.

Bob