Dreamflow Productions ▶ Final Fantasy IX Fandub ▶ Alexandria ~ Chapter III

[Sapphira]

Alright, let's do this. pleasedonthateme

When it comes to people's performances, I have no issue, all the characters sound believable and everybody turns in a believable performance, which is awesome. There were moments where I stopped listening for familiar voices and just got sucked in to the portrayals. I -BELIEVE- these characters. Nothing else I can say will compliment the production more than that last line. I want to especially point out how much I loved all the walla in this. It, it's just so good and it breathes so much life in to otherwise flat scenes that I can't really express how much I adore the creativity and use of it. More than anything else, this is what makes me jealous when I look at this production. It's so good I'm seething.

Moving on to the mixing, first let me preface this by saying I am blown away by how good this whole thing is, this is a high-quality production, and of course that means I can really critique it (run). I think a nice figure here is 95. I am 95% happy, and impressed, and blown away, and freaking JEALOUS. So I am going to rip that 5% apart!!!

BEGIN THE NITPICKING!

Spoiler:     

---

Within small sections, the volume levels for BGM,SFX,VOX tend to be consistent, but when comparing larger sections there are issues, and I found myself turning that volume knob up and down at times. This wasn't because scenes got too loud/quiet, but because the balances for BGM,SFX,VOX volumes from scene to scene weren't as consistent as I like. There are sections where lines are louder than what follows even though they are said within the same conversation, or BGMs that start out fine, but start to take over the scene as they continue to build. This amount of unevenness happens on all three fronts (BGM,SFX,VOX) and that causes a listening problem. My main advice here would be to balance these small sections, then to compress and treat them so things come out more even across the production. It's a pain, but it can be done. Honestly this is a non-issue when it comes to listening on like, computer speakers at a reasonable volume, but when you crank it like I do it does get noticeable.

It's somewhat been touched on with the birds, but I will take that further. You should just use more SFXs. This is a great production, but adding more SFXs will help balance out that soundscape and paint the world in a more vibrant way. I really think adding some more to the opening storm would have helped there especially. This is more the point I want to stress. You do such a great job with extras and bystanders and the SFX just don't come into play enough to match that high standard.

Please do something to Tamtu's lines, I don't care, EQ them or something. He's always had this problem, he's always either too compressed or too bassy and he cuts through the mix in a really present fashion, and that's fine for like, ultra dramatics, but in regular conversation it's just distracting.

That's all! Really looking forward to the next episode!

Haha, I could never hate you! I trust you and value your thoughts and opinions, you should know that.

So let me start by saying thank you! Not only for your compliments, but also for your advice. I'm happy that you thought the performances were believable, right down to the walla. You're right, that's one of the best compliments a production can receive, because for the most part, that's really all we can bring to a fandub where the world, characters, story, script, music and sound effects are already done. That you consider this to be a high quality production, one to be blown away by truly brings a great sense of satisfaction to me. I think projects like this are never truly done, as there is almost always something that can be added or tweaked to make it more polished, but 95% is even better than I thought. Thank you, that means a lot to me, especially coming from you!

Now to address the pesky 5%...

Volume Levels
Honestly, this is an area I struggled with a lot and I'm surprised you're the first person to bring it up. Aside from that teaser I released around Christmas, this was my first time mixing in Premiere. Unlike the trailer, this episode was on a much larger scale and there were hundreds of lines to balance and tweak individually. There are probably easier ways to balance the volume levels, but the only way I know how to do it is through the audio mixer which has sliders for each track. I used this to get a rough mix, then went in to every individual clip to lower or increase the gain where it was needed. I used some keyframes on the main audio track (bgm/sfx) to lower the volume in certain places and bring it back up in others without affecting the rest of the mix. I chalk the inconsistencies up to my own lack of knowledge in the program and this is something I really need to further research because it was a PAIN to do it the way I did. There's got to be an easier and more reliable way.

Don't even get me started on compression. Premiere's effects totally suck.

SFX
I was curious after the lack of bird foley was brought up a couple of times and went back in and listened to the main track outside of the mix. There were a few birds, as I thought... but I was surprised by how subtle and quiet they were in the unaltered track. It's no wonder they disappeared in the dub. This is the kind of thing I'm trying to pay more attention to as I finish up episodes 2 & 3, because I definitely don't want anything to be missing. :E

But honestly, I didn't intend to use a whole lot of SFX since they were already pre-mixed into the recording. You mentioned that the storm scene could have benefited from some additional SFX. Are there any other scenes that needed more? Personally, I think most of the foley sounds fine, just a little dated. So I'm wondering if having the higher quality SFX at the very beginning made the rest of the them sound worse?

Just blurting out some thoughts. This is an issue I'll have to keep in mind.

Inconsistent Quality
I'll try to work TamTu's lines in better. There were a couple of other people that had inconsistent quality compared to the majority of the project, but I tried to make them fit in. I'll take a look at EQ and see if that helps.

Anyway...

Thank you so much, Sei! I really appreciate the time you took to review and I've definitely taken everything you said to heart and will try my best to improve the remaining 5% so I can hopefully one day get a 100% from you.

[Rhapsody~Duskbane]

A bump for you, madame!

[Ben]

I just need to say how proud I am of everyone for teaming together on this project. I'm thrilled about how many oldbies returned and new faces emerged, coming out of the woodwork or retired status to collab with our friend, Sapphy. Call me sentimental, but I got a tad misty-eyed seeing the likes of Chell, Azure, Bebi and the many others I had assumed closed the chapter on (or perhaps lost joy in) the voice-over community. Combined with the shockingly talented acting chops from the "newbies", you've all managed to create something special.

Wherever flaws were present, blemishes hid under the veil of an overall remarkable production. This is going to be a magical experience, and I'm sure the artistic liberties being taken by Dreamflow will garner the attention of fun and sophisticated audiences alike. Good work, everyone.

[Sapphira]

The first post has been updated with Episode II.

[Dilasc]

You'd think more people would come to see the second episode. Either way, good stuff. I'll try and find something to complain about... if I can.

[Erica]

Ben was simply FABULOUS as Brahne.

I felt so giddy after watching this. I love it so muuuuch.

[Matt Cruea]

Replying to this because I only watched it recently, despite actually being IN something for once!

It's really obvious how much time and effort you spent on this. The video editing, the timing work, and the just overall EFFORT that is here is so unique and refreshing to see from a fandub. I liked a lot of the voices (I'm really connected to Steiner's because, honestly, that's how I always heard his voice in my head and would've been very similar to my own if there'd been auditions), and all of them seemed to fit the parts.

Most of all, though, this makes me remember a game I loved and makes me want to play it again and that's definitely one of the highest compliments I think you can receive. This is FF9 to me and it's great!

p.s. Ben's Brahne rules

p.p.s. someone make a spin-off about dante the signmaker from episode one. I want to do my snagglepuss impression more

[AderuMoro]

First of all I want to say that I hung out with Sara at Fanime and we played One Piece Go Fish and it was pretty much the best thing ever.

Anyway normally I really dislike intro FMVs because they're too long and the song choice is terrible, but this one uses a badass remix of freakin' You Are Not Alone AND IT'S AMAZING! I do think it's a tad long, but...eh...

Brahne was, as everyone else mentioned, brilliant, though the room echo did bother me. Is it bad that I want Ben to make her sound more drag...?

I love the stage vocal effects during the performance, and Baku especially did a wonderful job setting up the scene. I feel like a little kid on the edge of my seat looking up at the performance... The thunder SFX at the beginning of the battle are greeeeat.

I mentioned on the video that I thought the Blank/Zidane sword fight was fantastic. I wanted to ask, did you record the 100% on one go or...?

Anyway, Sapphy, I found your voice much too high than what I expected for Dagger, but I love your delivery. Your enunciation is spot on for a princess like her.

Zorn and Thorn are great They're similar but distinguishable.

Beatrix is wonderfully pleasant to listen to. It reminds me of American McGee's Alice. I like how it's feminine and not totally butch XD

I want to comment on Steiner but I'm just gonna wait until the next part 'cause I'm sure I'll love it XD

Anyway, as for the mixing, there were a few lines in the FMV that seemed too loud, but overall I think the extra sound effects are an improvement over the last part (specifically the birds in the beginning).

Hehe, I hope the next part is almost ready

[Sapphira]

You'd think more people would come to see the second episode. Either way, good stuff. I'll try and find something to complain about... if I can.

Thanks! I think releasing in the middle of the week when people are more busy is part of the reason it had a slower start than the first ep. All is well now, though!

Ben was simply FABULOUS as Brahne.

I felt so giddy after watching this. I love it so muuuuch.

Wasn't he? I'm happy you're enjoying it - can't wait to hear your Kupo again. So adorbs.

Replying to this because I only watched it recently, despite actually being IN something for once!

It's really obvious how much time and effort you spent on this. The video editing, the timing work, and the just overall EFFORT that is here is so unique and refreshing to see from a fandub. I liked a lot of the voices (I'm really connected to Steiner's because, honestly, that's how I always heard his voice in my head and would've been very similar to my own if there'd been auditions), and all of them seemed to fit the parts.

Most of all, though, this makes me remember a game I loved and makes me want to play it again and that's definitely one of the highest compliments I think you can receive. This is FF9 to me and it's great!

p.s. Ben's Brahne rules

p.p.s. someone make a spin-off about dante the signmaker from episode one. I want to do my snagglepuss impression more

Thank you for everything you said, it's very encouraging and if it makes you remember and want to play the game, then I can feel satisfied that we've done some justice to the original material.

There actually were auditions for Steiner, but I'm with you... Chris' Steiner is how I imagined he'd sound. If you liked Steiner here, he especially shines in the next episode. And I agree, Ben's Brahne is a blast. I love your Marcus, by the way... you were great! And not to worry, we haven't see the last of Dante Snagglepuss... he might just turn up in a blooper reel someday.

First of all I want to say that I hung out with Sara at Fanime and we played One Piece Go Fish and it was pretty much the best thing ever.

Anyway normally I really dislike intro FMVs because they're too long and the song choice is terrible, but this one uses a badass remix of freakin' You Are Not Alone AND IT'S AMAZING! I do think it's a tad long, but...eh...

Brahne was, as everyone else mentioned, brilliant, though the room echo did bother me. Is it bad that I want Ben to make her sound more drag...?

I love the stage vocal effects during the performance, and Baku especially did a wonderful job setting up the scene. I feel like a little kid on the edge of my seat looking up at the performance... The thunder SFX at the beginning of the battle are greeeeat.

I mentioned on the video that I thought the Blank/Zidane sword fight was fantastic. I wanted to ask, did you record the 100% on one go or...?

Anyway, Sapphy, I found your voice much too high than what I expected for Dagger, but I love your delivery. Your enunciation is spot on for a princess like her.

Zorn and Thorn are great They're similar but distinguishable.

Beatrix is wonderfully pleasant to listen to. It reminds me of American McGee's Alice. I like how it's feminine and not totally butch XD

I want to comment on Steiner but I'm just gonna wait until the next part 'cause I'm sure I'll love it XD

Anyway, as for the mixing, there were a few lines in the FMV that seemed too loud, but overall I think the extra sound effects are an improvement over the last part (specifically the birds in the beginning).

Hehe, I hope the next part is almost ready

Aww, you met Sara? I'm jealous of both of you, haha. Sounds like fun!

I'm so happy that the video went over well. I was worried about it being too long, but there wasn't a better place to cut the song, unfortunately. Speaking of which, I remixed the song myself and actually wrote lyrics for it and recorded and mixed vocals, but decided not to include them in the credits since it seemed too busy. But I'm ridiculously happy that you thought it was badass anyway. It's definitely my favorite Uematsu song.

Ah, Ben is Mr. Popular! Glad you agree with the others that he makes a rather remarkable Brahne, heh. He upgraded his microphone after the majority of this episode was already mixed and decided to re-record his dialogue at the end, but we kept the silly laughs and noises that he had already recorded prior and used those during the first half of the episode because I didn't think it would be so noticeable.

I wish I could say that impressing 100% of the nobles was the result of my swift button mashing, but alas I couldn't have done it without the magic of video editing, haha.

Thank you for your comments on my performance. I know that with games like this, everyone has differing opinions on how the characters should sound, so all I can do is put my own interpretation out there and hope that the portrayal is good enough to carry the character if the voice type doesn't match others expectations. If you think the delivery and enunciation are befitting of the character, then I'm beyond relieved!

I'm sure the others will appreciate your comments on their performances, too. Episode III is in the works... I'm waiting on a few lines from a last minute recast and need to finish up the panning and effects. After that, it shouldn't be much longer! Thanks again for your reviews, you're very thorough and it's always appreciated.

[hyperknees91]

Hah so pro. If only everyone had a stellar mic, but yeah still quite enjoyable ^^