I often see threads about "what type of mic"? on ng and voice forums. I wanted to share my animation to really pitch voice actors on spending less on a mic and more on your space.
The biggest reason to have a good space? Volume, gain, and raising levels in post:
Now I obviously have a pretty good mic but in this film I both yell and whisper. If you only invest in a mic and not adding fabric to deaden your space, you have a limited range of recording volume and distance from the mic that sound good.
Mics have sweet spots where you sound best but other areas that sound different. A mic itself works more like a series of spheres that grab sound inside that area. In this case I could chose to lower my gain and stepping away from the mic because I deadened my space. You may be saying "why can't I lower my gain and record in a closet?" That may work to achieve a certain type of sound but if it doesn't sound right you are limited to that solution.
You also are kind of limited to have raise the levels after vs achieving the sound you want during recording.
There obviously exist very good setups with the right mic and basically a closet but that is only one option (an expensive one too) to change the distance to the mic in filmmaking. I always try to push alternate ways of recording sound instead of telling people to basically save money until they can build fully funded professional sound booth.
Recording in a closet is tedious. It is a closet. That's annoying. A mic you can afford and convincing roommates to get rugs and tapestries is easier that recording in a literal storage area.
