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CDPR Uses AI to Restore Geralt's Earlier Voice in The Witcher 3's New DLC After Polish Voice Actor's Stroke Left Him Hoarse

Source: IT之家 Published: AI 中文 AIDLCCDPR
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CD Projekt Red confirmed that Geralt's Polish voice in the new Witcher 3 expansion Songs of the Past will use Respeecher's AI voice-conversion technology. Jacek Rozenek, who has voiced Geralt in Polish since the first Witcher game in 2007, developed a lower, hoarser voice after a 2019 stroke; CDPR kept him and had him record all new lines, then used a voice model built from his earlier Witcher 3 performance to bring the recordings close to his original sound. CDPR said it has no plans to use this method on other future projects, and unlike its earlier Respeecher work on Cyberpunk 2077 for the late Miłogost Reczek, Rozenek is still alive and explicitly agreed to the AI use.

Translation(model translation, not the source's own text)

The Witcher 3 New DLC: Geralt's Polish Voice Actor's Voice Left Hoarse After Stroke, CDPR Uses AI Technology to Restore His Earlier Voice

IT之家 November 14 news: CD Projekt Red has confirmed that the Polish voice for Geralt in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's new story expansion "Songs of the Past" will be processed using Respeecher's AI voice conversion technology.

IT之家 has learned that since the first The Witcher game launched in 2007, actor Jacek Rozenek has served as Geralt's Polish voice actor, but after his stroke in 2019 his voice became deeper and hoarse. In response, CDPR did not choose to replace the voice actor, but instead had Rozenek personally continue recording all the new lines, and then used AI technology to adjust the voice to approximate the effect in the earlier works.

CDPR localization producer Mikołaj Szwed revealed that about a year ago, the studio invited Rozenek to the recording studio to understand his current voice condition. Later, with the help of voice cloning company Respeecher, Rozenek personally recorded all the new lines in the normal way, after which Respeecher used a voice model built from his earlier The Witcher 3 voice performances to convert the recordings, making them as close to the original voice as possible.

Respeecher synthetic speech artist Dmytro Vasylets revealed that the biggest difficulty of this work was restoring Rozenek's rich emotional expression, including subtle shifts in tone, loud shouts, groans, and laughter, among other different vocal states.

CDPR also stated that there are currently no plans to continue using this method to modify Rozenek's voice in other future projects. This also means that Rozenek's now deeper, hoarser voice may instead be suited to portraying an older Geralt, for example in a future The Witcher 4.

In fact, this is not the first time CDPR has collaborated with Respeecher. Previously, actor Miłogost Reczek, who provided the outstanding Polish voice for Viktor Vektor in Cyberpunk 2077, passed away in December 2021 at the age of 60. He was also the Polish voice actor for Vesemir in The Witcher 3.

In the Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansion released in September 2023, actor Janusz Zadura was responsible for recording Viktor Vektor's newly added lines, after which Respeecher converted his voice into Reczek's voice from before his death; the entire approach also received the approval of Reczek's family.

However, there is an important difference between this case in The Witcher 3 and the aforementioned "voice resurrection" of the deceased — Rozenek is still alive; not only did he explicitly agree to the use of AI technology, but he also still personally completed the recording of every new line, with AI technology only used to adjust his audio.

Overall, AI technology remains a topic of great attention and concern among voice actors worldwide, but CDPR localization producer Mikołaj Szwed believes that this collaboration between CDPR and Jacek Rozenek is a case of using AI technology in an ethical way and helping an actor, on the premise of obtaining his consent.

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The translation is machine-generated and individual terms may be off. Nothing is rewritten or cut; the original is authoritative.

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