Click this link for tutorial on using a mic, sfx, and CD music - mixed in Audacity

Audio processing for cartoon dialogue with Audacity

One strategy is to capture all of a character's dialogue at one setting, this can be a continuous wav file with a short silence between each line. Save the original voice recording without any processing so you can always go back to it. Then perform the basic processing steps listed below before separating it into individual character lines. This insures consistency. After the basic processing you can select each character line, copy and paste into a new wav file. You should end up with the original capture plus numerous smaller wav files. File naming is very important so you can easily identify what and where each character line fits into the cartoon. See additional notes at the bottom of this document.

1. Go to Project>Import Audio and import your wave file (unless it’s already there from recording). Look at ends of wav file (head and tail) to delete the minidisk beeps if they were recorded.

2. Select all and normalize. Effect>Normalize (If this is too loud for all character lines you can decrease volume with Effect>Amplify and set slider to a negative value.)

3. Noise removal in two steps. Select area of intended silence that just contains background noise then Effect>Noise Removal>Get Noise Profile. Then select all and Effect>Noise Removal>Remove Noise. You can used slider and preview before the changes are made. Listen and if satisfied, move on or undo the noise removal and repeat this step with adjustments in the slider above the Remove Noise button.

4. The Fun part: Select all, Effect>Change Pitch   Find a pitch you want, you can adjust just the bottom percent slider also by entering a number for its setting. Document this change so it can be repeated in the future. Listen, if satisfied, save this full character dialogue file.

Next you will be making each character line into a separate wave file. Naming files systematically is essential. These will be imported into ToonBoom.

6. To make separate wav files, select the character line, copy, then File>New and paste. Be sure wave properties are always consistent from file to file. Once it’s pasted into a new waveform, go to File>Save as wav. Be organized with file names and saving locations.

Notes:
CD quality audio: 44,100 Hz, 16-bit, stereo (Audacity uses the 32-bit float property for CD quality audio)
Should you use stereo? Only if needed, consider the importance of download time if making your cartoon for web delivery.

Another standard processing step is reverb. Audacity does not have a reverb filter.