welcome to recording.org.

Could you upload two MP3 examples of a before and after so I can hear what your software is doing/ failing at?

PS, have you looked into Sequoia 13?
http://www.magix-audio.com/ca/sequoia/audio-restoration/

Thank you for the welcome.

EDIT I did not realize this was a pro only forum, my apologies.

I am just a hobbyist doing animation.

o0Ampy0o, post: 445476, member: 50187 wrote: I am just a hobbyist doing animation.
[QUOTE=o0Ampy0o, post: 445476, member: 50187]Maybe I have not recognized the typical level of membership here.

That's alright. There are hobbyists and professionals here. Learning more is helpful regardless to what we can afford. The information is all you need right now.

Sequoia is $3000. The audio software I am working with cost $300.[/QUOTE] Again, no problem. You posted in a Professional Mastering forum.

However, there is inexpensive software that will do these things too. Right now I am simply qualifying your experience and research to help you further. Knowing more about this all will empower you.

o0Ampy0o, post: 445476, member: 50187 wrote: I should put together the before/after audio sample and upload it for reference.

Yes, that might be helpful.

o0Ampy0o, post: 445473, member: 50187 wrote: I need to be able to change a voice from a young adult to elderly and child without it ending up sounding robotic.

Are there DAW tools or plugins that target this specific artifact?

o0Ampy0o, post: 445473, member: 50187 wrote: I am looking for advice on reducing or even eliminating (hopeful) the mechanical artifacts produced by audio software. An example is Audacity, a common and free application. The plugin included with Logic is similar and even superior but it also produces the unnatural sounding mechanical artifacts best described as that unnatural character getting farther away from a natural sounding voice and ever closer to a vocoder sound.

Here is a look at spectral editing software. Free for 30 days as well. ;)
https://www.magix.com/us/music/spectralayers/

Here is an example of software that will change the pitch. They still sound artificial but not as obvious in a song.

[GALLERY=media, 174]Samplitude : The Object Editor a Guided Tour 18:Elastic Audio - YouTube by audiokid posted Mar 23, 2015 at 9:01 PM[/GALLERY]

If you are talking of pops and clicks. . . many restoration software can help.. for that I like is iZotope RX
If they are weird harmonics, there might be something to do with Melodyne... it has a harmonic kind of EQ...
But to transpose audio, I haven't found any software that does it right passed a third interval. Even a third is pushing the limits..
Specially for vocals who get the majority of attention from the listeners, the best thing is to sing it... It's easier to tune a flat vocal recording you had difficulties to record than transpose the lead vocal to the right notes...

And free http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Audio/Audio-Editors-Recorders/Audio-Pitch-Shift.shtml

The voice of Ash after his head is knocked off in the film Alien illustrates a similar artifact. Think of his voice in a natural state. Compare it to its characteristics in the scene. This is what I would like to reduce if not eliminate. That is what I am describing as a sort of vocoder-esque characteristic. It increases the more I manipulate a voice track. Otherwise the software achieves a convincing change.

ash robot sound seems to have a range of frequencies we can remove with a simple EQ.
The thing is, most solution out there will remove a part of the sound.. therefor degrade it..

o0Ampy0o, post: 445481, member: 50187 wrote: It increases the more I manipulate a voice track. Otherwise the software achieves a convincing change.

o0Ampy0o, post: 445473, member: 50187 wrote: I need to be able to change a voice from a young adult to elderly and child without it ending up sounding robotic.

You should be more precise on what manipulations you are doing and why
if using a pitch shifter, you will get a lot more artifacts. Many pitch pluggins have a formant settings you can try, you often don't have to change the pitch much to change the character of a voice. Also you could experiment with changing the speed

pcrecord, post: 445483, member: 46460 wrote: ash robot sound seems to have a range of frequencies we can remove with a simple EQ.
The thing is, most solution out there will remove a part of the sound.. therefor degrade it.

You should be more precise on what manipulations you are doing and why
if using a pitch shifter, you will get a lot more artifacts. Many pitch pluggins have a formant settings you can try, you often don't have to change the pitch much to change the character of a voice. Also you could experiment with changing the speed

It would not help because the knobs are labeled "Young <>Old, Male <>Female, Breathy, Flat<>Expressive. They do not tell you enough about what they are and only describe what the result sounds like.

The software is Flux Ircam Trax V3

o0Ampy0o, post: 445481, member: 50187 wrote: This is what I would like to reduce if not eliminate.

The audio in your video reminds me of what audio sounds like, caused by reducing the sampling rate to a very low resolution.
The audible effects of alaising, caused by reducing the sampling rate

I don't think its possible to "restore" or reconstruct the audio to a "natural" sound but you could try up-sampling audio and it may help but I doubt it.
If you ever discover how to do what you are searching for, please come back and let me know.

Maybe this will help:

@audiokidand and pcrecord Thank you for the time and effort assisting me with this situation. I am going to go through these videos and experiment.

Perhaps with this expanded awareness and vocabulary I can engage the software manufacturer in a discussion of this as well.

I certainly will come back and describe what could be done if I find anything.

Thank you again!