A Handy Guide to Video Translation Voice-Over Options

One of the trickier parts of video translation and dubbing is choosing the appropriate foreign-language voice-over option. We’ve had clients tell us that this decision is particularly difficult since it affects budgets and timelines, and is not one that can be fixed easily in post-production. So in today’s post, we’re going to try to make this part of the process a little easier, by creating a short, easy-to-use guide for video localization options.

This post will list the four video translation voiceover options, as well as give tips about each one.

[Average read time: 4 minutes]

The four kinds of voice-over for video

Before reading about video VO, it’s good to see and hear it. The following video has samples of each kind of VO – it’s only one minute long, so be sure to watch it before proceeding.

Now that you’ve seen the four different kinds, it’s good to think about the why of video voiceover – specifically, why are there four different options? For three main reasons:

1. The needs of the video voice over itself. If a video only has a narrator who doesn’t appear on the screen, or whose lips you can’t see, its foreign-language VO requirements are relatively straightforward. If it does have on-screen speakers, it requires much more work, and that’s why there are three kinds of video VO to deal with this latter situation.
2. The needs of the content. Some videos, like documentaries and news footage, are documents. That is to say, their value is in capturing an authentic moment in time. Localization has to take that into account, including in terms of the voiceover – that’s why it’s important for this content to leave the English source dialogue low in the background (but still fully audible). Movies and TV shows, on the other hand, are a work of fiction – therefore, the ideal localized VO would do everything possible to retain that fictional illusion.
3. The needs of the budget. And of course, there’s the budget. Some VO options require more work and more talents, and are less cost-effective. While ideally all projects would employ the video VO option that is best suited to their content, that’s sometimes not possible.

With that said, let’s look at each voice over option briefly. You may want to watch each option in the video above after reading each description.

Off-Screen Voice-Over / Off-Screen Narration

When to use it: When the video doesn’t have anyone speaking on-screen. If your video doesn’t have an on-screen speaker, this is effectively your only option.

Tips: This is the most cost-effective VO service. Remember, though, that the VO must still be timed to video, especially to on-screen titles that mirror the narration, so make sure this is part of your translation process.

More on Off-Screen Narration here.

That’s it for videos that don’t have on-screen speakers – if your video does have them, though, you need to use one of the following 3 options.

UN-Style Voice Over

When to use it: When you have “real life” contet or “documents” – news footage, documentaries, interviews, client surveys, or even corporate speeches performed by prominent people.

Tips for use: UN-Style VO can be tricky to mix, since the foreign-language voices usually start 1-2 seconds after the original English-language voice, which is usually lowered to approximately 20% of the original volume. Make sure you have an experienced vendor do this mix for you – someone like JBI Studios.

The great thing about UN-Style is that it’s relatively cost-effective – the pricing is usually comparable to that of Off-Screen Narration, and it doesn’t require many talents. Because of this, sometimes end-clients who have high-end documentary-style work insist on more labor-intensive and less cost-effective voice-over options – however, this really is the best choice for retaining the authenticity of a piece.

More on UN-Style here.

Dialogue Replacement

When to use it: When you have eLearning, corporate, or informational videos, where content accuracy is paramount, but where lip-sync isn’t critical.

Tips for use: It really is critical to note that dialogue replacement is not lip-sync. As you can see in the clip above, in dialogue replacement the foreign voice starts and ends with the original voice, but not in a frame-accurate way. More importantly, no lip movements are synchronized. Make sure that your video doesn’t require lip-sync to really work – otherwise, you’ll have a frustrated end-client.

For example, an ideal use for this option is workout videos. It’s not crucial to have perfect lip-sync when voicing these videos – after all, if the viewers are watching the instructor’s lips, they’re not really watching it right. Same for reality TV shows – in fact, many of them localize using a hybrid of dialogue replacement and UN-Style, where they line up the foreign-language voice like dialogue replacement, but then keep the original voice low in the mix.

Note also that this option is slightly less cost-effective than UN-Style VO, since it requires more work.

More on Dialogue Replacement here.

Lip-Sync Dubbing

When to use it: When you have feature films, TV shows, and web series, marketing videos and commercials, and for e-Learning scenarios. Excellent for any fiction or narrative content in which translation accuracy can be sacrificed slightly for lip-sync.

Tips for use: Scripts translated for dubbing must be adapted, sometimes drastically, to match lip-sync – that means that phrases have to be changed so that the number of syllables matches, as well as major vocalizations. This means that sometimes editors have to be very creative in how they translate a certain phrase – which is why this isn’t a great option when translation accuracy is paramount (for example, for a biomedical instructional video). This option also requires the most work, both during translation and in the studio, and is the least cost-effective.

More on Lip-Sync Dubbing here.

The Fifth Option – In-studio Interpretation

This is a very different option, because there is no script involved in the session. Rather, a professional interpreter records a simultaneous interpretation while watching the English-language source content, and then the studio engineer mixes it to picture. This is a good option for projects that have large amounts of content, like for example suites of webinars (especially ones that have lots of pauses, starts and stops, or even conversational spots).

More on in-studio interpretation here.

Two more tips before we go

The word “dubbing” is often used to refer to any voiceover for video – whether it’s off-screen narration or lip-sync, or anything else. Therefore, sometimes clients request dubbing for a project when they really mean UN-style, or even off-screen VO. If you’re not sure what service your client needs, be sure to ask. Better yet, send them the video above – it’s really hard to explain the different kinds of video VO, but most people get them immediately when they see them.

Finally, remember that sometimes the most cost-effective option is the right one for your project. Don’t worry if you have a high-end project but you don’t require lip-sync dubbing – if you have a documentary, for example, UN-style really will be the best option the vast majority of the time. This is in part why it’s good to have these conversations about VO options with the client as early in the process as possible – as with all elements of audio and video translation, planning ahead is the best way to lower costs and shorten timelines.