The Beginner’s Guide to Audio Dubbing

What is audio dubbing?

Audio dubbing is the process of replacing the original dialogue from your video or film with new audio. Unlike voiceover, which plays over your videos, audio dubbing aims to replace the dialogue as precisely and naturally as possible.

There are two main uses for movie audio dubbing: ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement) and language dubbing.

Automated Dialogue Replacement

ADR is far from automated. It can be a painstaking process largely reliant on the skill of the performer. ADR is performed on clips when the dialogue recorded on set is unusable because of interferences like background noise, or location-based issues like shooting at the beach.

ADR can also be used when script changes are required after the filming is complete. You can see this frequently in movies that have replaced swear words to achieve a lower age certification.

Usually, ADR is only used when small sections of video need to be dubbed.

Language dubbing

Language dubbing uses the same process as ADR. However, it’s used to create an entirely new version of your film in another language. While ADR needs to be perfectly timed so the audience isn’t aware of the dub, a foreign language version of your script will rarely fit exactly.

Understanding audio dubbing

Language dubbing has become even easier nowadays thanks to the rapid development of AI voice dubbing. What used to be quite a time-consuming, costly process can now be completed in minutes, if not seconds.

When was audio dubbing first used in filmmaking?

It’s generally accepted that the early 1930s were the key moment for dubbing. Around this time, Hollywood studios began adopting the use of voice dubbing as a way of preparing their films for foreign markets.

Where is audio dubbing used?

Where isn’t audio dubbing used? From Hollywood to Netflix and even YouTube, audio voice dubbing is regularly used in filmmaking and video production.

Why use audio dubbing?

There are many reasons why you’d use audio dubbing. Sometimes, a studio will make use of audio dubbing to remove swear words and achieve a lower age-restriction rating for their film, or if they want to replace an actor’s singing voice with one that’s better.

Audio dubbing also enables a filmmaker to produce high-quality dialogue regardless of the conditions on the day of the shoot. There are a million variables on set – there could be accidental air traffic, unnoticed background noises, the interference of wind, or a missed line of dialogue. Dubbing is incredibly useful when your original audio isn’t usable or salvageable.

Furthermore, dubbing is a way to massively increase the reach of a film. When you release a film internationally, there are some people in other countries who are happy to watch with subtitles. While adding subtitles to your video is a great option, some won’t want to for various reasons, such as that they find subtitles distracting, or can’t keep up with the speed of them. When you dub a film into the language of the country it’s released in, you open it up to a much wider audience.

How common is audio dubbing?

Voice dubbing is becoming more and more common, especially with the development of AI dubbing. While it continues to be controversial, more and more filmmakers are making use of AI voice dubbing and voice cloning to complete their projects.

How to dub a video

Dubbing occurs during the editing stage of production, and there are two main ways to go about it. First, there’s the traditional way that’s been used in the industry for decades. It requires three key elements:

• Your performer,
• Audio-recording equipment
• A preview of the clips needing ADR or foreign-language dubbing

The idea of video dubbing is to repeat the performance and dialogue of the scene in a controlled environment, and to sync it precisely with the recorded footage. The performer is set up with a microphone, usually in a recording booth, and syncs the lines to the recorded video.

In some ways, it is the reverse process of creating a music video, where the performer lip-syncs on video to a pre-recorded track. With ADR, it is the video that’s finished, and the new audio needs to match the lip movements and emotion of the scene.

Once the new audio tracks are created, they are inserted into the project in place of the original lines. You’ll also need to consider editing the new audio to fit into the scene, as well as background SFX to cover the dub.

Meanwhile, the alternative audio dubbing technique is very new. There are now very powerful and effective AI-dubbing platforms available to creators. Using voice cloning and text-to-speech AI voice dubbing techniques, you can generate a custom voiceover for your film in a matter of seconds. Some popular options include Lovo.ai, Voices.com, and of course, Artlist.

When is dubbing added to a video or film?

Although audio dubbing is only added to your films during the post-production process, it’s something you should keep in mind during your filming and editing. Consider several things when voice-dubbing your projects, depending on what you want to achieve:

Better audio on set

When it comes to ADR, the best solution is not to need it, or to at least reduce the amount of ADR required. So ensure your audio is the very best it can be at the time of recording. Although some locations prohibit clean audio, investing in good microphones and a dedicated sound engineer can save you hours in the ADR booth.

Hide the ADR in the edit

If you know that some of your audio might need ADR, you can edit the film in such a way that will hide the voice dubbing. ADR is challenging when it comes to matching precise lip movements, especially in close-up front-on shots. Use editing to hide the dubbing by either focusing on a different character or using wide/profile shots.

Rewrite/Re-edit

When you intend to create foreign-language dubs of your project, you need to keep in mind that not all languages translate to the same length. What is said in 5 words in one language could easily be 10 words in another. Although professional dubbing performers will be experienced with recreating dialogue as precisely as possible, you might need to consider rewriting lines or re-editing the video to better fit the chosen language.

Is video dubbing affordable, and should I include it in my videos?

Audio dubbing is a fantastic solution for ADR and foreign-language uses, but it’s always been a pretty costly process. Along with studio/equipment costs, you need to provide for the performer and editor on the project.

If you want to use ADR for only unusable audio, you may not need your performer for very long. But foreign-language versions can take a while to complete. Comparatively, subtitles can be added to your project for little cost, and with auto-subtitling apps, it doesn’t take as long.

Of course, with the advent of AI dubbing, this process just got a whole lot easier and cheaper for creators. This new development in AI voice dubbing has opened up the possibilities for every content creator to use it and better communicate with their audiences.

The future of audio dubbing

Synthetic film dubbing and AI deep-fake technology have the potential to be used negatively. However, with the technology here to stay and rapidly improving, it’s inevitable that it will be used for more than just changing dialogue in Hollywood blockbusters.

Deep-fake technology allows editors to adjust the performers’ facial movements for a better audio dub sync. While the technology is still being developed, there have been some impressive examples of its use. For example, check out Jack Nicholson speaking French.

Synthetic voice dubbing uses AI to replace your voice with another; essentially, it can make you sound like anyone else in the world.

Deep-fake technology isn’t perfect and can often result in a videogame-style mouth movement. It looks great, but the audience is still aware something isn’t quite right. Nevertheless, when mixed with the incredible Synthetic Voice Dubbing technology, you can quite literally make anyone say anything.

With such substantial advancements in AI synthetics and deepfake technology, audio dubbing is set to become more accessible and cost-effective than ever before. However, because of its potential dangers, there are already calls for governments and social media platforms to regulate their use.

Despite these concerns, AI voice dubbing is improving every day and has opened up a vast new world of possibilities for all kinds of creators, making the audio dubbing process so much easier than ever before.