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The era Booming of Localisation

Today the most popular American subscription streaming service, Netflix, caters to more than 190 countries! But how did it manage to accomplish that? With popular dubbed shows like Bridgerton and Stranger Things, the voice talent industry is helping Netflix expand its services to more countries. The Spanish hit “Money Heist” has also been dubbed in numerous local languages. Many countries love consuming this Spanish original in regional accents as they prefer dubbed shows over subtitles. 

The pandemic brought covid protocols and several travel restrictions to our lives; however, it couldn’t restrict the audiences from virtually traveling to witness new cultures via Web/TV shows. You may have noticed the massive popularity of action-packed anime. It is a testimony to how easily audiences can welcome content from different countries. According to a recent report, more than 50% of global viewers on Netflix watch anime, and these numbers seem to be on the rise. Japanese Dubbed series like Naruto and Fullmetal Alchemist has also received immense love worldwide.  

These dubbed shows have put Netflix’s content in the front and center. Do you want to know more about dubbing? The dubbing process involves recording an alternative audio version of the content with a different voice. Although dubbing is quite similar to translation, the process is intricate and demands precision. It isn’t about repeating the same words in the local tongue; combining the right context and local flavor is the game! When content from different locations is localised, it allows audiences to enjoy the same thrill and adventure. 

Well, thanks to thousands of translation and localisation professionals who help us curate more localised content! Today many big streaming services have great opportunities for skilled localisation talent as they understand how translation and localisation professionals can help them deliver content to global audiences.

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Make Your Business Talk like a “Local.”

If your business wants to go global, you must engage with your target audience as a “local.” Your brand voice should resonate naturally with its target customers and must communicate in their local language. According to a report, 70% of users feel more loyal to brands that provide support in their native language. Therefore it’s pretty evident how critical localised communication has become.

To achieve this, your brand needs a localisation strategy. Localisation is about translation, but it is also more than just translation! Talking to a customer in their native language requires you to maintain the right context, cultural relevance, terminology, and tone.

If implemented correctly, you can position your business to attract specific market segments. Due to these reasons, today, many businesses aim for multilingual and localised communication via video and audio content. Quite similar to what Netflix did, in the same manner, they want to engage with their prospects, customers, employees, and partners. 

They want to translate their digital content, but they also consider localising their audio and video content using voiceovers for the different languages. 

For instance, there is a surge in demand for voice-over work in eLearning content. Traditionally, eLearning courses were long-form, most from 30 minutes to an hour. However, today, more and more eLearning courses are available in short, bite-sized chunks to allow learners to consume them at their own pace.  The rise in demand for voice-over in the eLearning industry is evident in the growth of demand for eLearning voice-over. 

The demand for voice-over services is also rising in the corporate sector. Many companies have adopted new working models like the hybrid working model (home working/office working). Offering online eLearning training content to their employees is great for increasing employee engagement. We expect eLearning training to continue to grow, leading to increased demand for localised voice-over services.

The Interval

The role of Voice-Over Artists in the Whole Scenario

A professional voice-over artist can help businesses add a dialect and overtone to their content to which the local audience can connect. An expert voice-over artist can help companies understand the different approaches used in the local language and then incorporate them into their content. Standard dialects and visuals can allure more potential buyers and build a stronger connection with the audience, increasing revenue. Let’s briefly specify the benefits of working with voice-over translation.

• More Box Office Collection: More local clients & sales

According to Harvard Business Review, 72.4% of customers say they are more likely to buy from a brand if the information regarding a product is in their native language. It shows that you can even boost your sales by using the power of voice-over translation; you can attract more local or native clients and boost your sales. A local customer will be more interested in interacting with any kind of information if it is presented in their local language. Therefore, if you plan to target a foreign market with a different language, you must use voice-over experts to make this expansion successful. 

• Wider Fanbase: Reach a broader customer base

If your target audience is not limited to a single language, try reaching out to them in a different language. Consider multilingual voice-over translation services to reap the maximum benefits. With this type of translation, you can reach a broader audience base. Promoting the video in the native language will no longer be confined to language barriers.

Behind The Scenes

Into23 voice-over Translation Process

A standard voice-over translation process is not as simple as it sounds. Precise and accurate voice-over translation requires both detailing and the skill of a professional. During translation, accuracy is of utmost importance because even a single mistake can change the entire meaning of the video. The translation process begins with transcribing the original audio content of the video. There is no way one can translate the content without going through the script. 

Into23’s voice-over services involve script transcription, where needed, translation of the script; we also record the translation in different versions. Professional translators conduct the translation process, and professional voice actors do the voice. 

Into23 works with voice actors that primarily use their home studio. How does that benefit our clients? It allows our team to offer services at economical prices, offering a price that is more competitive than high-end professional recording studios. We must clarify that we do not target voice-overs for the movie or TV industry as these do require these high-end recording studios. 

The Climax

The typical process of Voice-Over Translation

Firstly, we consider the type of voice our client is looking for, e.g., age group, accent, male or female? Our team offers 4 to 6 voice samples matching the profile; the client then chooses their preferred voice. Once the voice-over artist is shortlisted, we provide them with a brief. Our brief includes the following things: 

1. Voice style: in general, eLearning will be conversational. But because the courses are long, the conversational tone needs to be engaging.
2. Pronunciation: Guide for any brand names or unusual words/terms.
3. Audio recording specification: We specify whether we want 16-bit audio, 24-bit, or 32-bit audio files. The usual is 16-bit.
4. Audio sample rate: The usual sample rate is 44.1 kHz for eLearning but 48 kHz for dubbing/video.
5. Channel: Mono or Stereo channel. The usual for eLearning is Mono.
6. File format: MP4, Wav, or MP3?

The Different phases of Voice-over translation

Phase 1: The artist records the script. 

Phase 2: During the post-processing of the recorded script, the professionals remove pauses, breaks, verbal ticks, or noises. 

Phase 3: They also validate the script recording to ensure accuracy. Re-recording is requested if any parts need correction. For eLearning courses, we split the audio files following the flow of the course.

Phase 4: We also take client feedback and implement the necessary modification due to script changes, pronunciation change requests, etc. Into23 allows 2 to 3 rounds of corrections.

Into23’s pricing model:

Our pricing model depends on the length of the script or the final audio length (in minutes). Voice-over actors charge per final audio minute. However, we estimate the final length after recording; we prefer to quote based on script length in words.

•   Up to 10 mins of audio is less than 1500 words.
•   30 mins of audio is a script between 3000 and 4500 words
•   1 hour of audio is a script between 7500 and 9000 words.

The Cast

Different Categories of Voice-Over Translation

Voice replacement

One of the most common voice-over translation services within video content is voice replacement. Engineers mute the original audio, and the voice-over artist replaces the verbal content with his voice in the native language. One of the biggest challenges of this type of voice-over translation is matching the speed and delivery of the original voice. For example, there must be an emphasis on specific points in the original voice, some pauses, or breaks. It becomes difficult for the new speaker to match it accurately in such cases. 

The UN-style

Another voice-over translation service within video content is the UN-style. There are videos where both the original voice and the audience’s native language need to be heard. The UN-style translation never replaces the original speaker as the native language is just spoken over. 

The audience can easily hear the original voice for the first couple of seconds, followed by the native language voice. The sound of the native language usually surpasses the original speaker. It is helpful if you wish your audience to relate to the original voice. 

Off-screen voice over

This type of translation is ubiquitous in the eLearning realm. All the voices used over the translation are usually heard off-screen in this sector. The user can simply keep following the on-screen animations and texts.

Many international translation companies provide off-screen voice over. It is also the most straightforward type of translation since it requires only a single actor as the new language just needs to be synced. 

Dubbing

Dubbing might be the most recognisable type of translation. If you want the video to look like it has been initially shot in the native language, then dubbing is the right option. By the look of things, dubbing makes the video look more relatable in terms of the native language. 

For this, you have to choose from international translation companies as dubbing might be one of the most effective types of voice-over translations, but at the same time, it is challenging to implement. 

The End

Future Plans?

The future of voice-over translation will be a combination of AI and human voice recording. AI-generated voice recordings will allow a voice-over actor to produce a recording quickly, then edit it to correct any mispronunciations or other errors in the generated audio file. Into23 is also planning to offer synthetic voice recording services by 2023. We shall collaborate with some of our voice actors to provide this as a service. It will result in faster turnarounds, guaranteed high-quality output, and lower costs. For more details regarding our voice-over translation services, contact our experts now!