Lipsmatch Preparing for dubbing
Updated
How do you prepare a video for dubbing?
The files, scripts and decisions to settle before anyone translates a word.
The short answer
Send the final video at full quality, with the voice and music on separate tracks if you have them. Add the script or a transcript and a list of names and terms. Then name each language, the person who approves it, and where each version goes.
One master and the client's own dub
This film shows the last item on the checklist below: the client's own dub. Britannia shot its 50-50 Golmaal film once, in Hindi. The brand sent its own Tamil dub. Choose Hindi to see the master as shot. Choose Tamil and tap Original to hear the dub on the Hindi mouth. Then tap Lipsmatch to see the mouth match every Tamil word.
Good files make a faster, more accurate dub
Settle the files and a few decisions before the translation begins. The work then moves faster, with fewer rounds of changes.
A clean voice track and a list of your terms help in 2 places. The terms list keeps every name right in the translation. The clean track gives a recreated voice clear speech to learn from.
Length matters too. Researchers who dubbed English lectures into Indian languages found the new audio ran 1.2 to 1.5 times longer than the English. So each translated line must still fit the time it has on screen.
The dubbing checklist: what to send
Send what you have today. Each item makes the dub more accurate, and a project can start with the video alone.
- The best master you have. Send the final export at full quality. That is the file you give a TV channel. A copy saved from a social platform is compressed. Compression blurs the detail around the mouth.
- Voice and music on separate tracks. Ask your editor for the music and effects track. With it, the new voice plays over the original music and sound. If you only have the final mix, send that and tell us.
- The script or a transcript. Send the words as they were spoken, with the speaker's name on each line. If the script changed on the day of the shoot, a transcript of the final edit is the safer guide.
- A names and terms list. List every name, brand, product, place and title that must stay exact. Mark the words that stay in English. Show how to say each one.
- The languages and the variant of each. Spanish for Mexico differs from Spanish for Spain. Hindi for a news channel differs from Hindi for a comedy sketch. Name the audience as well as the language.
- One approver for each language. Pick a person who speaks the language and knows the subject. They read the translation, then watch the finished version. When they approve, that language is done.
- Where each version will be published. A TV spot, a YouTube upload, a Reel and a course page each have their own length, screen shape and sound level. Send a cut for each one, and tell us where it will go.
- Your own dub, if one exists. If you already have a dub, send it with the master. We then match the mouth to your dub, and the voice stays as you recorded it.
Which files each method needs
Subtitles, a dub and a lip-matched dub each use different files.
| Question | Subtitles | Dubbing | Dubbing with lip sync |
|---|---|---|---|
| The final video at full quality | A viewing copy is enough | A viewing copy is enough for a new audio track | Needed, because the mouth changes in the picture |
| Voice and music on separate tracks | Not used | Gives the cleanest new mix | Gives the cleanest new mix |
| Script or transcript | The base for every subtitle | The base for the translation | The base for the translation |
| Names and terms list | Keeps the spelling right | Keeps names and terms said right | Keeps names and terms said right |
| Timing | Each subtitle needs a start and end time | Each line must fit its pause in the edit | Each line must fit its time in the edit. Then the mouth changes to fit the new words |
| Text in the picture | Stays as it is. A subtitle can translate it | Stays in the original language | Stays in the original language |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Burned-in subtitles and on-screen text stay as they are
A dub changes the voice, and Lipsmatch also changes the mouth. Text that is part of the picture stays in its original language.
Burned-in subtitles are the hardest case. They are part of every frame. So viewers read the old words under the new voice. If you have a clean version of the edit without subtitles, send that one. An editor can export it from the original project.
Titles, name captions, slides, prices and product labels stay in the original language too. Lipsmatch changes the speaker's voice and mouth, and leaves all text in the picture as it is.
For videos you have not made yet, plan for other languages from the start. Keep text graphics on their own layer. Then export a textless version next to the final cut. A textless version is the edit with no text at all.
Prepare the script for a new language
A dub is made for the ear and for the time on screen. A few notes from you bring the translation much closer to what you meant.
Mark who speaks each line. Mark the lines that must stay word for word, such as a slogan, a legal line or a quote. Mark jokes and local references. Then the translator knows what each one means and keeps that meaning.
Decide how much English stays. The lecture researchers found that teachers often switch between English and their own language. They also found that many technical words need to keep their English sound, spelled in the alphabet of the new language.
Approve the translation before the voice work starts. A change on paper is quick. The same change after the voice and the mouth are finished means doing that part again.
From your files to a finished version
Most dubbing projects follow these 5 steps. Your part is biggest in the first 2.
The order of work
Gather the files
Put the master, the separate tracks, the script, the terms list and the publishing plan in one shared folder.
Agree on the words
A translator puts your script into each language. Your approver checks it against the terms list and approves it.
Make the new voice
A studio records the new language, or technology recreates the speaker's own voice. Each line fits the pauses in your edit.
Match the mouth
For a lip-matched version, lip matching changes the mouth to fit every new word. A plain dub skips this step.
Check and publish
Your approver watches each version in full. Then each one goes where you planned it.
Decide where each version will live
Where a version plays decides the file you need back. So settle it before the work starts.
On YouTube, a plain dub can go on the original video as an extra audio track. The mouth on screen then still speaks the original language.
A Lipsmatch version changes the picture, so it comes back as a finished video file for each language. Plan a separate upload for each one: on a channel for that language, in a playlist, as Shorts or Reels, or on your website.
TV has its own delivery rules, and each channel has a spec sheet. In Europe, for example, the EBU R 128 recommendation sets an average loudness of -23 LUFS. LUFS is the unit broadcasters use to measure loudness. Send your channel's sheet with the master.
When you can skip the lip match
A lip-matched dub matters when a face speaks on screen and viewers watch it closely. Some videos need less.
If no face speaks on screen, as in a screen recording or slides with a voice-over, there is no mouth to match. A plain dub or subtitles are enough.
If many people watch with the sound off, or the video must serve deaf viewers, add subtitles as well.
Our guide to subtitles, voice-over and dubbing compares them.
If you are not sure that a video needs it, test one scene. You then see the difference on your own footage.
How Lipsmatch uses these files
Lipsmatch is for videos where a face speaks on screen, and it starts from the files on this checklist.
If you have a dub, send it with the master. We match the mouth to every word of it. If you need the dub too, we translate your script and check every line against your terms list. Our technology recreates the speaker's own voice with the delivery of the original. Then we match the mouth.
Our team checks every version before it reaches you. We recreate a voice and match a mouth only with the approvals you already have. On aired campaigns, we delivered 75+ broadcast masters in 12 languages.
If you publish often, a monthly plan sets the hours of video and the languages. The versions come in regular batches. Agencies and post houses can work with us under their own name, through our partner terms.
Dubbing preparation questions
What video format do I send for dubbing?
Send the format you finished in. That is usually the master your editor exported, such as a 4K ProRes file, or the highest quality MP4 you have. We work on your delivery file as it is, so you do not need to export it again. If your editor has notes on frame rate or timecode, send those too.
Can I send a YouTube link instead of the video file?
For a first test scene, a link is enough to show us the video. For the finished versions, send the original file. A copy from YouTube is compressed for streaming. The work on the mouth needs full detail. Your editor, or whoever uploaded the video, usually has the original export.
What is a music and effects track in dubbing?
It is the soundtrack of a video without the dialogue: music, background sound and effects. The new voice goes on top of it. So the mix sounds like the original. If your editor still has the project, they can export it by muting the dialogue tracks. Film crews call it the M and E track.
Can you dub a video with two or more speakers?
Yes. Put each speaker's name next to their lines in the transcript, so every line goes to the right voice. We match each speaking face on its own, even with several people in one frame. We recreate each voice only with the approvals you already have from that speaker.
Do I need permission to dub someone else's video?
Yes. You need the rights to the footage and the approval of each person whose voice and face appear in it. We start a project only with the approvals you already have. Our guide to the rules for AI dubbing explains labels and rights. For your own case, ask a lawyer.
Can I dub only part of a video?
Yes. Note the start and end time of each part, or send each cut-down as its own file. You can also dub one short scene first. It tests a language before you dub the full video.
Explore related
Start with one scene
Send one scene and name the language. A link is enough to start. We send it back in your language, with the mouth matched, at no cost and with no commitment. Then we plan the files for the full video with you.