Lipsmatch Tamil
Tamil AI dubbing with lip sync
Lipsmatch makes a Tamil version of your video, with the speaker's mouth on every Tamil word. If you have a Tamil dub, we match the mouth to it. If not, we translate your script into Tamil. Our technology then recreates the speaker's own voice to say it.
A Tamil dub, before and after Lipsmatch
Britannia shot this 50-50 Golmaal film in Hindi, for a campaign that ran in IPL primetime. The Tamil voice is the client's own dub. Tap Original to hear it over the Hindi mouth. Then tap Lipsmatch. The same dub plays, and the lips now form every Tamil word.
Tamil video reaches far beyond Tamil Nadu
Tamil is an official language in 3 countries: India, Sri Lanka and Singapore. In India it is official in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Tamil shows and films also draw viewers from the rest of India. In a 2022 Ormax study of streaming in India, 82% of Tamil content viewers lived outside Tamil Nadu.
Studios already dub Tamil films into Hindi for viewers in the north. So Tamil work can run both ways. We take videos into Tamil for Tamil homes, and out of Tamil for Hindi and English viewers.
6 routes into and out of Tamil
Each route gets its own translation of your script, for the people who will watch it.
Bourbon took this route, from an English master to a Tamil version that aired
Your Tamil film or channel speaks Hindi, and the mouth moves with the Hindi words
A Tamil speaker reaches English viewers in a recreated version of their own voice
A Tamil master can also become Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam versions, each with the mouth matched
We also work in Spanish, Arabic, French and many more languages. So a Tamil video can reach viewers outside India
Tamil in brief
The numbers, and the forms of Tamil to plan for.
| First-language speakers in India | About 69 million people at the 2011 census |
|---|---|
| Speakers worldwide | About 79 million first-language speakers, and 86 million in total |
| Script | Tamil script, with 12 vowels, 18 consonants and one special character, the aytam |
| Official language in | Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India, plus Sri Lanka and Singapore |
| Communities abroad | Malaysia and South Africa, where Tamil is a recognised minority language. Also Mauritius |
| Classical status | India's first classical language, named in 2004 |
| Forms of Tamil | Formal Centamil, everyday spoken Tamil, Sri Lankan Tamil, and Tanglish in the cities |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Which Tamil your translation uses
We agree on these points with you before we translate any line into Tamil.
- Spoken or formal. Most films, TV and radio use spoken Tamil. It suits most ads and creator videos. Formal Tamil, called Centamil, is the Tamil of textbooks, literature and public speaking. For a lecture or a sermon, we ask which one your viewers expect.
- How much English. City speakers often mix English into spoken Tamil, a style called Tanglish. A phone review can use a lot of it. A formal lesson usually needs less.
- India or Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan Tamil keeps words and grammar that are rare in India. It also has words borrowed from Portuguese, Dutch and English. We ask which country most of your viewers live in.
- Course terms. An NPTEL teacher who taught machine learning in Tamil kept English for the technical terms. The teacher also started a word list for Tamil-medium students. We agree on a term list with you in the same way.
- Line length. Your edit keeps its cuts and pauses. So each Tamil line gets the same time as the line it replaces. Our translators fit each line into that time. Then Lipsmatch shapes the lips to the Tamil.
What the Tamil mouth adds
In the Golmaal film above, the Tamil voice was right from the start. Only the mouth showed that it was a dub, because it still moved for Hindi.
Lipsmatch reshapes the lips for each Tamil word. The rest of the frame stays as shot, with the same eyes, expression and light. A viewer in Chennai, Colombo or Singapore sees a speaker who speaks Tamil.
You can bring the Tamil dub, as Britannia did. Or we make the dub in the speaker's recreated voice. Each video comes back as one finished Tamil file, checked by our team. Post it on a Tamil channel, run it as an ad or put it on your website.
Tamil versions for your kind of video
Each page shows how the work runs for that team. If you publish in Tamil every week, a monthly plan sets your hours of video and your languages. We deliver in regular batches.
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01
Brands
Tamil versions of your ad films from the same shoot, as with our Britannia campaigns
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02
YouTube creators
A Hindi or English channel for Tamil viewers, or a Tamil channel for all of India
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03
Online courses
Tamil lessons with the same teacher and the same voice. By March 2021, SWAYAM had translated 94 courses into Tamil
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04
Spiritual organisations
Archives of talks in Tamil, in the teacher's own recreated voice, on a monthly plan
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05
Film and TV
Tamil films and series for Hindi viewers, with the mouths moving in Hindi
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06
Agencies
Unbranded Tamil versions of your client's ad, delivered under your own name
Tamil dubbing questions
How do I translate a video to Tamil?
Send us the video, and tell us who your Tamil viewers are. We agree on the kind of Tamil with you. Then we translate your script. Our technology recreates the speaker's voice to say it, and Lipsmatch moves the mouth to each Tamil word. Our team checks the result, and you get a new Tamil video file. If you already have a Tamil dub, we only match the mouth.
How to dub YouTube videos in Tamil?
Send us the video. We make a Tamil version in the speaker's own recreated voice, with the mouth on every Tamil word. YouTube's automatic dubbing adds only a Tamil sound track in a generated voice. The mouth keeps moving in English. Our Tamil file changes the picture, so you upload it as a separate video. For example, it can go on a Tamil channel or as Shorts.
Can you translate a Tamil video to English?
Yes. We translate your Tamil script into English. Our team checks that the English keeps the meaning. Our technology recreates the speaker's own voice to speak the English. Then Lipsmatch matches the lips to each English word. English is one of the 12 languages we have shipped on aired campaigns.
Can you translate a Hindi video to Tamil with lip sync?
Yes. The film on this page took that route. It is a 50-50 Golmaal ad, shot in Hindi and aired in Tamil with the mouth matched. The client brought its own Tamil dub. If you have no Tamil dub, we translate the Hindi script into Tamil and recreate the speaker's voice.
Do you dub into formal or spoken Tamil?
Spoken Tamil suits most videos. Most films, TV and radio use it, so ads and creator videos sound right in it. Formal Tamil, or Centamil, is the Tamil of textbooks and public speaking. Some lectures and sermons suit it. We decide with you before we translate.
Can I translate my online course into Tamil without recording it again?
Yes. We translate the script of each lesson into Tamil. Our technology recreates the teacher's own voice to speak it. Lipsmatch matches the mouth, so the teacher seems to teach in Tamil. We agree with you which English technical terms to keep. For a full course, a monthly plan delivers the lessons in regular batches.
Can you dub my video to Tamil in my original voice?
Yes. Our technology recreates your own voice to say the Tamil words. It keeps the energy and timing of your first take. Then Lipsmatch moves your mouth to fit them. We do this only with the approvals you already have for the voice and face on screen.
Explore related
See your speaker in Tamil
Send one scene. We send it back in Tamil, with the mouth matched, at no cost and with no commitment. Tell us if your viewers live in India, Sri Lanka or Singapore.