DUBBING SERVICE

DUBBING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES

A dubbing service consists of replacing the speech in one language in a video with its translation spoken in another language: Studio Moretto Group provides the finished audiovisual product, taking care of all your phonic, directing, and post-production operations, such as recording the dubber’s voice, synchronisation and mixing.

This service means that you can receive your films, videos and documentaries dubbed into a foreign language, with a highly efficient, professional result. More and more companies are choosing video to launch themselves on international markets, also in light of the enormous importance attributed to video content on the web by search engines nowadays: SMG will be at your side the entire way! Here is a list of our services:

• Translation and dubbing.
• Dubbing only service: useful in the event that the customer already has a translation, we can provide the service for recording the dubber’s voice, with possible adaptations of the texts available.

PHASES OF THE DUBBING PROCESS

Dubbing begins with the translation of the original speech, which is given to the translator in writing; this original text may already be available in writing – as in the case of a movie script – or must be transcribed from the audio recording. SMG translates the text by assigning it to linguistic staff with specific expertise in the translation of audiovisual content, since the rhythm, length, and dynamism of the phrases intended for big, and small, screens are different to what we are used to reading on paper or through any another reading platforms.

The translation will make sure the message has immediacy, brevity and absolute clarity and must faithfully reflect the mood of the discourse, and should especially be structured to follow the pauses and movements of the speech as much as possible. Our translators consciously conduct their work whilst already starting to think about the next step of inserting the dubber’s voice into the movie. To actually obtain good dubbing, in terms of content simply having a translated text that is faithful to the original is not enough, as it must also follow precise formal rules: for example, it must respect the length of the source text as much as possible for consistency with the image shown on the screen, and therefore with the lip movements and gestures of the person speaking. This does not only make the dubber’s work easier, but will help create a very effective and captivating dialogue.

The translation is then revised with the video next to it in an editing phase that is referred to as ‘adaptation’, during which the text is further amended and revised in order to achieve a satisfactory synchronisation.

Once the translation is completed, work begins on the movie that is going to be dubbed: it is divided into segments constituting separate units, called rings. The next stage consists of recording the dubber’s voices on one or more sound tracks. Dubbing artists do the recordings in a recording studio, i.e. a soundproofed and suitably equipped place, where they are assisted by audio technical staff.

The next stage is the synchronisation between the audio and video: with the aid of an electronic digital instrument, the synchroniser matches the recorded voices with the original lip movement, by shortening or lengthening the pauses and performing tricks to move phrases or whole pieces of dialogue according to the picture.

Finally, the last stage of mixing consists of integrating, merging or superimposing the soundtrack, dialogues, images, and separately recorded sounds in one single piece.

HOW TO REQUEST DUBBING SERVICES

To request a dubbing service, the client is asked to provide the following information so that SMG can provide an accurate quote:

• Your personal data: name, business name, email and phone number.
• If the client also needs a translation, indicate the source language, the target language, the topic and the number of minutes of audio to translate.
• Voice of the dubber: male or female, young or mature.
• Type of dubbing: synchronised or oversound.
• Number of minutes of audio recording to dub.
• The format of the audio file to be processed.
• Quality of service: the system allows you to choose the preferred quality level:
  • Standard quality: professional service at low cost, performed by mother-tongue interpreters by digital voice recorder for recording at low frequencies;
  • Top quality: service at higher cost, carried out in the studio with a wide range of frequencies, with professional dubbing artists (national voices).
• Date and time within which the customer wants to receive the offer.