What is the Difference between Dubbing and Voice Over?

Many individuals who lack technical knowledge tend to confuse dubbing and voice over artistry as the same thing. After all, recording is the main function in both. Although this is true, there are still distinct differences between dubbing and voice acting. The reason we need these recording techniques is that the multimedia world has evolved over the years and pertinent information is available by reading, watching, and listening to multiple sorts of media channels. For this, audiences often need an interpretation which has become an adopted niche of translation companies worldwide. Dubbing and voiceover projects make possible the translation of documentaries, CD recordings, presentations, training videos, and more. Dubbing and voiceover are techniques for delivering a message to the audience. Voice-over is mainly a narrative, but it does not include the original audio's tonality and emotion. On the other hand, dubbing includes the technical, emotive, and tonal richness of the original audio. But where voiceover is more noticeable to an audience, dubbing tends to be more on the subtle side. They may both be re-voicing forms, yet dubbing is more creative. It adapts to new audiences, but voiceover remains loyal to the original content. Let's take a look at the differentiating factors in detail below.

Dubbing

In this process, a voice artist or voice actor has to dub for the supporting actors or leads. The project can be anything such as a movie, TV series, animated movie, cartoon, etc. in the local accent, dialect, or native language. Voice acting plays a major role in this process so that emotions come through in a dubbing project. Dubbing means translating audio while simultaneously trying to hide the evidence of translation. This way, the target audience can never detect that the foreign content is not native to them. Perhaps this quality is why we refer to the art of dubbing as language replacement too. So natural is the process that the audience believes the actors on screen are speaking their native language. Project makers have to dub their work because TV series or movies can earn the license or syndication to release or run in markets other than the country of origination. Localization companies thrive on this key service of translation specialization.

This skill, however, is not as easy as it sounds. You will note how actors require lip-syncing in a particular language and how they may need to use more or fewer words while replicating emotions. You will also find dozens of popular Japanese anime or English movies which localized companies dub into African, European, Korean, Chinese, and Indian languages. The dubbing process itself is extremely intricate. Dubbing artists must practice keen observation and precision to match the intonation, acting, and emotion. It is also essential to match lip movement for finesse, especially in close-up shots. But it is not only the dubbing artist who must possess incredible skills. The sound engineer working alongside the artist needs to be equally skilled in this art to achieve the accuracy and finesse the audience loves. For audio to be well dubbed, it needs to have experts behind it and the sound to be as natural as possible.

Voice-Over

In voice-over, a female or male voice-over artist has to record content on a high-quality condenser microphone. They must record in a professional acoustic studio, enveloped in a soundproofed booth. Both the non-broadcast media and the broadcasting media projects require a soundproofed booth for the recording session. Voice-overs mainly record for commercials, ad spots, narrations, and documentaries of all kinds. These also include corporate videos, e-learning, IVR, and tutorials. For spots and TVCs, you can record a voice-over after the film or video creation is complete. You will also need a script and timing for recording voiceovers for visuals and videos. Basically, what you really do in a voice-over is to translate audio and lay it over an existing recording. Your voice as the voice-over actor will come across loud and clear; but most often, you may also be able to hear the original voice in the background. The convenient fact in voiceover is that you do not have to sync it to the character's lips on the screen. Voiceovers are also more narrative because they encompass a broader perspective of the audio. This recording type does not rely on interpreting word for word, so one does not have to be technically precise here.

Also, in voiceover, the interpretation of the speaker is broader, so one does not stress emotions and tonality as much. In fact, these are often not necessary, even in voice-over. Perhaps this is the reason why people popularly refer to this recording type as UN style (short for United Nations) typically used for marketing materials and business training. In short, it can be safe to say that voice-over is the ideal recording form for instructional content such as e-learning and training videos. It is also useful for documentaries and new segments. In filmmaking, too, voice-over can be instrumental in highlighting the internal dialogues of your characters such as in creative storytelling.

Voice acting has been a thriving career since the world of media came into existence. As business owners, entrepreneurs, filmmakers and etc., you want more and more audience for your projects and products. Among the countless opportunities for connecting on a larger scale with bigger audiences are dubbing and voice-over. These two processes help deliver your content globally. With dubbing or voice-over, your content becomes capable of sharing on Facebook, YouTube, and other social media platforms because of the translation factor. When you make your video available in multiple languages, you are able to reach extended audiences. This is where voice-over and dubbing play the most vital role.