Voice Over Project FAQs

If it speaks – we can record it!

We can record all types of voice-over, for all types of projects including: documentary, e-Learning and training, corporate, advertising, telephone messaging and IVR, computer games and broadcast.

The original speaker can still be heard in the background so that the audience is aware that the translated voice-over is acting as an interpretation of what is being said.

A UN Style voice-over, is a perfect fit for films with a serious subject matter, and it’s often used in documentaries and in news broadcast, where interviews are conducted on camera, in a language the target audience does not understand.

The actors’ voices are replaced (dubbed) with those of foreign actors. Lip-sync dubbing is commonly used in video games, animations, and films, as well as corporate dramas and e-learning video.

Lip syncing requires extensive preparatory work to adapt the scripts to fit with the actor’s lip movements. Producing a lip-sync recording is a time consuming process, and it can take considerably longer than a standard voice-over to produce.

Western cinema goers generally prefer subtitles or closed captions instead of lip-sync dubbing, but lip-syncing is preferred by many other cultures, particularly if the literacy of the audience is low.

Phrase-sync dubbing is similar to lip-sync, but the new voice-over is not matched to lip movements, it’s simply matched phrase by phrase, so it is not as costly to produce as lip-sync.

This is primarily dependent on the availability of the selected voice artist. Usually we can turn-around urgent projects in just 24 hours. Most projects will require two to three days to schedule, record and edit.

We can deliver the audio as a raw, unedited file, or we can clean, edit, name and deliver the audio in any format and resolution you require.

We can also re-integrate the audio back into the video, and encode the final video in any video file format and resolution you require.

To learn more about how we clean and edit our voice-over recordings, and why it makes for better sounding voice files, watch our video here.

Yes, we only ever work with voices native to the country or region required.

There are five different ways of recording voice-over for video projects:

• wild voice-over narration – not recorded to picture and with no timing constraints
• time-synced voice-over narration – recorded to picture
• UN Style voice-over (see its own FAQ)
• phrase-sync dubbing – the phrase is in sync with the mouth movements, but not exact
• lip-sync dubbing – the most difficult process where the mouth movements are exactly synced to the audio

The method you choose is a matter of budget, taste, and the audience’s preferences.

Usage fees (also sometimes called “buy-out” fees) are an additional fee payable to a voice artist for the use of their voice in TV, Radio, Website, in-flight or Cinema broadcast; Museums, Events, Exhibitions & in-stores; or video game, DVD, Film or a sell-through product. Every union has their own guidelines on usage rates. Typically we recommend allowing 100% of the voice artist recording fee for usage in your budget, but this is a guideline only and the actual cost is often dependent on the voice talent selected, and exact details of the usage. For more information about usage fees, take a look at this blog post.

It’s all to do with making sure that when the translated script is read, that it synchronises well with the video image. Most languages are ‘longer’ than English in that they contain up to 40% more words. German is a good example of this.

Timed voiceover: (wild and not to picture) We’ll need to create a time-coded transcript and/or a time-coded bilingual document to assist the engineer in the recording session. It’s no good recording phrases and sentences that then don’t fit the time available within that section.
Time-sync voiceover: (recorded to picture) The new voice track for a time-sync voiceover will be recorded to picture and phrased as possible to the original voiceover. We’ll use the same time-coded transcript as above.
Lip-sync voiceover: (recorded to picture) The translations will require an additional pre-production stage in order to adapt each phrase to fit the mouth movements of the character on screen. Otherwise the voice artist will have to speak at an un-natural pace and the intended lip-sync will not to be achieved.

Some of our voice artists are not based within the UK and record from their own studios in their home country. Each voice artist that records from their own studio has had their voice audio checked and approved by our engineers before being added to our database. This process ensures the audio that they produce meets our quality requirements.

In reality we tend to work with ‘preferred suppliers’; these are the voice artists we know and trust, who will be around in a few years’ time when you need updates, and who respond quickly to requests. That’s why we prefer to recommend talents, rather than present you with a huge list of talents to choose from that we rarely work with and don’t know very well.

Whether our voice artist is based locally or in-country, a live-direction session enables you to act as the host and director of the recording session.

You will need to create a session meeting link (Zoom, MS Teams, etc) and we’ll pass this on to the voice artist. This means you can add as many parties as you require to be present within the session.

You will have complete creative control of the session, and be able to converse with the voice artist and the recording engineer directly. This often helps prevents the need for re-recordings due to mispronunciation or other misunderstandings.

Generally we ask for 50% up front and the balance on 30 days for new customers. This is negotiable in some instances, and a credit check is run on all new customers.

For small, one off projects, we may ask for payment in advance.

Regular customers will establish a credit limit with us, with projects payable within 30 days of invoice. If you would like to apply for a credit account, your account manager will provide you with a form, which when completed, we’ll pass on to our finance team.

Matinée Multilingual Terms of Business:

• All quotes are subject to sight of source material.
• All prices exclude VAT (if applicable).
• A purchase order or project reference must be given prior to start of production.
• All customer information is treated as strictly confidential.
• Any quote is based on the information you have supplied, and on the project scope
  stipulated in this proposal. If the project scope is incorrect or changes, we reserve the right to
  adjust the quote accordingly.
• Quotes are valid for 2 months.
• Once your completed project files have been delivered, approvals must be given within 10
  working days. If more time is required for approval, this must be agreed with your Account
  Manager in advance as this may affect payment terms.
• Two full working days’ notice is required to cancel a booking, otherwise a 50% cancellation
  fee will apply.
• Project files are deleted after three years. If you would like a permanent archive of your
  project, we will charge an extra £50 for this service.

Payment Terms

For new clients we will issue an invoice for 50% of the project total plus VAT (if applicable), on receipt of your purchase order or written instruction to proceed. This must be paid to Matinée prior to commencement. The balance plus any authorised extras will be invoiced upon completion of the project, and is to be paid by return. If you wish to apply for a credit account, we may agree to a variance of the above terms upon satisfactory completion. We can also accept payment via credit card.

For existing clients this will depend on whether a credit account has been agreed with us or not. One of the following options will apply:

• Without an agreed credit limit we will issue an invoice for 50% of the project total plus VAT (if applicable), on receipt of your purchase order or written instruction to proceed. This must be paid to Matinée prior to commencement of the project. The balance plus any authorised extras will be invoiced upon completion of the project, and is to be paid by return.
• OR, 100% of the project total plus VAT (if applicable) will be invoiced on completion, payable by return.
• If a credit account has been agreed, an invoice for the project total plus VAT (if applicable) will be sent on completion of the project for payment within 30 days.