Studio and Producers Q & A: Part 1

Q:  We’re an audio studio and we’ve had huge time losses in foreign language voice sessions because the scripts are too long or the talents can’t speak the copy well.  The clients bring script checkers, and they keep running back and forth into the talent booth to rewrite copy.  So, when we submit our final invoice, we are constantly having to explain why our studio costs are much higher compared to our estimates.  What is this story?

A: Ahhhh.  Yes this is a painful experience, isn’t it?  There may be a few things at play here.  First, any translation is probably around 10% to 15% longer than the original English.  So, a 30 second commercial becomes a 37 second commercial.  So, is obvious that script translations for voiceovers must be rewritten for the correct timing of the original English.  And it must be rewritten without losing your message or important content.  Secondly, is your voice talent a professional?  This affects the speed at which they can speak in studio.  Then, if is a professional and they are still having trouble speaking the text, is probably because they are trying to speak a translation that is the “written word” as opposed to the “spoken word”.  You can count on one hand the translation companies that know the difference.

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