05 October 2022
What is the difference between dubbing and subtitling?
While they are both audiovisual services, they are quite distinct. Subtitling adapts the spoken content of a video into written words that appear on the screen (in the original or a translated language), while dubbing reproduces the spoken words of a video into a foreign language, and usually covers the voices in the original language of the video.
Although the differences are quite obvious, sometimes is easy to mix up the concepts when it comes to applying it to a specific project. Do I need dubbing or subtitling for my video?
The first thing you need to consider is the format. Do you need the speech in your video to be typed out so that it appears on the screen and is easily readable or do you need to work on the audio?
If you are working with written text, then you need subtitling services. If you are working with the audio, then you need to work with a dubbing agency.
Once that is clear, it’s important to consider the need for localization. If you chose subtitles, you’ll need to find an agency that supports the localization side of it. Localization means translating a text taking into account the market where it is going to be launched, the specific needs of the audience and the platform (if it is written or spoken text, for example).
There are many factors to consider when it comes to adapting multimedia and audiovisual content. The process might involve translation, not just native subtitlers. In all cases, it’s important to decide as early as possible whether the content needs to be dubbed, subbed or both.
If you want subtitles, the screenplay, transcript or dialogue will appear on the screen, either in the source language or in a translation.
If you are looking for a subtitling agency, you might need other related services too, as subtitles often need to be translated into foreign languages.
One of the most common requests from Alpha Studios’ clients is closed captioning and .srt file translation into a variety of languages.
In the dubbing process, voice artists are used as dubbers to replace the original actors’ voices. In post-production, the audio in the foreign language is mixed with other sounds effects. In some cases, the original voices are still heard in the background and other times they are removed entirely.
Alpha Studios offers state-of-the-art subtitling and dubbing studios in London. The team will be able to help you with all of your audiovisual needs, whether it’s English-only subtitling or if you need translation too.
Of course, requests for subtitling are often also related to dubbing. For this, Alpha Studios relies on an expert team of over 1000 voice actors in over 80 languages from nationalities across the globe who have taken part in a number of audio-visual projects.
