You need a lip-sync dub of your animated series or feature film, but COVID protocols are telling everyone to stay home. What do you do? You figure out a software solution for remote lip-sync dubbing that allows everyone to work remotely, without compromising the product.

Seven months into the pandemic, virtually every sound studio is recording voiceover remotely. If they didn’t have Source-Connect before, they likely do now. And Source-Connect is excellent – an internet-based replacement for a dedicated ISDN line that’s now the industry standard.

But what about dubbing? How do you handle socially distanced recording to video – especially lip-sync dubbing? The voice director is in one place, the sound engineer in another, the performer at a home studio…

How did Zoom do?

Sure, there’s Zoom. We tried it. Massive fail. Audio and video were out of sync, there were audio dropouts – in other words, there was no way to evaluate the performance.

Skype was a little better: with a webcam aimed at the studio monitor, you get much better audio-video sync, and you can monitor the recording reasonably well.

But what about lip-sync dubbing, where you need much more precise control? At Power of Babel, we use VoiceQ ADR and dubbing software, which has modernized the traditional rythmoband method. To set-up an effective remote workflow with VoiceQ, we needed more software.

The right set-up for remote lip-sync dubbing

First, to give the director remote control of the VoiceQ computer in the studio (which is mirrored in the performer’s studio and linked to ProTools), we added TeamViewer. And to feed video to the director and the performer, we chose SessionLinkPRO, browser-based remote recording and video-feed software, which delivers broadcast-quality video in real time, with no lag, at up to 30 fps.

And that’s the set up. Our voice director controls VoiceQ, our sound engineer runs ProTools and SessionLinkPRO, and the performer is free to create characters in the safety of their home studio. 

We are ready to help you anytime with your dubbing or voiceover recording project – in English, French or any other language. Please get in touch for a free quote.