Dub a game can cost up to R$ 500,000; know how the process works
(-----------------Some considerations: I think this article is very interesting because it shows the process of game dubing and it complexity. Along with that, there is some informations about the Witcher 3 dubbing for PT-BR and some costs associated with the process. But, as a reminder, the price in US dolars will probably not be correct for projects outside Brazil. That price tag has it's origins on the low value of the Brazilian real versus the dolar (1 dollar equals 3 reais). R$ 500.000,00 is a lot of money here.------------------)
I remember very well having said: stop the bus. Yes, stop the bus. Don’t shoot the bus." These are the first words of Pagan Min, the iconic villain of "Far Cry 4", Ubisoft's game, owner of the best voice acting in Brazilian Portuguese in 2014, according to the Internet UOL Games.
From five years to now, dub a game in Portuguese of Brazil (or EN) has become almost a standard for any major release, called "AAA". It is an investment that can go from R$ 500 thousand (US$ 180.000,00) in more complex projects, such as "Assassin's Creed" and literally involve hundreds of voice actors for months.
"While shooting games, racing or platform may not require knowledge in English, RPGs without translation into local languages will attract only a small group of players, fluent in English." Theorizes Marcin Iwinski, co-founder of CD Projekt, which in May will launch "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt", whose voice work in Portuguese lasted eight months and involved two hundred voice actors, who were divided among 531 characters.
Ubisoft, in turn, decided to dub in Portuguese all its major games. "The market potential is already proven," says Marcio Soares, the company's business manager. The local office usually participate in the "casting" of actors to ensure the quality of the final product.
Well, quality: fortunately, is becoming smaller the number of rough voiceovers, as were the cases of "Killzone 3" (2011), whose interpretations were without any emotion, and "Max Payne 3" (2012), who had voices in Portuguese with a clear foreign accent.
"Dub one game is very different from dub a film, because in most cases you do not have the image for reference," explains Cristiano Pleasures, owner of Maximal, a specialized dubbing studio in the games area and, today, only works with this segment, with titles like "Grid 2" and "Battlefield 4".
Walkthrough of dubbing in PT-BR
Pre-production
Between three and six months before the game's release, the studio receives the spreadsheet with the dialogues of each character or scene, which were usually been translated into Portuguese by another company. Since there are no videos to guide the work, the voice actor typically receive a briefing for each character - the main, at least. Sometimes it is possible to have access to English dialogue.
The studio then does the casting, suggesting the client some voices options for the main characters. For the secondary’s, the choice is "in the dark" because there is no briefing for these.
Each original audio is separate and organized scene by scene; so the voice actor go into action only to record.
Recording
It's time for the voice actors work. And they work, "Battlefield 4", for example, had had 150,000 words, equivalent to 180 hours of recording.
As there are games with hundreds of characters, it is common to have the "fold" when the same voice actor plays different characters - sometimes 10 or 15. As there are no references to the professional, many voices do not match the character. In addition, the dubbing director needs to have attention to the script, so that two characters voiced by the same professional don’t risk to cross or interact during the game.
The files are sent to the client by direct link insurance, all under confidentiality agreement.
Post-production
A outside publisher or the own publisher is responsible for placing files into the game, when the effects insertion is made (sounds of fire, doors opening etc) and the lip sync.
Dubbing in the dark
The voice actor usually count only with a "briefing" of the character and without access to images or videos, guided by the original audio in English. "When you are dubbing a movie, you see all that is happening, as the facial expression of the character and what he's doing. In the game, without the image, you need to pay much more attention to the voice, which is the only reference" explains Ricardo Juarez, who has made Kratos in "God of War: Ascension", among other works.
The hassles of dubbing
"When I was recording the voice of Marius (Titus), the" Ryse:... Son of Rome ", I noticed that from nowhere the original voice in English, changed completely. It did not seem quite the same. I thought it was a mistake. Later concluded it was the same character, but with a lighter voice. With the game in hand, finally discovered that it was a flashback scene, with a younger Marius. There was no indication of this in the script, so it's difficult to dub a game, and we should redouble attention to interpret the scene. "
Ricardo Juarez, voice actor for Sergio Moreno, owner of a dubbing studio that bears his name, says that what makes a difference in the final product is the quality of the professionals involved. "Every voice actor has to be an actor," says Moreno, who by the way is the Voice Min Pagan, "Far Cry 4" and Aiden Pearce, protagonist of "Watch Dogs".
It’s Moreno’s studios that is behind the dubbing of "The Witcher 3" in which he plays the main character, Geralt. "All the voice cast of Rio de Janeiro [where the studio is] does not account for a project like 'The Witcher 3'," says Moreno. For this reason - and for economic reasons too, of course - it is very common that the same voice actor do multiple voices in the same title.
And this is where things can start to go wrong, as for characters who only have one or two lines sometimes even there the original audio to serve as a guide. "Often a voice does not match the character due to the lack reference and there is nothing to be done, since the number of voice actors in the project is defined within a scope and budget, "said Prazeres.
Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro polarize the vast majority voiceovers for games. In the first town, a voice actor earns R$ 200 (US$ 70,00) per hour of work, calculation based on a projection of 800 words per hour. In Rio the concept is different, based on recorded files, which costs R$ 6,00 (US$ 2,00), but can vary dramatically in size.
Many voice actors are not even familiar with video games: "The [voice actors] young likes games and know the process, but the older ones do not care much and not to see the end result," says Prazeres, which seek to give chance to new careers . "The studios need to specialize [in games] to overcome the obstacles of this process, that will not change."
For Moreno the TV and theater actor will find it difficult to work with games voice acting. “The dubbing market is very tight and there is no time to teach the new [business]. We're still tweaking this cast, which improves with every game."
In the end, everything seems to be connected to the equation time versus money, something that involves a harmony between the publisher and the studio: "What we have now done is to seek studios concerned with the quality of the final result, less concerned about saving time recording and further commit to the project, says Soares.
Article in Portuguese: http://jogos.uol.com.br/ultimas-not...-r-500-mil-saiba-como-funciona-o-processo.htm
(-----------------Some considerations: I think this article is very interesting because it shows the process of game dubing and it complexity. Along with that, there is some informations about the Witcher 3 dubbing for PT-BR and some costs associated with the process. But, as a reminder, the price in US dolars will probably not be correct for projects outside Brazil. That price tag has it's origins on the low value of the Brazilian real versus the dolar (1 dollar equals 3 reais). R$ 500.000,00 is a lot of money here.------------------)
I remember very well having said: stop the bus. Yes, stop the bus. Don’t shoot the bus." These are the first words of Pagan Min, the iconic villain of "Far Cry 4", Ubisoft's game, owner of the best voice acting in Brazilian Portuguese in 2014, according to the Internet UOL Games.
From five years to now, dub a game in Portuguese of Brazil (or EN) has become almost a standard for any major release, called "AAA". It is an investment that can go from R$ 500 thousand (US$ 180.000,00) in more complex projects, such as "Assassin's Creed" and literally involve hundreds of voice actors for months.
"While shooting games, racing or platform may not require knowledge in English, RPGs without translation into local languages will attract only a small group of players, fluent in English." Theorizes Marcin Iwinski, co-founder of CD Projekt, which in May will launch "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt", whose voice work in Portuguese lasted eight months and involved two hundred voice actors, who were divided among 531 characters.
Ubisoft, in turn, decided to dub in Portuguese all its major games. "The market potential is already proven," says Marcio Soares, the company's business manager. The local office usually participate in the "casting" of actors to ensure the quality of the final product.
Well, quality: fortunately, is becoming smaller the number of rough voiceovers, as were the cases of "Killzone 3" (2011), whose interpretations were without any emotion, and "Max Payne 3" (2012), who had voices in Portuguese with a clear foreign accent.
"Dub one game is very different from dub a film, because in most cases you do not have the image for reference," explains Cristiano Pleasures, owner of Maximal, a specialized dubbing studio in the games area and, today, only works with this segment, with titles like "Grid 2" and "Battlefield 4".
Walkthrough of dubbing in PT-BR
Pre-production
Between three and six months before the game's release, the studio receives the spreadsheet with the dialogues of each character or scene, which were usually been translated into Portuguese by another company. Since there are no videos to guide the work, the voice actor typically receive a briefing for each character - the main, at least. Sometimes it is possible to have access to English dialogue.
The studio then does the casting, suggesting the client some voices options for the main characters. For the secondary’s, the choice is "in the dark" because there is no briefing for these.
Each original audio is separate and organized scene by scene; so the voice actor go into action only to record.
Recording
It's time for the voice actors work. And they work, "Battlefield 4", for example, had had 150,000 words, equivalent to 180 hours of recording.
As there are games with hundreds of characters, it is common to have the "fold" when the same voice actor plays different characters - sometimes 10 or 15. As there are no references to the professional, many voices do not match the character. In addition, the dubbing director needs to have attention to the script, so that two characters voiced by the same professional don’t risk to cross or interact during the game.
The files are sent to the client by direct link insurance, all under confidentiality agreement.
Post-production
A outside publisher or the own publisher is responsible for placing files into the game, when the effects insertion is made (sounds of fire, doors opening etc) and the lip sync.
Dubbing in the dark
The voice actor usually count only with a "briefing" of the character and without access to images or videos, guided by the original audio in English. "When you are dubbing a movie, you see all that is happening, as the facial expression of the character and what he's doing. In the game, without the image, you need to pay much more attention to the voice, which is the only reference" explains Ricardo Juarez, who has made Kratos in "God of War: Ascension", among other works.
The hassles of dubbing
"When I was recording the voice of Marius (Titus), the" Ryse:... Son of Rome ", I noticed that from nowhere the original voice in English, changed completely. It did not seem quite the same. I thought it was a mistake. Later concluded it was the same character, but with a lighter voice. With the game in hand, finally discovered that it was a flashback scene, with a younger Marius. There was no indication of this in the script, so it's difficult to dub a game, and we should redouble attention to interpret the scene. "
Ricardo Juarez, voice actor for Sergio Moreno, owner of a dubbing studio that bears his name, says that what makes a difference in the final product is the quality of the professionals involved. "Every voice actor has to be an actor," says Moreno, who by the way is the Voice Min Pagan, "Far Cry 4" and Aiden Pearce, protagonist of "Watch Dogs".
It’s Moreno’s studios that is behind the dubbing of "The Witcher 3" in which he plays the main character, Geralt. "All the voice cast of Rio de Janeiro [where the studio is] does not account for a project like 'The Witcher 3'," says Moreno. For this reason - and for economic reasons too, of course - it is very common that the same voice actor do multiple voices in the same title.
And this is where things can start to go wrong, as for characters who only have one or two lines sometimes even there the original audio to serve as a guide. "Often a voice does not match the character due to the lack reference and there is nothing to be done, since the number of voice actors in the project is defined within a scope and budget, "said Prazeres.
Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro polarize the vast majority voiceovers for games. In the first town, a voice actor earns R$ 200 (US$ 70,00) per hour of work, calculation based on a projection of 800 words per hour. In Rio the concept is different, based on recorded files, which costs R$ 6,00 (US$ 2,00), but can vary dramatically in size.
Many voice actors are not even familiar with video games: "The [voice actors] young likes games and know the process, but the older ones do not care much and not to see the end result," says Prazeres, which seek to give chance to new careers . "The studios need to specialize [in games] to overcome the obstacles of this process, that will not change."
For Moreno the TV and theater actor will find it difficult to work with games voice acting. “The dubbing market is very tight and there is no time to teach the new [business]. We're still tweaking this cast, which improves with every game."
In the end, everything seems to be connected to the equation time versus money, something that involves a harmony between the publisher and the studio: "What we have now done is to seek studios concerned with the quality of the final result, less concerned about saving time recording and further commit to the project, says Soares.
Article in Portuguese: http://jogos.uol.com.br/ultimas-not...-r-500-mil-saiba-como-funciona-o-processo.htm
Last edited:
. No need for the community to make translations anymore (I helped the GTA IV one lol)
