Sound Work Costs

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Fred S.

Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2004 11:31 pm

Joined: 05 Jun 2004 Posts: 2

I need help. I've been searching the internet for two days without luck trying to find representative, United States, post-production sound editing costs.

I am working overseas. A client has a 60-minute, DVD training film dubbed in English. The client wants me to translate the English script and then replace the film's original narration with the new language. For comparative cost purposes what are the average costs in the USA to do the following?
* Use a professional dubber to record narration for a 60-minute video film;
* Make a mini-DV copy of the existing DVD film;
* Replace the original English language narration with the new language narration; and
* Cut a DVD copy of the new master mini-DV.

Thanks for any information you can share. Even if you just point me to other web sites that are likely to have clear information about these costs, I will much appreciate it.

Thanks
Fred

Richard Crowley

Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2004 7:34 am

Guest

"Fred S." wrote ...

Quote:

I need help. I've been searching the internet for two days without
luck trying to find representative, United States, post-production
sound editing costs.

I am working overseas. A client has a 60-minute, DVD training film
dubbed in English. The client wants me to translate the English
script and then replace the film's original narration with the new
language. For comparative cost purposes what are the average costs in
the USA to do the following?
* Use a professional dubber to record narration for a 60-minute video
film;
* Make a mini-DV copy of the existing DVD film;
* Replace the original English language narration with the new
language narration; and
* Cut a DVD copy of the new master mini-DV.

Thanks for any information you can share. Even if you just point me to
other web sites that are likely to have clear information about these
costs, I will much appreciate it.

http://groups.google.com is the place to search these newsgroups.
For example, this was posted to several NGs several weeks ago...

Newsgroups: sci.lang.translation, alt.multimedia.director,
rec.video.production, alt.tv.voice-artists, alt.acting

From: Steve King (steve@REMOVETHISSPAMBLOCKsteveking.net)

You are going to have to be more specific about what you are looking for if
you want useful information.

In Chicago you can expect to pay at least as much as you would pay a union
(AFTRA) English language narrator and sometimes more. The fee would depend
on the intended use of the program (private use within the company vs.
public performance, a trade show for example), the length of the script, the
length of the recording session, and the language... there being many more
Spanish language narrators available than Farsi. All that said... I would
budget around $700 or so including employment taxes, union fees if any, and
misc. payroll costs for a corporate video narration of twenty minutes or so.
Can you get it done cheaper? Probably. At a bargain basement price can you
have assurance ahead of time that you will get a usable track that is
understandable and pleasing to the audience? I don't think so, particularly
if you don't speak the language.

You did mean that you would provide a script translated from English to the
desired language, didn't you? If not, figure translation costs at from .25
to .50 an English word.

Steve King

Steve King

Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2004 7:49 am

Guest

"Fred S." <expat1@start.mailshell-dot-com.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:40c2a853_2@Usenet.com...

Quote:

A professional narrator will read your script for a total cost ranging from
$500 to thousands of dollars, depending on the skill and celebrity of the
narrator.

You, or another representative of the production team, will need to 'direct'
the recording to assure that each scene is read so that it fits with
existing visual footage. This is highly dependent on the skill of the
translator. English is a very efficient language. Most translations from
English require more words to convey nearly identical meanings. The
translator usually needs to make choices, leaving out less important
language, so that the result fits the picture. Note: Some narrators with
their own studios will work 'self-directed' and conform to scene timings
provided to them, where possible. Typically, they will charge a recording
fee and, perhaps, a production fee to compensate them for assuming this
responsibiltiy.

Quote:

* Make a mini-DV copy of the existing DVD film;

Budget $50 to $100.

Quote:

* Replace the original English language narration with the new
language narration;

Well, here's where you run into trouble. What you propose will work, IF
there is no sound on the video other than the original narration, which you
are going to replace. But, what about the music, sound effects, and natural
sound, if any, that exists in the original track? A common choice is to
lower the volume of the original track so that the new narration is easily
understood, then raise the volume of the original track during portions that
have no narration. Only if all of the original individual sound elements
(music, SFX, natural sound) are available from the original producer can you
re-mix the track for the new language.

Assuming that you will eliminate (or fade, where appropriate) the original
sound, you will need to budget several hours of video editing to marry the
new narration to the picture. For an hour long video, budget five hours.
Rates vary from $100 to $500 per hour depending on the facility. Rendering
the result to a DV master will take another one and a half hours (at $100 to
$500 per hour). Rendering the DV master to MPEG2 files for DVD will take
another 2 to 5 hours, depending on the rendering process used. The rates
for this are typicall lower than edit suite rates. Figure $200.

and

Quote:

* Cut a DVD copy of the new master mini-DV.

Authoring the DVD, that is determining scene breaks and setting up menus for
the DVD splash screen will take a hour or so. Add another $200.

I'm sure that others will jump in to point out that the rates I've quoted
are: 1) Unrealistically low. Larger video/film markets are populated by
high-end facilities whose rates can easily exceed those quoted above. 2)
Unrealistically low. Why, my Uncle Harry can do that job over the weekend
using Windows Media Producer for $250 bucks, if you buy the beer and brats.

Good luck,

Steve King

Dave

Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2004 12:59 pm

Guest

$200 a day should work.

-Dave

Fred S. <expat1@start.mailshell-dot-com.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:40c2a853_2@Usenet.com...

Quote:

I need help. I've been searching the internet for two days without
luck trying to find representative, United States, post-production
sound editing costs.

I am working overseas. A client has a 60-minute, DVD training film
dubbed in English. The client wants me to translate the English
script and then replace the film's original narration with the new
language. For comparative cost purposes what are the average costs in
the USA to do the following?
* Use a professional dubber to record narration for a 60-minute video
film;
* Make a mini-DV copy of the existing DVD film;
* Replace the original English language narration with the new
language narration; and
* Cut a DVD copy of the new master mini-DV.

Thanks for any information you can share. Even if you just point me to
other web sites that are likely to have clear information about these
costs, I will much appreciate it.

Thanks
Fred

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Fred S.

Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 11:23 pm

Joined: 05 Jun 2004 Posts: 2

Richard, Steve, and Dave:
Thanks much for your information. It'll all help. Sorry this is late being posted. I only just realized there were answers to my intial post.

Thanks again.
Fred

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