To receive a properly voiced-over Russian text, it is necessary to pay attention to the preparation of the text and provide additional information on the required speaker's accent, intonation, or mood.
This kind of text preparation should by provided by the customer and includes all the works to create a text that will subsequently be voiced-over by the speaker.
Here are the rules you have to comply with when preparing a text for voice-over in Russian.
- Apply bold-face type to certain words in the text to let us know that emphasis should be placed on these words.
- Apply capitalization, underlining, bold-face type or color selection to certain letters in words to indicate how the stress should be placed. There is no need to provide every word with such stress marks, but professional or technical terms, disputable words, names of streets, cities and towns, brands, second names, etc. should be accompanied with such format features.
- Abbreviated terms should be provided with their full forms (give their pronunciation in brackets). For example, if the Russian reading should be «Бюро медицинских услуг», but in the text it is written as «БМУ», you should change the written form to correspond the desired pronunciaton, e.i. «Бюро Медицинских Услуг».
- Foreign words should be accompanied with their transcription in brackets. This means, if any word (name of a brand, a person's second name, address or product) is required to be read in a foreign language, you should indicate in brackets how to pronounce this word in Russian. That being said, do not forget to mark the syllable for the speaker to put stress onto when reading it.
- If you follow these rules and directions, you will receive a voiced-over text that corresponds to the desired timing and has no misreadings, thereby avoiding re-recording. In such a way, we have approached another important point – the timing.
Russian Text Timing
It is extremely important to keep an eye on the timing. A rule to be remembered: every 10 words of the Russian text provide for 5 seconds of the recording made with a dynamic, cheerful speaker's voice. It is not necessary to adjust the text with millisecond preciseness, as there are methods or compressing or stretching the recorded sound. If you are capable of utilizing the corresponding compression and stretching tools, you will be able to adjust the timing on your own, on the editing stage, with the help of software utilities.
If you need the audio file of the speaker's voice-over of the Russian text to correspond to the desired timing, you have to give us a certain volume of the text.
Thus, you should indicate the timing of the audio file. Timing of an audio file is the length of the recording in the finished product – that is after doubles, breathing, pauses have been removed from the raw audio file. In other words, after the raw recording has undergone editing. This being said, you should have a clear understanding of the following point:
- If you order the voice-over only service without additional processing, such as:
- Removing the out-of-place doubles, breathing, pauses;
- Combining the best fragments (doubles) together;
- Synchronizing the recording with a video according to the time code;
- Synchronization according to the time code indicated in the text;
- Other related services...
In this case, the audio file you receive after the work is performed will not correspond to the timing, because we will not edit it (e.i. you receive a raw audio file). However, when recording the voice-over, we will take into account the timing you want to apply in the course of editing. So, after you edit the audio file, it will correspond to the indicated timing.
To receive a recording that precisely corresponds to the desired timing, it is necessary to perform additional processing and editing of the audio file. If you have a requirement of the kind, indicate it in advance.
If you have any doubts or need help, please feel free you ask us any questions.
Together with the voice-over, we can offer the following additional services, both free and paid, to help you prepare your Russian text:
- Checking whether the volume of the Russian text corresponds to the timing required by the customer;
- Informing what timings you will receive if the text is voiced-over at different paces;
- Suggesting the pace of voicing-over for achieving a certain timing of the audio file;
- Providing the general estimate of the accuracy of the text;
- Editing the Russian text, correcting small and obvious mistakes (including grammar, punctuation, spelling mistakes);
- Translating the text into Russian.
Therefore:
Please have a look at the table that characterizes the timing of the audio file depending on the number of words in the Russian text.