Reaching a global audience has never been easier with the advent of several new tools that use AI for audio dubbing. With AI technology, you can quickly dub the audio into different languages to break through communication barriers and get your video content to a broader audience.
This article will explain what these tools do, how to find the best ones, and the difference between dubbing and voiceovers. We’ll also provide a breakdown of seven of the best tools to meet your dubbing needs. If you want to expand into new markets, these technologies will help you handle the difficult work of generating translations for your international audience, whether they’re your customers or employees.
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What is video voice dubbing?
Voice dubbing involves replacing the original audio in a video with a translated voiceover in different languages. It can be a complex edit because you must replace the voice audio without affecting the sound, transitions, or music. To overcome this challenge, many customers translate the subtitles or captions of videos instead, which Vimeo incorporates with an embeddable Vimeo player so viewers can select from multiple languages.
Companies looking to add a more immersive experience can rely on AI-powered tools like Vimeo AI translation tools to add translated dubbing in different languages. These tools use voice cloning to create audio that sounds like the person speaking, adding a more cohesive and authentic viewing experience.
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Dubbing vs. voiceovers: 3 key differences
The terms dubbing and voiceover are sometimes used interchangeably, but there are differences which distinguish the two.
1. Dubbing replaces voice audio
During the video editing process, content creators use dubbing to replace the actual voice audio with a translated voice file. That way, the original audio isn’t present to confuse the listener. Meanwhile, voiceovers, as their name implies, are placed over the original audio, often at a higher volume to drown out any competing sounds.
2. Dubbing can be lip-synced
Dubbing a video translation involves attempting to match the speed, tone, and delivery of the speaker in the video as closely as possible. That way, their speech still looks natural in a different language.
A voiceover doesn’t attempt to match speech to lip movements. It’s often used during segments like cutaways or panoramic shots where no characters are on screen.
3. Voiceovers can use anyone’s voice
When you place a voiceover in a video, you can technically use anyone’s voice since usually there aren't characters on screen. For example, David Attenborough’s soothing voiceovers often feature in nature documentaries, but you wouldn’t use them to dub the dialogue of a bubbly college student introducing prospective students to campus.
7 of the best software and apps for video dubbing
With the advent of new AI technologies, several companies are competing to become the best AI dubbing software. The following are seven of the best online tools for dubbing voices in your video content.
1. Vimeo AI video translation
Expand your global marketing reach, provide multilingual training materials for international employees, and make your video content accessible to viewers across the globe. Vimeo AI offers enterprise-grade AI-powered video translation that uses voice cloning to make you sound as if you’re fluent in dozens of languages.
Our tool can detect over 50 input languages and, through the power of voice cloning, dub the original speaker's voice in a natural way. With just a few clicks, Vimeo will process the original audio in your video file, detect the voice that needs to be dubbed, and replace it with your chosen language.
Additionally, Vimeo AI provides the capability to generate and translate subtitles, ensuring accessibility and comprehension for a wider audience. Vimeo AI offers both audio dubbing and subtitle translation capabilities, to meet diverse video viewing preferences and offer flexibility to customers. Our software can simultaneously generate and translate subtitles, streamlining the localization process. It’s fast, convenient, and doesn’t require any special video editing software.
Users can access Vimeo AI’s video localization solution, including both AI dubbing and subtitle translation, as part of Vimeo plans for select users. To learn more, request a demo.
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2. HeyGen
HeyGen is an ultra-realistic AI avatar generation tool that lets businesses and individuals leverage the power of their voice without needing to be on camera themselves. All users need is a script and they can create, personalize, and localize videos at scale.
HeyGen has free plans available, but also creator, team, and enterprise options. Creator and team packages range from $29 to $39 monthly and allow users to generate an unlimited number of videos. Enterprise plans give businesses access to a dedicated customer service manager and higher-grade security and privacy features. HeyGen is a Vimeo partner helping users generate audio from a video script and more.
3. Rask AI
Rask AI offers several tools that help content creators translate their video content into over 130 languages. Its tools include text-to-speech, subtitles, transcriptions, and audio dubbing, all enhanced by advanced AI technology that handles lip-syncing and voice cloning.
It requires a monthly subscription, ranging from $50 to $600 monthly, and you have to pay extra to expand your limit of minutes, or to use services like video editing software and developer API. If you have a lot of short videos to translate into different languages, Rask AI might be the right choice for you.
4. Dubverse
Dubverse is a more modest tool that offers a tight set of features: AI dubbing, subtitles, and text-to-speech translations. Developers can also integrate the AI into their tech stack to automate translation processes.
It’s significantly more affordable than other options, but you must purchase credits to spend on AI tasks, which can quickly add up. If you’re just experimenting with adding AI translations to your videos, it’s a good entry point, but you’ll want to scale up to a more comprehensive tool in the long term.
5. Notta
Notta offers free video dubbing software for anyone who wants to translate short videos that are under three minutes long. It’s good for social media content creators who make short-form videos, and it’s an affordable option if you need to upgrade to their Pro subscription.
Notta is actually an AI doc generator, first and foremost, and it can help you create step-by-step guides in minutes. The audio dubbing features are an added bonus, but they don’t support as many languages as other options on this list (just 15), and the translated audio can sound somewhat robotic, even with voice cloning enabled.
6. Elai
Elai is a unique option among AI dubbing apps in that it offers not just AI-generated voices and subtitles, but avatars, too. You can select from over 80 different avatars to appear in your video. They’ll speak the lines you give them, whether they’re in English, Spanish, or any of the over 75 different languages Elai supports. If you’re reluctant to appear on camera or if you want your videos to showcase a wide diversity of speakers, Elai might be the choice for you.
7. Maestra AI
Maestra offers several AI-enhanced features, from voiceovers to translations. It supports over 125 different languages, voice cloning, and transcriptions. You can even try it for free by uploading a file to their site and previewing the output in any language.
However, you’ll have to sign up for a subscription to export files or save projects. Like several other AI language-dubbing apps, you must purchase credits to spend on AI-generation tasks.
Enhance your video localization strategy with Vimeo
As AI dubbing apps have rapidly improved, businesses large and small have begun using them to optimize their localization strategy. The apps listed above are strong contenders for companies that wish to expand their reach to engage with international team members or global customers.
For a comprehensive and powerful solution, Vimeo's translation tool stands out. Vimeo AI empowers you to localize your videos effectively with advanced AI dubbing and translated captions, all within a seamless platform. While translated subtitles are available on a wide selection of plans, you'll need a Vimeo Enterprise account to access AI dubbing and other robust features, which are designed to simplify your video localization strategy. With Vimeo AI, you can confidently break down language barriers, ensuring your content resonates with a global audience and maximizes your international impact.