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What Is a Dubbing Script?

A dubbing script is the translated dialogue of a film or video, rewritten so that each line can be spoken in the time the original line takes on screen. It lists every line with the character who says it and its in and out timecodes. The adapted text is what voice actors, or an AI voice, read in the studio.

Example
12  ANNA   00:04:12.30 → 00:04:14.10
    EN  We started with three clients.
    ES  Empezamos con tres clientes.

13  MARK   00:04:14.60 → 00:04:17.20
    EN  And a radiator that wouldn’t let us record during the day.
    ES  Y un radiador que no nos dejaba grabar de día.

14  ANNA   00:04:17.40 → 00:04:18.30
    EN  (laughs) So we did nights.
    ES  (ríe) Grabábamos de noche.

Translation first, adaptation second

A translator turns the original dialogue into the new language as accurately as possible. A dubbing adapter then rewrites those lines for the mouth: shorter where the translation runs long, with words that sound natural spoken aloud. The two versions often differ, which is why the subtitles of a dubbed film rarely match the dub word for word.

Three kinds of sync

Audiovisual translation research describes three. Isochrony: the line starts and ends while the character’s mouth is moving. Lip sync: sounds that close or round the lips, such as p, b, m or o, fall where the mouth makes those shapes in a close-up. Kinesic sync: the words agree with gestures, so a nod comes with a yes. Isochrony matters in every shot; lip sync mostly in close-ups.

What a dubbing script contains

One row, or event, per line: a number, the character, the in and out timecodes, the original line, the adapted line and notes. Notes carry reactions and efforts such as laughs or breaths, usually in brackets, and how to pronounce names. A new event starts whenever the speaker changes or there is a clear pause.

The as-recorded script

What actors actually say in the booth drifts from the page. After recording, the script is corrected to match the final audio word for word; this is the as-recorded dubbing script. Netflix collects only that version, in its TTAL format, timed to the first and last spoken word of each event and split into a new event at any pause of about two seconds or more.

Why the adapted line is shorter

Translations from English into Spanish, French, German or Polish usually come out longer than the original, while the time on screen stays the same. The adapter shortens, swaps long words for short ones and moves information into a neighbouring line. In a voice-over or AI dub without lip sync, only isochrony has to hold, which gives the adapter more freedom.

Questions

Is a dubbing script the same as a translation?

No. The translation keeps the meaning; the dubbing script also has to fit the time each line is on screen, so it is shortened and rephrased for speaking. Subtitles usually follow the translation, the dub follows the script.

What is an as-recorded dubbing script?

The script corrected after recording so that it matches the final dubbed audio word for word, with every event timed to the spoken words. Streaming services such as Netflix require it as a deliverable.

Who writes a dubbing script?

In studio dubbing, a translator and a dubbing adapter, sometimes the same person, with the dubbing director approving changes in the booth. In AI dubbing, the adapted text is written automatically to fit the timing and checked by you.

What is isochrony in dubbing?

Matching the length of a dubbed line to the time the speaker’s mouth is moving in the original, so the voice neither starts before the character speaks nor carries on after they stop.

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Related terms

  • Dubbing

    Dubbing is replacing the speech in a film, series or video with new recorded speech, usually a translation into another language, so viewers hear the story in their own language instead of reading subtitles. The new lines are timed to the picture, and the music and sound effects of the original are kept.

  • Voice-over translation

    Voice-over translation lays a spoken translation over the original audio, which stays audible at a lower volume underneath. Unlike dubbing, it does not try to replace the original voices or match lip movements: viewers hear that someone else is translating.

  • Timecode

    Timecode is a label for every frame of video, written as hours:minutes:seconds:frames — 01:02:03:12 is frame 12 of the third second. Editors use it to find the same moment in every copy of a project. Subtitle files usually count time in milliseconds instead, which is where mix-ups start.

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