Why the sync level matters before you brief anyone
Every dub has to solve the same problem: a performance recorded in one language, weeks or months earlier, by an actor the dub voice will never meet, has to land convincingly in another language over the same picture. How closely the new dialogue has to match the original mouth movements is a decision, not a given, and it changes the casting, the direction, the script adaptation and the studio time a project needs.
Get the sync level wrong and one of two things happens. Ask for full lip-sync on a documentary budget and the schedule and cost balloon for precision nobody watching a fly-on-the-wall series will notice. Ask for rough-sync on a theatrical feature and the mismatch between mouth and voice pulls the audience straight out of the film.
The short version
Match the technique to the format
Documentary and reality rarely need more than rough-sync. Drama and comedy usually want time-sync. Theatrical and premium originals need full lip-sync. Get this right before you brief.
Rough-sync: fast, honest, and right for factual content
Rough-sync tracks the original performance within the line, matching pace and timing, but does not chase precise mouth shapes. The original audio is often left audible underneath at low level, which is a large part of why it reads as honest rather than as a cover-up: the audience can hear it is a translation.
This is the standard approach for documentary, factual and much reality and current affairs content, where viewers expect to hear the real interview underneath and precision lip-matching would look artificial rather than convincing.
Works for
Documentary, reality, factual, current affairs
Anywhere the original voice being audible underneath is a feature, not a flaw.
Time-sync: the workhorse of TV drama and comedy
Time-sync hits the in and out points of each line precisely and follows the performance beats, but allows some flex on exact lip closures within the line. It is the standard for the bulk of streaming and broadcast drama, comedy and telenovela dubbing, where the performance has to feel natural and well timed without the frame-by-frame precision (and cost) of full lip-sync.
Most of what audiences think of as “a dubbed show” on a streaming platform is time-sync. Done well by a director who understands performance, not just timing, it disappears convincingly enough that most viewers stop noticing within a few minutes.
Works for
Streaming drama, comedy, sitcom, telenovela
The default for most TV-format dubbing, and the level most streamer QC specs are written around.
Full lip-sync: the standard for theatrical and premium originals
Full lip-sync matches on bilabials, labiodentals, open-mouth vowels and lip closures throughout, not just at the start and end of a line. It demands adapted-script work, where the translation is reshaped specifically to fit mouth shapes rather than translated for meaning alone, plus disciplined performance and, on premium projects, rhythmo-trained direction.
This is the level theatrical features, animated features, anime and premium streaming originals are held to, because it is often the only audio track most of the audience will ever hear. There is no original-language version playing alongside it to fall back on, so the illusion has to hold completely.
Works for
Theatrical, premium originals, animation, anime
Where the dub is the only version most viewers will watch, and precision is the whole job.
ADR sits alongside all three, and is a different job again
ADR, or automated dialogue replacement, is not a fourth sync level. It is same-language replacement: an actor re-recording their own original performance in post-production, whether because of a noisy location, a script change, or a rating adjustment. The technical challenge is different from dubbing: the original actor has to match their own performance from weeks or months earlier, in their own voice, without the benefit of a dub director building a new performance from scratch.
Voice replacement, accent adjustment for international cuts, looping and walla are all variants of the same skill, distinct from dubbing into another language but sharing the same studio discipline.
Not the same job
ADR replaces a performance, dubbing replaces a language
Both need precise sync skills. Only one involves translation.
Brief the right sync level from the start
Getting this decision right before casting starts saves a schedule and a budget. Send us the format, the platform and the picture reference, and we will recommend the sync level, not just execute whatever was asked for.
