Dubbing in Lockdown: Five ways ZOO is leading the future of localization
The COVID-19 pandemic has flipped the traditional dubbing industry on its head. The lockdown of recording studios means directors no longer have full access to voice artists and content owners have lost a dependable means of dubbing movies and shows. While some localization providers scrambled together disaster recovery solutions, ZOO was able to offer a safe pair of hands.
That’s because years ago, we took a different approach. With a small army of R&D experts, we designed and built a platform-based approach to dubbing. Voice artists and directors were no longer required to be in the same room. Not even the same continent.
Using a modern, purpose-built recording platform, we created virtual studios that capture every step of the dubbing workflow. Cloud dubbing was born.
In 2020, this has placed ZOO in the perfect position to help you. We’re providing clients with a solution that offers security, quality, collaboration and boundless capacity – without being dependent on traditional recording studios.
Here are five ways our platform-based approach to dubbing has positioned ZOO as a forerunner in media localization – as well as delivering business continuity during lockdown.
1) Unlimited dubbing capacity
Throughout lockdown, there has been one standout reason to ask about cloud dubbing.
When voice artists are stuck at home, traditional studio capacity is throttled – but by removing the requirement of a physical recording studio, you open up access to the best talent in the world.
The world’s best voice artists and directors. Authentic, in-territory and ready and able to work.
Since launching cloud dubbing in 2017, dubbing directors and voice artists have been working remotely from their established home studios.
However, this isn’t the only way we work. The whole benefit of cloud dubbing is that it gives you the choice. Whether you require talent to work in a dubbing studio or to record remotely. What ZOO does is make that seamless. The process, quality, speed and security are the same.
Short-term, this delivers continuity. Lockdown or no lockdown, you can reach who you need to reach.
Long-term, you get access to authentic talent and limitless capacity, negating the requirement to go to a physical studio. As content volumes continue to grow and grow, this is your solution. Voice artists working simultaneously around the world. No scheduling headaches or projects being derailed when recording studios aren’t available.
Whether you have one recording session or one thousand, you get access to unlimited recording capacity.
2) Security is baked-in, not an afterthought
ZOO is approved to work on content for leading streaming services and major content studios – audited by the Trusted Partner Network and MPAA.
Since its launch over three years ago, our cloud dubbing technology has been enhanced and comprehensively tested ever since. Security is baked into the platform. No matter where your voice artists are recording, they’re working with the same approved level of security.
ZOOdubs benefits from personalized watermarking, two-factor authentication, continuous penetration testing and much more. Our platform includes all the cutting-edge tools to keep your content safe.
For example, geo-location tracking ensures that we can pinpoint where each individual recording takes place, ensuring that this is always in an approved, secure location. Your work cannot be subcontracted to anyone outside the system.
There are no file transfers or physical assets being sent. Content is streamed only to those who are granted access at that given time – as soon as a contributor has completed their work, access is revoked.
Everything is contained and monitored within a platform that has been built with security in mind from the very beginning.
3) Audio quality is assured by the system
Moving away from a studio doesn’t mean recording quality should drop.
ZOO uses unique remote calibration tools which can analyze, pass and fail recording environments. These tools offer suggested improvements and ensure consistent audio between recording sessions.
By utilizing a platform approach, we’re making sure every check and balance is in place to deliver only the highest, industry-standard recordings.
We manage this with a number of in-built automated tools that help maintain consistency. Whether you’re recording from a centralized purpose-built dubbing studio or a remote environment.
Our cloud dubbing production platform only accepts recording from approved, whitelisted microphones, and every aspect of the user’s technical set-up and environment is tested before they are onboarded. Then again before every recording session.
These automated session tests check for anything that could affect audio quality – echoes, reverberation, ambient noise, connection issues – and won’t accept lines until everything is green-lit.
Whether artists are working in a dubbing studio or recording remotely, the platform still behaves the same way. Consistent audio quality every time.
4) Empowering global collaboration
ZOO is bringing together the best dubbing talent in the world – and making sure they have everything they need to work together flawlessly.
It’s our job to facilitate seamless global collaboration so our dubbing artists feel connected and have everything they need to deliver the best performance.
It’s simple, intuitive and incredibly efficient.
ZOO’s collaboration features enable directors and actors to work together inside the platform on lip-sync and voice-over projects. We remove the need for a third-party tool, such as Zoom, and keep everything connected in one system. This gives our dubbing talent everything they need to work together seamlessly, in a single, user-friendly system. It’s simple, intuitive and incredibly efficient.
With this technology, ZOO is empowering voice artists and directors to work together from anywhere in the world in real-time. Our next feature release will see the collaboration of up to 50 people in virtual ‘group rooms’ with actors, directors, sound engineers and more all able to work remotely in the system.
ZOO has created a platform approach that works the same in a dubbing studio as a home recording environment. It gives you choice and flexibility while maintaining consistency and quality.
5) Systematized and together
With cloud dubbing, ZOO is offering more than a remote recording tool. Our technology is built to encapsulate the entire dubbing workflow from start to finish. Integrated and seamlessly working together as part of one living ecosystem.
Working with ZOO, you get a cloud dubbing service that is systematized and interconnected.
Adaptation and translation. Voice test kits and casting. Scripting and version control. Project management, AOR and voice capture. All are built into one interconnected platform that feeds data from one stage to the next.
Translation tools with pronunciation guides, glossaries and recording notes help your dubbing project run smoothly. Casting options and voice test kits make finding the right voice for the role even easier. Multi-person collaboration and voice recording sessions create a virtual studio in the cloud.
These ‘virtual studio’ tools mean you have automated quality control, freeing up the director and talent to focus on performance. It also allows you to drop in and attend recording sessions in real time.
All this gives you peace of mind that every project runs smoothly and systematically.
All this gives you peace of mind that every project runs smoothly and systematically. No unnecessary delays, endless email chains and lack of project visibility. Cloud dubbing mitigates the risk of missed lines and makes it easier to jump into the system for pick-ups and fixes. Easy to track. Easy to use.
We’re giving our clients continuity – regardless of external pressures or disruption. A systematized way of working that makes sure you get the quality, capacity and security you need.
More than disaster recovery
ZOO delivers a platform-based approach to dubbing that has helped the biggest names in entertainment continue seamlessly with localization projects during lockdown.
Throughout the pandemic, ZOO helped complete projects that had been brought to a standstill. Our R&D team has continued to work to bring in new features required of the industry – and we grew our talent pool to enable freelance artists to continue to work and earn.
Rather than a short-term fix, we’re delivering the future of dubbing today. A service that gives you choice – while systematically taking care of capacity, security and quality.
ZOO is demonstrating the real potential of cloud dubbing. Dubbing that encapsulates more than remote recording and disaster recovery.
Talk to Team ZOO today to see why a platform-based approach to dubbing is more than business continuity.