Having a good voice is important if you want to be a voice actor but it is not everything to become one of the vocal stars of the audiovisual industry. The role of a voice actor is fundamental for the world of cinema, television, radio or advertising. It is a highly demanded profile and with a great role in the international market of the entertainment world. Do you want to know everything about this profession? Keep reading…

Would you like to work in a recording studio as a professional voice actor? We reveal all the secrets of this profession.

Audiovisual productions need dubbing professionals to be able to adapt to foreign audiences as a local product, that is, there are countries where almost everything is dubbed and others where it respects the original language by relying on subtitles.

There are many countries where foreign films are almost 100% dubbed. This is the case in Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, where the majority of programs, films, documentaries, children’s drawings or television series are dubbed into their own language .

They even have their own list of stars from the dubbing. Who would not recognize Constantino Romero who voices Darth Vader in Star Wars or Ramón Langa interpreting the films of Bruce Willis or Kevin Costner. We may not know their names, but we will recognize the voices of the voice actors with the most weight on the Spanish scene.

What does a voice actor do?: What do you need to be a voice actor?

The most valued talent in a voice actor is his ability to handle the voice to convey emotions, sensitivity and connect with the viewer as if it were the real voice of the real actor, only using interpretation and language.

The main function of a voice actor is to translate, dub voices and substitute dialogue from a foreign language while making sure to keep the emotions conveyed in the images. The art is that his voice always adapts synchronized to the dialogues, times and movements of the original actor.

I have a nice voice, is that enough to be a movie dubber?: What do you need to be a voice actor?

As you know, the work of a voice actor is quite unknown and therefore it may seem to us that it is enough to have a good voice . To become a good voice actor you will need to prepare yourself to be a great performer .

The first step will be to work your voice to see where it can go and, far from thinking that you are born a movie dubber, the best way to be a dubbing voice is through training. In addition to taking a good dubbing course , where they teach you all the techniques, it will work in your favor to have a facility for interpretation , a good memory to remember the scripts and texts, the ability to play with your voice and, above all, have a lot of desire to learn .

The rest is learned and if you want to become a voice actor, start with a good voice dubbing training to achieve your goals with this fantastic profession.

What to study to be a voice actor?: What do you need to be a voice actor?

As in all professions, we can find dubbing actors who have natural gifts but the normal thing is that they prepare through different training channels.

In Spain, no specific qualifications or previous studies are required, but you can train through a university degree related to theater and film or launch directly into a dubbing course that will give you all the specific and necessary keys to become a authentic expert voice actor and where you can practice what you really like: dubbing voices .

What do you learn in a dubbing course?

Ideally when taking your voice acting course is that you bet on the quality of the school and the teachers who will be very important when it comes to transmitting all the knowledge you need to work in voice dubbing.

A good training in professional dubbing will be made up of various modules where you will learn interpretation , diction and oratory techniques , you will acquire a solid base in speech and voice management , breathing techniques and you will learn how to use the tools of a recording studio , perform a dubbing casting  and you will be able to carry out practices where you will put into practice everything you have learned in a real recording studio or in the audiovisual sector.

Dubbing

What career opportunities does a voice actor have and how much does a voice actor earn?

Establishing an average salary for a dubbing is a matter that seems complicated since a who does dubbing in blockbusters or well-known actors will not be the same as those who dubbing less well-known television series.

In addition, voice actors charge for takes or fragments of the script that are given to the voice actors so that they memorize, understand the context and can synchronize with each other . For example, a film with a duration of 90 minutes would be divided into approximately 250 takes or units of work.

In Spain there is a collective agreement that governs dubbing actors and actresses, which establishes the average salary or remuneration received by professionals in the sector. Thus, a dubbing actor can have an average gross salary of approximately € 23,000 annually, but we will also have to take into account the price of the take, as we have commented.

The profession of professional dubbing actor has many job opportunities in different areas of the audiovisual industry and in Spain these qualified profiles are in high demand as practically adaptation and dubbing of all imported content is carried out in the world of cinema, radio, series , cartoons, television, etc.

In short, the profession of dubbing is very original, artistic and if you want to work with your , the audiovisual sector is full of opportunities that you can reach with a good training to guide you in your first steps.