VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[CC Heim]

Okay, so new client has me narrating their animated video. Great! Love it! They created the animation BEFORE deciding to add a voice track to it. The current presentation has the words on the screen (which is the exact script they have me doing). They'd like me to time the narration to match the presentation. No problem, done it before.

So the issue is that I don't think anyone ever said the words out loud when building the animation. There are some fairly technical terms, and in a couple of sections, I need to get out 33 words in a 9 second slot. that's approximately 220 words per minute! I'm pretty good at tightening up spaces, but I'm not that good.

The problem is, there are graphs and crap that come up and need to be timed properly.

I've asked the client if they have any flexibility to re-edit the video, and I'm waiting to hear back.

Okay, sage voicers, what sayeth ye?

[todd ellis]

well - you can only talk as fast as you can talk, right?

seems to me like the options are limited - and you're already doing the right thing.
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
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[asnively]

Not your fault that they did their part of the job wrong. You're only in charge of doing your part right!
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[CC Heim]

[Drew]

The frame rate of the video can be re-rendered either in part or in whole to make the video longer. I encountered that situation once where the narration timed out a full 30 sec longer than the finished animation. I requested a clean Mp4 of the video and re-rendered it in my video software to time out. But slowing down the animation may change the "feel" of the video giving slow-mo where it was never intended.

That's beyond the scope for which your were hired.
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Although I have a full head of hair, I'm quite ribald.

[CC Heim]

[Drew]

Simple video production ain't rocket surgery. 1) Write the script with all video sides made specific. 2) Hire the VA and video producers 3) Have the VA do a scratch track, turn over to the video producers/animators produce product. 3a) Call back VA to fine tune read if needed.

The problem is clearly theirs. They went at this bass akwards. And if they aren't willing to pay the freight to fix their mistakes, the truck stays at the dock.
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www.voiceoverdrew.com
Skype: andrew.hadwal1
Although I have a full head of hair, I'm quite ribald.

[todd ellis]

drew - your metaphor-ness boggles the mind.
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

[Drew]

Simile generally requires like and a passive verb. I'm lazy.
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www.voiceoverdrew.com
Skype: andrew.hadwal1
Although I have a full head of hair, I'm quite ribald.

[Bruce]

CC, another "trick", if there's room, is to start an overlong line before the slide comes up. I believe the viewer's mind can handle hearing the words and then seeing them a second or two later on screen. But if everything's that tight, it's back to their drawing board/edit room.

B
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

[surroundhound]

If the client can't/won't re-edit the video to fit their script once you've done everything reasonably possible to fit it in, they'll have to adjust the script to fit the video. It might be as simple as them underlining the phrases that MUST be included and giving it back to you. You could ask if they're able to do this. I have a client who regularly sends about :60 worth of copy for a :30 spot. The production fellow and I now ask them right off the bat to highlight the "must have" sections. lol If they can't do that, then they'll have to go back to the drawing board and tighten up their writing.

Good luck! Don't stress. This is their issue, and they'll have to choose what they'll do to make it work. If you're discussing it with them for next time, perhaps gently suggest that having the VO completed first would be easier on them. Either that, or (and I've done this) when doing the video capture, pause a little longer than they think they'll need at each section. It's easy to clip out extra length, provided everything on the screen is still.

[Lee Gordon]

Sometimes what I will do to illustrate the problem to someone who thinks his too-long copy is OK is to provide two reads. The first one will be at the pace I believe the piece should be read, regardless of the timing. The second one will be the script as provided, word for word, which I will time-compress the crap out of in order to make it fit.
But before doing that, you have to have a sense that the client will not be insulted and react negatively.
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[imaginator]

...or, do what i sometimes suggest to hapless writers who aren't used to writing for the medium: just reprint the script in a smaller font.
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rowell gormon
www.voices2go.com
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[CC Heim]

[bransom]

So, in the end, you'll need to have a talk with the client:

"The timing works fine here, here and here. But these two slides are really tight and will sound rushed, and this one ... well, even reading flat out I'll never get all those words into 9 seconds."

If they're not idiots, they'll appreciate you working with them to make all the pieces work together.
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Bob Ransom
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