VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

TVoice · Guest

I have been out of the narration game for about 2 years now, last week, I received an email from an elearning company wanting me to voice a project(totaling 27 pages, about 7,000 words, with an accent) I have no idea how long this will take to record. Aside from sitting down & reading the whole thing- How would you estimate for a project like this?
Please help!

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 12:56 am Post subject:

Figure that's a total recorded time of 45 minutes. Some say that recording it takes 3-4 times the total length. So at minimum you'll be in the studio for 3 hours. Tack on your studio fee and there ya go.
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

Moe Egan · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 5:40 am Post subject:

I never charge narrations by studio time...figuring out studio time to narrate and edit is like trying to nail jello to the wall, at least for me.

I charge per page. You have the number of pages. Figure out what you want to charge per page and go from there. Sometimes, I get narrations in "prompt" form with one prompt per page. A prompt can be only a paragraph- so the true # of pages in a narration (based on a full page of words, double spaced, 12 font Times New Roman) is not true. In those cases (in fact. just started one of those this morning) I figure 250 words per page, divide total word count by 250 and you get your page count, and go from there.

Hope this helps.
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Moe Egan
i want to be the voice in your head.
~~~~~

Lizden · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 6:34 am Post subject:

So...is your head spinning yet? Wink

Didn't think there was MATH involved in VO did ya! Rolls Eyes

So, as Kafer & Moe said, there are industry averages we use as a guide to quote narrations. We adjust as we see fit, but these are the averages:

250 words per page
150 recorded words per minute.

So: for 7000 words here is how you get to the numbers quoted above:
7000 words / 250 = 28 pages (I know you said your script was 27 pages, but for the purposes of this demonstration I'll keep with the averages)
7000 words / 150 words per minute = 47 minutes

You can quote:
per page ( 28 )
or
per word (7000)
or
per finished minute (47)

Enjoy!

Liz
_________________
Liz de Nesnera O.A.V. ~ Livin' The VO Dream!
English/French Bilingual VO w/ ISDN
HireLiz.com / liz@hireliz.com

TVoice · Guest

Thank you sooooo much! My head was spinning when I asked for help and now it's clearing since I can see some options- I no longer feel like I'm flying solo. I appreciate your feedback. I will evalute and make some decisions.

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 10:43 am Post subject:

Rates R Fun.
_________________
Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

voicy1stef · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 11:17 am Post subject:

This is very useful info. Thanks from me too!

Laugh

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British-American voice artist based in England for the past umpteen years. I say, has it really been that long!

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Diane Maggipinto · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 11:27 am Post subject:

i'd bid per page. path of least resistance, if you're on the mark with your fair and equitable rate and are good at estimating the time it'll take from soup-to-nuts.

gawd, i'm so writing in colloquial cliche lately. it's the new strunk-n-white!
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Lizden · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 11:32 am Post subject:

We luv ya anyway! Kiss

L.
_________________
Liz de Nesnera O.A.V. ~ Livin' The VO Dream!
English/French Bilingual VO w/ ISDN
HireLiz.com / liz@hireliz.com

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 11:34 am Post subject:

Like Diane, I opt to bid per page as well, but oftentime clients want to know my hourly rate. Gotta be prepared to have this rate even if you don't prefer it.
_________________
Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

bobsouer · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 11:49 am Post subject:

I very rarely quote per page, even for work like this. I have a minimum session fee. If the project is very large, my rate becomes some multiple of that session fee. Having heard that number, if the client still wants to work with me (and not all of them do), I get the work done and deliver in the format and by the means the client desires.

If you think any of the above appears as though I'm borrowing from someone else's play book in these matters, you'd probably be right. Wink

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Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
Source Connect, phone patch, pony express

SkinnyJohnny · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 9:16 pm Post subject:

I always charge per minute, being that a page could equal any amount of time depending on font size and margins. I usually charge $40 per minute but for my "on-going" clients I cut that rate in half. It works for me and them.
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Moe Egan · Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 3:59 am Post subject:

That's a good point about font and font size Johnny- That's why I insist ALL my narration scripts be 12 font, Times New Roman, double spaced. If they send me it another way I change it - and let them know I changed it - to get my page count.

I have never figured out how to charge for finishes minute, because a lot of my narrations are tutorials, elearning etc and are broken into varying size prompts, one file per prompt. That's why I go with the per page rate.

Bob- just curious- when you go with an hourly fee for narrations, how much time do you plan on for narration and editing?
_________________
Moe Egan
i want to be the voice in your head.
~~~~~

SkinnyJohnny · Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 5:27 am Post subject:

Hi Moe,
What I do is keep track of each prompt's time and type it in on the script as I go. Then I add all the prompts up when finished and divide the total number of seconds by 60 to get the total number of minutes. I either round up or down to get the final count.
When someone needs a quote and gives the total number of words, I figure about 135 words a minute and quote from there.
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John Weeks Voice Overs
www.johnweeksvoiceovers.com

bobsouer · Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 5:58 am Post subject:

Moe,

As a general rule, my minimum session fee covers up to one hour of my time, narrating and editing combined.
_________________
Be well,
Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
Source Connect, phone patch, pony express