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How to make cheap voiceovers for ads

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Find out how to make cheap voicovers for ads with the help of speech synthesis and text to speech technology.

How to make cheap voiceovers for ads

Hiring voice actors

Making videos to support your business, hobby, or enterprise is a necessity if you want to reach an audience of significant numbers. While many creators neglect their audio, many viewers state that they are more likely to stop watching a video when tracks are mumbled or difficult to understand. It can also be frustrating for the visually impaired to grasp unintelligible speech. Instead, keep your viewers connected with excellent and engaging voiceovers.

Employing a freelancer has become a popular route for hiring voiceover talent. It is important to appoint someone with qualities fitting your expectations and budget and who will provide the highest quality service for what you can afford. Luckily, there are a variety of resources to discover the right voice acting artist for your demo reels, TV commercials, or social media content.

Fiverr

Fiverr is a marketplace for digital services to hire freelancers, including professional voiceover work and talent. Expertise and experience will range, so it is important to peruse and pick individuals carefully. The term for transactions offered by a seller is called a gig. Sellers can offer packages and choose any price point for as low as $5 and up to $995.00 per project.

Most freelancers set their own estimates, though. Their profile should list previous offers. They keep 80%, while the remaining 20% goes to Fiverr, including tips. Signing up is free, but registration is required to buy and sell on Fiverr. Your account will automatically be a buyer account, and one must follow specific instructions in order to become a seller. To ensure quality service, make sure the seller profile is 100% thorough.

Voice Jungle

Voice Jungle is a freelancing platform that allows you to choose a voice by listening to demos. Upload a script and select from a preferred choice of voiceover options. Utilize collaboration tools, guides, and tutorials available before reviewing and approving your completed audio. You can receive one free revision to ensure your satisfaction. Browse a library of music or upload your own to add to your project. Rates are $45 minimum up to 40 words and $65 minimum over 40 words. All scripts or broadcast tags must be submitted separately.

Pros and cons

Pros of hiring a freelancer

Hiring a freelancer via the marketplace allows for affordable voiceover service. You can save money while utilizing the best talent available for the lowest price, and you can surf through the candidates and voice over demos using keywords and relevant searches as it applies to your needs. There is an endless choice of voice over artists, from beginners to experts. You can measure their skill by comparing their ratings, and they can work from a home studio or a rented space.

Users might often face different obstacles that need to be explained and resolved. Platforms like Fiverr offer the assistance of a staff to provide customer service and technical support. Administrators are always available to help settle any disputes or incomplete work, for example, by holding any payment until work is completed by the freelancer.

Hiring voiceover actors can be easy. The user-friendly interface is simple and allows you to edit your content with creativity.

Cons of hiring a freelancer

Of course, you want the best sound possible. Always be realistic and stay within budget, but realize that a skilled, trained professional voice talent will most likely be more costly, as they guarantee that the job is completed in adequate time, with fewer errors. Remember—you get what you pay for.

On the market, you will see freelancers of different integrity. With the exchange of money, it is not unreasonable to assume you might encounter scammers or frauds tendering low-quality services in these communities. Buyers must do a lot of research to find someone who is qualified and reliable.

Often it can be difficult to work with human voiceover artists that might bring personal challenges or creative differences to your project. The results might be unpredictable and sway from expectations.

Even though functions are intended to make usage simple and easy, updates and changes might be intimidating for those new to digital services. The process can be a bit confusing for absolute beginners.

Using an AI voice generator

Hiring, selecting, and working with a voiceover actor is a long and arduous process. Not to mention the cost of renting a studio, if need be, can be expensive. An efficient alternative is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to generate the perfect voice.

AI voice generators make it easier to create voice overs, giving the producer complete control over the process. Using advanced machine learning systems, AI imitates a synthetic version of a human voice to transform text into speech with a process that is timely and cost-effective. Once known for its robotic characteristics, advancements in text to speech (TTS) technology make expressions more natural and human-like.

Recently, TTS has been used considerably in transcription and education to help students who face difficulties with reading and comprehension via eLearning. Editing software helps to control pauses, pitch, stress, and tone to make the speech more realistic.

Murf.ai

The Murf Studio is a web-based platform that allows users to create high-quality AI voice overs using talk-to-text technology, eliminating the need to record in a studio by selecting voices from an extensive library of human-sounding voices.

The editor is provided with checks to make the grammar seamless. You can even spell out the articulation of each of those words using the “Pronunciation” button.

Search an extensive collection of hyper-realistic AI voices in a myriad of languages and a spectrum of accents. Utilize toolbar functions such as pitch, speed, and pause to finesse and fine-tune your audio. You can also add background music to your voiceover.

Once everything is finished, download the file in HD. You can allocate access via a shareable link. Pro and Enterprise plans let group or team projects collaborate with others in real-time.

Synthesys

Synthesys is a program that develops algorithms to generate realistic human voices for voiceovers using text to speech technology. You can transform your scripts into media presentations. It’s a popular tool for creating audio for commercial use and digital content, including explainer videos, animation, podcasts, voice mail and hold messages, advertisements, social media stories, and audiobooks.

Synthesys offers numerous male and female voices in a variety of tones, reading speeds totaling, and languages. You can even clone your own voice for a unique and creative voice over option.

Pros and cons

The benefits of TTS and AI technology

Saving money versus the cost of recording voice overs.

Creating high-quality voice overs requires paying for a voice over artist, studio time, recording equipment, and processing. Even a short project can end up costing a pretty penny. TTS, however, enables content creators to make professional-sounding voice overs at a much cheaper cost. There are even basic tools available for free.

Practicality and greater control over editing

The amount of work that goes into editing and post-processing can be overwhelming. Often it can be difficult to work with human voice over artists, which might bring challenges to your project. However, AI technology eliminates any creative differences and editing complications. Simply cut-copy-paste your script to produce your audio files in seconds.

Personalized customer interactions

TTS allows for the customization of unique and personalized voices overs. Cloud providers like Amazon Polly and Google also make possible the selection from available professional voices of celebrities like Morgan Freeman and others well-known and recognizable.

The possibility of international reach

Text to speech allows content creators to produce videos and audio projects that can be translated into almost any choice of languages and accents. That increases the chances of attaining a wider audience to connect with people on a global scale.

Speechify

Speechify is the #1 text to speech service that turns written text into spoken words, improving proficiency by helping you read faster. High-quality audio and productive speeds make listening and learning more conducive. You create a natural-sounding acoustic version of any texts you can type, copy, or scan. 

Speechify was originally developed to help people struggling with ADHD, dyslexia, and other learning troubles—but anyone who wants to listen to text or improve their multitasking can benefit from the platform.

Speechify provides a free trial and premium selections with access to 10 mins of voice generation and 10 mins of transcription. There is project-based pricing with a subscription to save on additional features and offers, including special voices, extra languages, and accent options. The mission at Speechify is to ensure that reading is never a barrier to learning.

 Try Speechify for free today. It works on a desktop PC through a Google Chrome Extension, or you can download it on an iOS or Android device. 

FAQ

What is a voiceover?

A voiceover is the recording of a person speaking, but not seen, during a scene, explaining, highlighting, or providing additional context to what is being observed. An actor recites the narration, monologue, or dialogue for videos, podcasts, transcripts, and digital content in a recording studio, or an audio recording can be produced with AI. Use programs like Audacity to modify acoustics across various platforms. Audacity is a free editing tool.

Examples of different types of voice over work

  • Animation—Companies like Disney and Pixar use voiceovers to tell a story over hand-drawn or digitally animated images.
  • Commercial—Commercial voiceovers usually promote a product or service in the form of an advertisement.
  • Narration—A voice speaks from a character’s or a third-party perspective. 
  • Audiobooks—Voice actors read books aloud, sometimes depicting multiple roles.
  • Interactive—Interactive voice response (IVR) is an automated telephone system that allows callers to interact with an interface without a live agent. IVR utilizes voiceovers and TTS technology to create pre-recorded messages.
  • Video games—Actors are also used for voicing characters in video games.
  • E-learning—Voiceover services recount educational material to help students better comprehend instructional content.
  • Corporate—Voiceovers help to train employees with in-depth tutorials for specific tasks, presentations, notices, meetings, and power points.
  • Movie trailers—Deep, profound voices captivate a target audience in teasers for comedies, drama, or documentary films to.
  • Promos—Voice actors advertise to market a product or idea to a particular demographic.
  • Announcements—Announcers broadcasts messages for public knowledge.

What makes a good voice over?

  • Experience—The best voices might have training courses in acting, radio, or diction, but most have probably perfected their skills on the job. Ask for their portfolio to get a taste of previous work done. Make sure the artist you choose has a lot of practical experience and is familiar with a recording studio. 
  • Versatility—Ask for various voice samples from your prospects to assess their skills and flexibility. Great voice actors can change their tone and adaptability upon request. 
  •  Range—Vocal range is important for depicting various emotions and is measured from the lowest to the highest note a voice talent can sustain. Variations help to produce memorable content and hold a listener’s attention.
  • Consistency—When hiring a freelancer, pick someone with reliable quality and availability. When you finally find a talented voice actor, you might want to use them for future projects and endeavors.
  • Clarity—Voice acting should always be easy to understand, meaning your actor should know how to speak and enunciate clearly, expressing each word properly while maintaining the emotion required of the scene.
  • Articulation—An excellent voice over has an unimpeded, authentic flow that not only expresses words with clarity but also with a natural cadence. Professional voice actors will go through a sentence flawlessly without awkward stops or pauses.
  • Good pacing—With voice over work, lines should be spread evenly throughout the recording, delivered at an effective speed, and never rushed.
  • Resume—Resumes provide a listing of a previous talent’s voiceover jobs,  acting abilities, and professional history. They can assist in the elimination of unfitting prospects or help in deciding between qualified voice actors.

Lastly, now that you have voice-over figured out, all you need is the right tool for your marketing videos try Wideo and choose the right video template for you or start from scratch.

Cliff Weitzman

Cliff Weitzman

Cliff Weitzman is a dyslexia advocate and the CEO and founder of Speechify, the #1 text-to-speech app in the world, totaling over 100,000 5-star reviews and ranking first place in the App Store for the News & Magazines category. In 2017, Weitzman was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list for his work making the internet more accessible to people with learning disabilities. Cliff Weitzman has been featured in EdSurge, Inc., PC Mag, Entrepreneur, Mashable, among other leading outlets.