Corporate and explainer video
Company profiles, product demonstrations, explainer animation and internal communications.
Professional voice over in Dubai
The right voice makes people listen
A voice over is a recorded voice played over video, audio or a telephone system, with no speaker visible on screen. It is what carries a training course, an explainer video, a museum guide or a phone menu, and it is the part of the production your audience judges first. A flat reading, a wrong pronunciation or an accent that does not belong loses people in seconds, whatever the picture is doing.
AGATO has been translating and recording for the Dubai market for more than 20 years. We translate the script, adapt it so it fits the time available, cast a native speaker of the target language, and record the session in a professional studio with a director present. You receive audio ready to use, or the finished recording laid back into your video.
Voice over, dubbing or subtitles?
They are not interchangeable. A voice over lays a translated narration over the original audio, which usually stays audible underneath, and does not have to match anyone’s lips. Dubbing replaces the dialogue completely and is timed to the actors’ mouths, which costs more and takes longer. Subtitles put the translation on screen as text and leave the original audio alone.
Voice over suits corporate video, training, documentary and anything with an unseen narrator. Dubbing suits drama and film, and anything where the speaker is on camera. Subtitles suit social media, where most people watch with the sound off. We provide all three — see video translation services for subtitling and captions.
What we record
Voice over for every kind of production
From a thirty-second advert to a hundred-module training programme, in one language or twenty.
E-learning narration
Course modules, compliance training, onboarding and assessment, synchronised to the slides.
IVR and telephone prompts
Menu options, hold messages, out-of-hours greetings and announcements, to your system’s spec.
Adverts and promotions
Radio and television commercials, in-store announcements and social media campaigns.
Documentary narration
Factual programmes and corporate documentaries, with the original audio kept underneath.
Audiobooks
Full-length books, articles and reports, read by a single narrator for consistency across chapters.
Audio guides
Museums, galleries, exhibitions, hotels and visitor attractions across the UAE.
Game and app voices
Character dialogue and interface prompts, alongside software localization.
Dubbing and lip-sync
Full replacement of the original dialogue, timed to the actors on screen.
Audio description
Narration of the important visual information for viewers who are blind or have low vision.
Presentations and webinars
Narrated slide decks, conference openers and recorded webinar sessions.
Safety and announcements
Public address, safety briefings, airport and transport announcements in multiple languages.
Choosing a voice
You hear the voice before we record
Tell us the brief and we shortlist samples. Nothing is booked until you have picked one.
What to tell us
- The language, and the dialect if it matters to your audience
- Gender and approximate age range
- The tone: authoritative, warm, energetic, neutral, conversational
- Pace, and the length the finished recording has to fit
- Any reference recording whose style you want matched
- Whether the same voice needs to return for later instalments
What you get back
- A shortlist of sample recordings matched to the brief
- A quote covering translation, adaptation, recording and delivery
- A confirmed session date once you have chosen
- The talent reserved for your follow-up work where possible
Voice talent is booked per session, so the earlier a voice is chosen the more likely that particular speaker is free when you need them.
Arabic voice over
Arabic is not one voice
Arabic is the language we are asked for most in Dubai, and choosing the wrong register is the most common mistake we see. Modern Standard Arabic is understood everywhere and is right for formal, corporate, government and educational material. It is also unmistakably formal, so a consumer advert read in it can sound like a news bulletin.
Dialect recordings sound local and land better with a consumer audience, but each one narrows your reach. Gulf Arabic is the natural choice for the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC. Egyptian Arabic is the most widely understood dialect across the Arab world thanks to decades of film and television. Levantine suits Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine.
If you are not sure, tell us who the recording is for and we will recommend a register, or record a short test in two so you can compare them before committing the whole script. See also our Arabic translation services.
How it works
From your script to a finished recording
Six steps, with the voice confirmed and the timing checked before anyone enters the studio.
Send the script or video
If there is no script, we transcribe your audio or video first.
Translate and adapt
The script is translated, then adapted so each segment fits the time available.
Cast the voice
You hear a shortlist of samples and choose before the session is booked.
Record
A studio session with an engineer and a native-speaking director present.
Edit and mix
Levels, timing and noise are cleaned up, and the audio is synchronised to your video.
Deliver
Audio in the formats you need, or laid back into the video, ready to publish.
Formats
Delivered the way your system needs it
Tell us the specification and we record and export to it.
Audio files
WAV, MP3, AIFF, FLAC, OGG, M4A and WMA, at your sample rate and bit depth.
Video files
The recording mixed into MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV or WMV and returned finished.
Split tracks
Voice, music and effects as separate stems, so your editor keeps full control.
Telephony formats
The codec, sample rate and file naming your phone system or IVR platform requires.
Need the on-screen text handled too? See video translation and subtitling, or software localization for in-app audio.
Why AGATO
Translation and recording under one roof
FAQ
Voice over questions, answered
What is a voice over?
A voice over is a recorded voice track played over video, audio or a telephone system, with no speaker visible on screen. It covers narration for corporate and explainer video, e-learning courses, documentaries, adverts, telephone systems, audio guides and audiobooks. Where video translation replaces on-screen text, a voice over replaces or adds the spoken word.
What is the difference between voice over and dubbing?
A voice over places a translated narration over the original audio, which usually stays audible underneath, and it does not follow the speaker’s lip movements. Dubbing replaces the original dialogue entirely and is timed to match the actors’ mouths, so it costs more and takes longer. Voice over suits corporate video, training and documentary; dubbing suits drama, film and anything where the speaker is on camera.
Do you provide Arabic voice over?
Yes. Arabic is our most requested language, in Modern Standard Arabic for formal, corporate and educational work, and in Gulf, Egyptian and Levantine dialects where the recording needs to sound local. We will advise which is right for your audience if you are not sure.
Which languages do you record in?
More than 120 languages, recorded by native speakers of the target language. Arabic and English in both directions are the most requested, followed by French, Hindi, Urdu, Tagalog, Russian, German, Spanish and Chinese.
Can I choose the voice?
Yes. Tell us the language, the gender, the age range and the tone you want, and we send a shortlist of sample recordings from our voice talent. You pick the voice before we book the session, so there are no surprises in the final delivery.
Do you write the script, or do I provide it?
Either. If you have a script we translate and adapt it for recording, which usually means adjusting its length, because a translation can run considerably longer or shorter than the original. If you only have a video or an audio file, we transcribe it first and build the script from that.
How do you keep the recording in time with my video?
The script is adapted so each segment fits the time available, and the session is directed against your video rather than recorded blind. Where a passage cannot be shortened enough, we tell you before recording and agree how to handle it, rather than speeding up the delivery until it sounds rushed.
What audio formats do you deliver?
WAV, MP3, AIFF, FLAC, OGG, M4A and WMA, at the sample rate and bit depth you need. We also deliver split tracks, a mixed master, and the recording laid back into your video file if you would rather receive it finished.
Can you record voice prompts for our phone system?
Yes. We record IVR menus, hold messages, out-of-hours greetings and announcements, in the file format and specification your telephone system requires, and we keep the voice consistent so later additions match the prompts already recorded.
How long does a voice over take?
A short script in a common language is usually recorded and delivered within a few business days, depending on voice availability. Longer projects, several languages at once and full studio production take longer, and we confirm the timeline with your quote before booking the session.
How much does a voice over cost?
Price depends on the length of the finished recording, the language, the number of voices, whether the script needs translating and adapting, and whether you need the audio mixed into your video. Send us the script or the video and we will quote the whole job, not an hourly rate.
Do you provide the studio and the engineer?
Yes. Recordings are made in a professional studio with an engineer and a native-speaking director present, so pronunciation, names and terminology are checked as the session runs rather than corrected afterwards.
Can you match a voice we have used before?
If the voice is one of ours we can usually book the same talent again, which is the reliable way to keep a series or a set of telephone prompts consistent. Tell us the earlier project reference when you order.
Do you offer audio description for accessibility?
Yes. Audio description narrates the important visual information in a video for viewers who are blind or have low vision, and it is recorded in the same way as any other voice over. We also provide subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing through our video translation service.
Related
More media and localization services
Video translationTranscription, subtitling, captions and dubbing.
E-learning localizationCourses, modules and assessments in any language.
Software localizationApps, games and interfaces, tested in language.
Website translationLocalised for the market, not translated word for word.
InterpretationLive interpreters for events, meetings and hearings.
How documentaries are dubbedA look at how dubbing works in practice.