VO Weekly Workflow Notes: Ratios in Production

When considering how to deliver long form audio, such as audiobook, eLearning work, or even podcast monologues, it becomes apparent that our time gets pulled in many different directions. Encountering our first large scale project, we very quickly learn that there will be more to do than simply working behind the microphone telling our story. There will be a sudden realization that we will not only be spending time reading the copy, but also finding and fixing mistakes, evaluating our performance, and polishing the results to an appropriate level.

That may be why so many voice actors and narrators avoid these longer projects. The list of things to address seems endless and it can be overwhelming to consider them all, especially when you have no real sense about how long any one of them will take.

Recognizing the Challenges

I encountered this early on. One of my big projects was narrating detailed explanations of a complex software package. It ended up somewhere north of 30 finished hours. Note that I said “finished” hours. That’s an important concept. In audiobook opportunities, you’ll see rates quoted as “PFH”. That stands for “Per Finished Hour.” In other words, the project pays for the linear running time of the finished audio. Those of you who have done this kind of work are likely already nodding your head, having learned that even the simplest project requiring finished audio will require more hours than the running time.

This is where the idea of “Ratio” comes into play. The simplest way to think of this ratio is the comparison of the number of hours it takes to create a single finished hour of final audio. Gaining an appreciation of this number can simplify how we price projects, and which ones we can simply say “no” to.

What’s the difference between “Editing” and “Mastering”?

Before I continue, there’s a bit of terminology to define: the difference between “editing” and “mastering.” When I’m talking about editing, it’s literally the steps you do to remove mistakes. In most cases, narrators will use a Punch-In or Punch & Roll approach when recording. This is a technique of stopping when you make a mistake, then using an audio preview function to assist in recording the correction seamlessly. It allows you to hear several seconds of “good” audio before the mistake so that when you read along with it, you’ll be right in the groove when the recording begins again. This helps maintain the flow of the narrative and works well with audiobooks.

Of course, all of that stopping, placing of a cursor in your software, and starting up again is not without a time penalty. However, we’re shifting that extra time requirement into the booth with us, rather than going all the way back through our recording in a separate step after the fact. There are some instances where you may choose to record “on the fly” and then go back later – I find that often works better for eLearning, which tends to have more discrete “chunks” and less of the narrative flow. But all of that – including the proofing of the results against the printed copy – are under the umbrella of “editing.”

The “mastering” is what happens when all the editing has been completed. (If you have a background in music production, this use of the term may infuriate you, as “mastering” with respect to songs has a different meaning). I tend to think of this as the “processing” or “polishing” phase of the workflow. Filtering, Declicking, De-noising, Amplification, De-essing, and all the tools that are employed to fix how something sounds get applied here, as well as the final adjustments to meet any Loudness or Peak delivery requirements.

Finding The Magic Ratio in the VO Home Studio

The more we are able to break down our tasks, the more we can identify those things which need to be refined. We can intuit that the one hour of final spoken audio requires additional time commitment. But how much? Some narrators feel as though they waste time in the booth when using Punch-In methods because it takes more time to get the initial chapter recorded. However, when a stopwatch gets put on the task, it may show that technique as more efficient than dealing with rough audio after the fact.

Using a tool like Toggl – a free online time tracker – allows you to be very specific when monitoring how much time is spent on different aspects of production. It may show that there’s a large amount of time being dedicated to wrangling files between applications, or tracking down which version of the chapter is the one that should be uploading. In that case, spending time refining your file naming and organization could change your ratio significantly. Many narrators lose track of the hours they spend communicating with clients, or don’t count the time invested in book prep. Look for how you can separate distinct tasks that may fall under the umbrella of “production.”

Ratios will look different depending upon the type of project. A nonfiction business book might need a lot less prep if it’s all first-person narrator with a linear storyline. A narrator who is simply handing off “punch-edited” files to a publisher will need less time than when they are acting as producer for an ACX project. The details of your ratio also can suggest effective tasks to outsource. For me, proofing against the copy requires a great deal of mental focus to do correctly. That’s difficult after spending hours in the booth. Luckily, I have a great proofer who is detail oriented, so shifting that task lets me be more effective elsewhere.

A commitment to tracking our tasks gives us usable data, and helps us to decide what can be improved and what should be handed off.

Have you tested your studio’s audio quality to make sure it meets professional standards? For a free review of your vocal recordings, please use the upload tool on my Audio Review page.

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