In film making, dubbing refers to the process of adding dialogues and other sounds to the soundtrack of a motion picture that has already been shot.
In other words, it is a post-production process through which a complete soundtrack is created. That is, after the sound editor prepares all necessary tracks like dialogues, effects, music etc., the dubbing mixer proceeds to balance all of these elements, and record the finished soundtrack. This process typically takes place on a dub stage.
There is one more context in which the term ‘dubbing’ is used. It is something familiar to most of us as the technique used to translate foreign-language films into the audience’s language. This process is referred to as ‘re-voicing’ outside the film industry.
Here, the translation of the original dialogue is matched to the lip movements of the actors. In the past, dubbing was applied mainly to musicals, when the actor had an unsatisfactory singing voice. Today, it is done not just in traditional films, but also in video games and television.
