Freelance Voice Star vs AI Voice Actor

If you're a business owner that depends on content marketing to reach and convert an audience, you have most likely thought about investing in the development of top quality audio content at one point, and with the chauffeur of most audio content being a voice, you may have also thought about employing a voice star. In one sense, voice is the very first medium of interaction in between a company and its client, and as such, the role of the voice is to inscribe a lasting first impression that constructs trust and engagement.

These days, there are generally 2 options for businesses to go to for trusted voiceover work: they can work with a self-employed voice actor or use an AI voiceover. Businesses can get linked to freelance skill through voiceover marketplaces like Upwork or Freelancer, or generate AI voiceovers through text-to-speech (TTS) software. The rising challenge then turns into one of selecting between these 2 routes.

Until only a few years ago, the very act of comparing a real voice actor with an artificial voice actor would've been met with great speculation and raised eyebrows. Even today, one might be doubtful of the capability of an AI voice. If we are talking about a recurring, sustainable audio content strategy, there might not be a more accessible medium than AI voice.

Price

The clearest line of comparison between a freelance voice actor and an AI voice can be drawn in costs. According to Voices.com, the three deciding factors that influence freelance voiceover costs are an actor's hourly rates, length of the script, and whether or not the voiceover will be broadcasted commercially (Radio, TV, Internet ad).

In contrast, AI voices have a far more accessible cost. Free TTS platforms using a range of different voices are extensively available on the internet, and the most expensive offerings are normally limited to freemium strategies ranging from $17.49 per month to $49.00 per month. Similar to the traditional freelancer path, however, the quality of a specific AI voiceover can increase in proportion to cost. This can be explained by the different techniques used in the synthesis procedure: while lots of common TTS engines use decades-old technology, there is a growing collection of TTS platforms that differentiate themselves with advanced methods such as the Deep Neural Network (DNN) approach, which in turn creates considerably higher quality synthesis. We have actually explored the different TTS methods in a previous post.

Process

There is likewise a clear difference when it concerns the intricacy of the process associated with dealing with either a freelance actor or an AI voice. Both formats certainly require a preliminary imaginative phase of ideation and copywriting, but although P2P markets have actually largely equalized access to freelancers, finding the best voice star and working with someone productively is an entirely various issue. Let's do a detailed breakdown of the process.

Action 1) You have to go through the procedure of selecting the best voice star for you. This typically includes tasting through many voice profiles, each with its own unique selling point. Thankfully, many marketplaces nowadays use category-based brochures to streamline your search, however many times each individual freelancer profiles can include a range of samples for you to go through.

Step 2) Once you've chosen the ideal star, you will have to negotiate a rate. As specified previously, rates depend on various aspects and can differ by situation. The accessibility of a voice actor is likewise based on both the demand of the particular freelancer and his/her matching schedule.

Step 3) After talking about a fair rate, the voice actor will work together with you to ensure that the output is up to your standards. This stage can include many reedit demands and re-recordings to tailor the last voiceover, and generally takes days of interaction and preparation.

With an AI voice, there is no requirement to deal with anyone but yourself. You still need to sample through a couple of voice profiles, however this stage would just take at most 5 minutes, with collections organized by diverse criteria such as tone, feeling, age, gender, use-case, and other filters that enable you to make a wise search. And it goes without saying that voice actors are readily available to utilize at your whim 24/7, and there are no rates to talk about.

In terms of customization, modern-day TTS platforms offer countless specs and tools that allow you to seamlessly make edits to your voiceover. You can add emphasis to particular words in a sentence, modify speech speed and even change the emotional tone of a voice.

Scalability & Localization

As the scope and scale of your voiceover operation grow, so does the applicability of an AI voice. When automating enterprise call centers, producing localized e-learning content, or providing numerous distinct voices to NPCs in a virtual video game, relying on a freelance voice actor can introduce large roadblocks. Any large-scale voice project would require hundreds of hours of collective work, studio sessions, and numerous voice stars to finish. In plain contrast, an AI voice can be practically immediately evaluated and deployed, and would only require a couple of hours of custom modifications to implement.

The development process for a voiceover through the freelancer method becomes even more complex and unattainable as localization gets involved. While, both methods need preliminary translation work, in this particular location of comparison, the freelancer approach ends up being restricted by its extremely humankind.

Picture you're producing a business training course. For that course to be commonly available to global viewers, you'll need to produce that course in a range of languages besides the primary dominant language. For each language added, one has to go through a totally new and different selection and production process-- working to find, veterinarian, negotiate, and team up with a new voice star each time.

Conclusion

AI voice can serve an invaluable complementary role, filling in the technical gaps, and democratizing access to voiceovers for projects that the traditional freelancer route wouldn't be able to accommodate. If you're looking for a voiceover that is easily customizable, infinitely scalable, and effortlessly natural, an AI voice actor could be the right fit for your next project.

If you still can't think of us when we state that AI voices are the future, take a listen to our demonstrations: