There are three ways to translate a video, and they cost very different amounts of effort: subtitles, a dub, or a dub with the lips re-synced. This guide explains when each is enough, then walks through the full version on make.ad’s Language swap page.
01Subtitles, a dub, or a dub with matched lips
| Subtitles | Dub | Dub with matched lips | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What changes | Text on screen; the voice stays in the original language | The voice speaks the new language | The voice speaks it and the mouth moves to the new words |
| Feels like | A foreign film | A dubbed show | It was filmed in that language |
| Good for | Viewers who read along; sound-off feeds | Narration and voiceovers | Anyone talking to camera: UGC, founders, spokespeople |
| On make.ad | Transcribe, then Caption | Language swap with Match the lips off, or Audio → Translate for a recording | Language swap with Match the lips on |
02Translate a video with Language swap
Language swap is ElevenLabs dubbing followed by a lip re-sync of the original picture. Each speaker keeps their own voice, now saying the new words.
- Upload the video, up to 10 minutes long.
- Pick the language it should speak.
- Leave Match the lips on if people talk to camera. It re-syncs videos up to 4 minutes long; a longer video is still dubbed, with its original lips.
- Tick the consent box: each speaker’s voice is cloned to say the new words, so you need the right to use them.
- Check the quote in credits, and start. If the lip re-sync fails, you keep the dub and the lip sync’s credits come back.
03The 32 languages
Language swap speaks English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, Russian, Dutch, Polish, Turkish, Indonesian, Filipino, Malay, Vietnamese, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Greek, Czech, Slovak, Romanian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Tamil.
04Check it before it goes out
- Have a native speaker watch it once. Machine translation gets the words right more often than the tone, and slogans rarely survive word for word.
- Watch the mouth on close-ups, where a re-sync is most visible.
- Check names, prices and anything legal: those should be checked by a person, not assumed.
- Burn captions in the new language for sound-off viewers.
05Only the audio? Translate or change the voice
For a recording with no picture, Audio’s Translate does the same dub, in the same voice, without the lip step. Voice change says a recording again in another voice, keeping your words, pauses and feeling, for up to 5 minutes.
To make a new ad in another language from scratch rather than translate one, pick the language on the brief form: the script is written, sung or read in it.
Questions
- Does the speaker keep their own voice?
- Yes. Each speaker’s voice is cloned to say the new words, which is why Language swap asks for your consent first.
- How long a video can I translate?
- Up to 10 minutes. The lips are re-synced on videos up to 4 minutes; a longer one is dubbed with its original lips.
- What does it cost?
- It is priced in credits by the minute, and quoted before it starts. Plans start at $20 a month.
- Can I translate subtitles only?
- make.ad transcribes speech in the language it was spoken, and Caption burns in the words you give it, so you can paste in a translation you trust before burning it in.
Try it in your workspace
Put the next step into practice with your own brand and references.
Open make.ad