Updated: September 11, 2026
One film, two languages, and the decision everyone leaves too late
A Miami business that makes a video in English has, most of the time, left half its audience out. The Spanish version comes up after the English cut is approved, usually with the words "can we just add Spanish subtitles?" Sometimes that is the right answer. Often it is not, and the decision about how to produce the Spanish version should have been made before the shoot, because the cheapest options depend on what was recorded. This guide covers the four ways to make a Spanish version of a finished video in post, what each costs and delivers, and how to set up the edit so that both versions come out of one project without doubling the work.
The four routes
Subtitles
The English audio stays; Spanish text appears on screen. The cheapest route and the fastest. It works for informational content, for social where most viewers watch muted anyway, and for anything where the speaker's own voice is part of the point. It does not work where the audience is expected to watch without reading (a lobby screen, a trade show loop) or where the target viewer is more comfortable hearing Spanish than reading it. Translation quality matters more than people expect: a machine-translated subtitle file that says "carro" to a Cuban audience and "coche" to a Spanish one is noticed. Our guide to captions and subtitles covers formats and timing.
Voiceover replacement
If the English version is narrated (a voice over B-roll, not people talking on camera), the narration is re-recorded in Spanish by a voice artist and laid over the same picture. The picture edit is reused entirely. The catch is length: Spanish runs 15 to 25 percent longer than English for the same content, so either the script is tightened in translation, the narrator speaks faster, or the picture edit is extended in places. Plan for a slightly longer Spanish cut rather than a rushed read.
Dubbing on-camera speech
People talking on camera in English are replaced with Spanish voices. The lips no longer match, which viewers accept in some contexts (documentary, corporate) and not in others (anything where the on-camera person is the brand). A common Miami compromise is the "UN style" dub: the English voice is heard for a second, then ducked under the Spanish translation. It signals authenticity and is cheaper than lip-sync dubbing. Full lip-sync dubbing is a specialist job and rarely justified for corporate content.
Re-versioning with native Spanish material
The best result, and the one that has to be planned before the shoot: bilingual interviewees answer in both languages, the presenter records both versions, and the graphics are designed to swap. In post, the Spanish version is a parallel edit built from the Spanish takes, using the same B-roll, music and structure. It costs more on the shoot day and less in post than dubbing, and it is the only route where the Spanish version feels like it was made in Spanish. Our sister guide on editing workflow explains how a parallel edit is organised.
Graphics and text on screen
Every word that appears as a graphic (titles, lower thirds, on-screen statistics, call-to-action cards) has to be translated and rebuilt, and this is where versioning budgets quietly grow. Two rules keep it manageable:
- Build graphics as templates with editable text from the start, not as baked-in renders. A lower third that is a template is a five-minute change per language; one that was rendered out of an animation package is a return trip to the motion designer. Our piece on motion graphics touches on template design.
- Leave room. Spanish text is longer. A title that fills the frame in English will not fit in Spanish; design at 80 percent width.
Text that is burned into the footage (a sign, a product label, a whiteboard) stays in English. Decide whether that matters.
Music, sound and mix
Music and sound effects are shared between versions, which is why the dialogue and the music should be kept on separate, clean stems from the first edit. The Spanish version is then a new dialogue stem over the existing music and effects, mixed to the same loudness target. If the original mix was delivered as a single stereo file with everything baked together, the Spanish version starts from scratch. How stems and loudness are handled is in our guide to audio post.
Which Spanish?
Miami's Spanish-speaking audience is not one audience. Cuban, Venezuelan, Colombian, Puerto Rican, Mexican and Spanish speakers all live here, and vocabulary and accent differ. For a general Miami audience, a neutral Latin American Spanish with a translator who knows the local mix is the standard choice. For a specific audience (a Venezuelan community bank, a Cuban restaurant group) match the translator and the voice to it. And have the translation reviewed by a native speaker from the target audience before recording; a voice session is expensive to repeat.
Cost and time, roughly
| Route | Relative cost | Typical time after English approval | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subtitles | Low | 1 to 3 days | Social, informational, budget-limited |
| Voiceover replacement | Low to medium | 3 to 5 days | Narrated explainers, brand films without on-camera speech |
| UN-style or full dub | Medium to high | 1 to 2 weeks | Interview-led content where subtitles are not enough |
| Parallel edit from bilingual footage | Medium (plus shoot-day cost) | Concurrent with the English edit | Anything where the Spanish version matters as much as the English |
Setting up the project for two languages
- Decide the route before the shoot and record accordingly (bilingual takes, room tone, clean dialogue).
- Keep dialogue, music and effects on separate stems.
- Build all graphics as templates with editable text and room for longer strings.
- Lock the English cut before starting the Spanish version, so the structure does not change under it.
- Name and archive both versions together with the stems and the translation files; our guide to archiving a finished project covers what to keep.
Bilingual versioning with Miami Video Services
We deliver English and Spanish versions of most corporate projects we cut, from subtitled social cuts to parallel edits built from bilingual shoots, with translation reviewed by native speakers, Spanish voice talent recorded locally, template graphics rebuilt in both languages, and stems kept so the second version is a fraction of the first. If you have an approved English cut and need it in Spanish, or a shoot coming up that should be planned for both, get in touch. More about our post work is on the about page, and the rest of our guides are on the blog.