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How Hear Say AD Delivered a 120-Minute Multilingual Project in Just One Week with Stellar

Discover how Hear Say proved the power of Stellar’s Task Manager in tackling large-scale, distributed dubbing and AD projects under extreme time pressure. For teams without centralized studios—or those looking to streamline global collaboration—Stellar offers an end-to-end solution: scripting, recording, editing, QC, and mixing in one platform.

In early 2023, Hear Say Audio Description was tasked with a huge challenge: providing voice-over and AD audio for a 120-minute foreign language film with only one week to deliver. Originally planned as a single-voice project, the complexity of the film—with 16 characters plus a narrator—meant three voice artists were quickly brought in: one for narration and AD, one for female roles, and one for male roles.

Hear Say

shares customer success story using The Stellar Suite for Audio Description

“We wouldn’t have been able to complete this intricate project without the shared task capabilities in Stellar. It simplified version control, enabled real-time QC, and allowed feedback without endless file sharing. It also keeps assets secure since only the project is shared, not the high-res media files.”
— Cara Edney, CEO, Hear Say AD

Meeting Complex Requirements Without an M&E Track

The client’s requirements were equally demanding: they needed both a clean mono WAV track with all new voices and AD, and a full mixed track with the original program audio—complete with dips in the foreign dialogue whenever the new English dubbing played. To make things more complex, no separate M&E (music and effects) track was available.

For Hear Say AD, a company traditionally focused on audio description and working without a central studio or DAW, this would have been nearly impossible—until they turned to Yella Umbrella’s Stellar software.

The Stellar Advantage: Collaboration at Scale

Hear Say AD’s CEO, Cara Edney, had already used Stellar for single-user AD projects. But in early 2023, Yella Umbrella was beta testing its new Task Manager, a system designed for multi-user collaboration in both scripting and recording. This came at the perfect time.

Using Stellar, the team:

  • Imported and prepared the script: Converting the English subtitle file into a dubbing format that supported role assignment and audio clip management.
  • Assigned roles and tasks: Each line of dialogue was mapped to the right character, with comments and instructions attached. The script was then split into three separate tasks—one for each voice artist—allowing simultaneous progress across different countries.
  • Streamlined remote collaboration: Voice artists could record from their home studios, while the project manager monitored takes, provided feedback, and approved recordings in real time.
  • Ensured quality and accuracy: Stellar’s built-in QC tools flagged missing lines and errors, while flexible multi-take recording allowed adjustments without redoing entire sections.
  • Controlled the audio mix: With Stellar’s audio dip and fade tools, the team could automatically lower the original dialogue during the new English voice-over, achieving a clean, professional mix.

The result? Over 1,600 audio clips were recorded, checked, and combined into a final master script—all within the one-week deadline.

A New Era for Collaborative Dubbing & AD

This project proved the power of Stellar’s Task Manager in tackling large-scale, distributed dubbing and AD projects under extreme time pressure. For teams without centralized studios—or those looking to streamline global collaboration—Stellar offers an end-to-end solution: scripting, recording, editing, QC, and mixing in one platform.

With Stellar, even the most complex multilingual projects can be delivered faster, smarter, and more securely.

“The 120-minute film, 17 roles, and 1,600 clips made this the perfect test for our new Task System. It also inspired features like splitting and recombining scripts by role, which we’ve now added permanently. We’re excited to see Stellar Task Manager support even bigger projects in the future.”
— Matt Deakin, CEO, Yella Umbrella

IMSC-Rosetta: A New Era for Subtitle Formats – Bridging Broadcasting and Streaming

In today’s media landscape, delivering consistent, high-quality subtitles across TV and streaming platforms has long been a challenge. To solve this, Warner Bros. Discovery partnered with Yella Umbrella, combining decades of expertise to develop a new standard format: IMSC-Rosetta. Built on IMSC V1.2, this innovation simplifies complexity, ensures reliability, and enables seamless distribution across languages and platforms.
Know more

IMSC-Rosetta: A New Era for Subtitle Formats – Bridging Broadcasting and Streaming

In today’s media landscape, delivering consistent, high-quality subtitles across TV and streaming platforms has long been a challenge. To solve this, Warner Bros. Discovery partnered with Yella Umbrella, combining decades of expertise to develop a new standard format: IMSC-Rosetta. Built on IMSC V1.2, this innovation simplifies complexity, ensures reliability, and enables seamless distribution across languages and platforms.
Know more

Hear Say Audio Description was tasked with a huge challenge: providing voice-over and AD audio for a 120-minute foreign language film with only one week to deliver. Originally planned as a single-voice project, the complexity of the film—with 16 characters plus a narrator—meant three voice artists were quickly brought in: one for narration and AD, one for female roles, and one for male roles.