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This guide shows you how to create videos with sophisticated voice-over configurations. Learn to set a default voice for your entire video while customizing specific scenes with different voice settings, speeds, or amplification levels.

What You’ll Learn

Video-Level Default

Set a default voice for all scenes

Scene-Level Override

Customize voice for specific scenes

Voice Customization

Control speed and amplification per voice

Multiple Voices

Use different AI voices in one video

Before You Begin

Make sure you have:
  • A Pictory API key
  • Node.js or Python installed on your machine
  • Basic understanding of voice-over concepts

How Multi-Level Voice-Over Works

Multi-level voice-over gives you granular control over narration:
  1. Video-Level Settings: Define default voice-over configuration for all scenes
  2. Scene-Level Overrides: Customize voice settings for specific scenes
  3. Automatic Fallback: Scenes without custom settings use the video-level default
  4. Flexible Control: Mix and match voices, speeds, and volumes throughout your video
Scene-level voice-over settings always override video-level settings for that specific scene. This allows precise control while maintaining consistency across your video.

Complete Example

Understanding the Configuration

Video-Level Voice-Over (Default Settings)

Scene-Level Voice-Over (Overrides)

Override Behavior: When you define scene-level voice-over, it completely replaces the video-level settings for that scene. If you want to use the same voice but different settings, you must specify the voice name again.

Voice Speed Reference

Amplification Level Reference

Volume Considerations: Very high amplification levels (0.7-1.0) may cause audio distortion. Test your settings and use moderation for professional results.

Common Use Cases

Emphasizing Key Sections

Tutorial Videos

Multi-Language Support

Best Practices

Don’t vary speed too dramatically between scenes - sudden changes can be jarring:
  • Good: Vary by 10-20 points (e.g., 90-110)
  • Avoid: Extreme jumps (e.g., 50 to 200)
  • Tip: Test your video to ensure smooth transitions
Subtle volume changes are more professional than dramatic ones:
  • Good: Use 0.1-0.3 for emphasis
  • Moderate: Use 0.5 for strong emphasis
  • Avoid: Levels above 0.7 unless intentional
  • Tip: Let the content quality drive emphasis, not just volume
Keep voice settings consistent across similar scenes:
  • Use the same voice for all sections
  • Apply similar speed/volume to similar content types
  • Create a “voice style guide” for your brand
Always review a test video before creating multiple videos:
  • Generate a short sample with your settings
  • Listen on different devices (phone, desktop, headphones)
  • Adjust based on feedback
  • Document successful settings for reuse

Troubleshooting

Problem: Scene is not using your custom voice-over settings.Solution:
  • Ensure scene-level voiceOver object is properly formatted
  • Check that you have included the speaker name (it must be specified even if using the same voice)
  • Verify JSON syntax is correct (commas, brackets, quotes)
Problem: Audio quality is poor or distorted.Solution:
  • Reduce amplificationLevel (try 0.3 or lower)
  • Avoid combining high speed (>150) with high amplification (>0.5)
  • Check that speed values are within 50-200 range
Problem: Scene-level overrides are not being applied.Solution:
  • Verify scene-level voiceOver is inside the scene object
  • Check that enabled: true is set at scene level
  • Ensure scene-level configuration is complete (speaker, speed, amplificationLevel)

Next Steps

Enhance your voice-over videos with these features:

Background Music

Add music to complement voice-over narration

Custom Captions

Add translated or custom subtitles to your videos

Brand Settings

Apply consistent branding across all your videos

Basic Voice-Over

Learn the basics of AI voice-over narration

API Reference

For complete technical details, see:

Get Voiceover Tracks

List all available AI voices

Render Storyboard Video

Direct video rendering with multi-level voice-over

Create Storyboard Preview

Create preview before rendering

Get Storyboard Preview Job

Monitor storyboard creation progress