Guide

ADR Session Prep Guide for Directors

A short handbook covering script prep, cueing best practices, and talent direction tips to speed up dubbing sessions.

9/1/20247 min read

Give talent everything they need before stepping into the booth. Preparation halves your takes.

Script & timing prep

Highlight emotion beats, pauses, and emphasize words using bold or italics—talent references these instantly.

Provide revised timings with at least two seconds of pre-roll; ADR streamers and beeps sync better with context.

Session etiquette

Keep director notes short and actionable. After three takes, reset talent with the emotional objective, not micro direction.

Plan hydration and rest breaks. Vocal fatigue shows up fastest during intense ADR days.

Remote supervision tips

If dialling in, test Source Connect/SessionLink audio an hour prior and confirm talkback routing.

Record a secondary safety mix with slate/timecode so editors can conform quickly post-session.

Download

Download coming soon. Subscribe for updates below.

Work with us

Need us to run the workflow described here? Share your project brief and we’ll provide a detailed plan.

Share a project →

Need help implementing this?

Book a consult and we’ll tailor the workflow to your current post setup.