How NeuralGarage Is Fixing The Dubbing Conundrum For OTTs Like Netflix, Hotstar

How NeuralGarage Is Fixing The Dubbing Conundrum For OTTs Like Netflix, Hotstar

SUMMARY

Founded in 2021 by Anjan Banerjee, Subhashish Saha, Subhabrata Debnath and Mandar Natekar (batchmates at IIT Kanpur), NeuralGarage offers tech that syncs the audio with the lip and facial movements of an actor

VisualDub helps deliver seamless lip synchronisation, ensuring that dubbed content appears completely authentic, meeting broadcast-quality specifications. In addition, it offers voice cloning

In FY24, the founders claim to have garnered $35K in revenue. They are expecting to close FY25 with $450K

With a significant rise in over-the-top (OTT) platforms in the country and an explosion in user-generated content in recent years, we are consuming information like never before, so much so that an Indian netizen has today broken the language barricade.

Imperative to highlight that the shift is largely being driven by the pan-India release of content on OTTs and nationwide theatrical launches, all being facilitated by original content dubbed in different languages.

Films like Pushpa and RRR have proven that language is no longer a barrier for Indian viewers.

While regional films are being dubbed in Hindi and other languages, the reverse is also happening. In addition, international languages beyond English, such as Korean and Spanish, have been welcomed with open arms — think Squid Game and Money Heist.

At a time when much looks promising, a major headache for the industry is to sync the audio with lip movements.

While this could seem like a simple fix to many, the truth of the matter is that it is not, as even a slight mismatch can spoil good content.

It is precisely this space that Bengaluru-based NeuralGarage has found its niche and now plans to rule with its AI-powered solutions.

Founded in 2021 by Anjan Banerjee, Subhashish Saha, Subhabrata Debnath and Mandar Natekar (batchmates at IIT Kanpur), NeuralGarage offers tech that syncs the audio with the lip and facial movements of an actor.

Unlike traditional speech-to-text solutions that create dubbed content, the tech enhances and perfects the synchronisation of dubbed content.

The Ballad Of NeuralGarage

After completing their studies, the three cofounders decided to embark on the road less travelled, forgoing traditional career paths to embrace entrepreneurship.

Their first startup, VisageMap, founded in 2021, focussed on facial recognition technology and was acquired within a year by a US-based facial recognition company, FaceFirst.

Following the acquisition, they worked as research scientists in the US, gaining extensive expertise in facial recognition technologies, which also laid the groundwork for their deep understanding of generative AI.

Interestingly, until 2020, developing technology that could seamlessly sync with audio with facial movements wasn’t on the cards. But then the pandemic hit the world, giving a majority of the world’s populace enough time to engage in activities of their choice or to find new ones. During this time, Banerjee’s liking grew towards Korean content. And while he turned into an avid watcher of Korean media, dubbing was an area, he said, needed a major overhaul back then.

The more (Korean content of his interest) he consumed, the more prominent the gap became to him, until he finally had a late-night epiphany.

“We had created faces before. What if we could control them? Could this have applications in other industries, too?” the questions Banerjee would ask initially.

When he shared this with Saha and Debnath, it sparked discussions about the potential use cases, particularly in the media and communication sectors.

With all hands on deck, they envisioned scenarios like real-time multilingual interactions. However, as they evaluated the possibilities, they recognised the media industry’s willingness to invest heavily in dubbing as the smallest of changes in audio cost them a lot.

Their prior expertise in generating faces was now converging with an entirely new stream — synchronising facial movements with audio to create natural expressions.

As they shifted their focus to the media industry while developing VisualDub, they connected with Natekar, a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience in media and entertainment.

Having worked with leading companies like Viacom18 and Turner International, Natekar brought industry expertise.

In the early stages, the team sought feedback from key players in the entertainment industry, meeting with representatives from over 50 studios.

These interactions helped them refine their vision and solidify their understanding of the industry’s needs. Initially, Natekar joined as an adviser. At the time, there was no discussion about floating a startup. In fact, Natekar was planning to explore new job opportunities.

However, as conversations progressed, it became clear that the team’s combined strengths— technology expertise and deep industry knowledge — offered a unique advantage. This synergy led to the formation of a founding team for their venture in the media-tech space and the birth of NeuralGarage.

Building NeuralGarage’s Proprietary Tech

Speaking with Inc42, Debnath said that ever since Banerjee discussed his peeve with them, the cofounders knew that they were looking at a disruption. They recognised the need to build a proprietary model as no existing solution across any vertical met their requirements.

A big challenge they encountered was the vast difference in data quality across platforms. For instance, YouTube content, even in 4K resolution, might go up to 3-4 GB per video. The same video on Netflix could scale up to 200 GB, while a theatrical release might reach 600-700 GB.

“Most algorithms and systems in use today are designed to work with lower-quality data, typically consumed on platforms like YouTube or TV,” he said.

Hence, for tasks involving video manipulation, computer vision, or machine learning, the team had to engineer everything from the ground up to accommodate the high-resolution requirements of theatrical and Ultra HD content.

“Imagine you see a face on a screen. From a distance, it looks flawless. As you get closer, you might notice blemishes, pimples, or fine lines. With ultra-high-definition content, the smallest imperfections become noticeable. If you’re syncing lip movements for content meant for mobile phones, where the resolution is lower, such details might not matter. But for theatrical content shot in extremely high definition, every detail is pixel-perfect, and any flaw becomes immediately visible,” the cofounder said.

Its proprietary tech, VisualDub, helps maintain the original shoot’s integrity and creativity, no matter the platform. Currently, the startup brings two key offerings to the table. The first is its ability to deliver seamless lip synchronisation, ensuring that dubbed content appears completely authentic, meeting broadcast-quality specifications.

In addition, it also offers voice cloning, a natural complement to lip sync. For instance, imagine a Hrithik Roshan film being dubbed in Telugu. Traditionally, a Telugu dubbing artist would provide the voice, but it wouldn’t sound like Hrithik Roshan’s. With VisualDub, the dubbing artist’s audio can be transformed to match Hrithik’s voice, maintaining his distinct tone, timbre, and style.

While the startup aims to serve the entire media and entertainment industry, its primary traction so far has been in the advertising sector. Currently, the company is collaborating with 30-35 major clients, including industry giants such as Amazon, Coca-Cola, Ultratech Cement, Dream11, Nestlé, Unilever, and Britannia.

In terms of pricing, the startup charges between INR 2 Lakh-2.5 Lakh per minute of content for advertising projects. However, for feature films and other media projects, the pricing varies. The startup is preparing to announce its first film-related project soon. It has 5-6 media projects currently in the pipeline. In FY24, the founders claim to have garnered $35K in revenue. They are expecting to close FY25 with $450K.

What’s Ahead For NeuralGarage

The founders have identified three key goals for the next 12 to 18 months to strengthen their position in the media and entertainment technology sector.

First, they plan to develop and launch a downloadable desktop version of their proprietary VisualDub software within the next year, Natekar said.

To support this expansion, the company is preparing to close its Series A funding round. This funding will enable them to enhance their research and development capabilities and fast-track their go-to-market strategy.

Additionally, the founders aim to transform the startup into a $3 Mn to $3.5 Mn revenue brand within 18 months. This growth is expected to be fuelled by the startup’s strategic partnership with UFO Moviez, per the founders.

The startup is also engaging with global advertising agencies in regions like Singapore and Malaysia to explore opportunities.

The company is also actively targeting the United States. Plans are also underway to open a representation office in Los Angeles to build relationships with studios, directors, and other key stakeholders in the entertainment industry.

While there is no doubt that perfect lip-syncing in dubbing would remain in demand as content creators across the world aim to break language barriers, scaling a startup in the media-tech space could be challenging due to reasons galore, including capital-intensive.

Besides, gaining the trust of traditional media and entertainment companies and raising awareness among potential clients is tricky. However, what’s interesting is how NeuralGarage plans to turn the tables with its cutting-edge solution in the not-so-distant future.

[Edited By Shishir Parasher]

Note: We at Inc42 take our ethics very seriously. More information about it can be found here.

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