Picture lock left. The track is still empty.
The 2026 ping is specific: “can you just read this over the cut,” “we need a voice on the spot,” “drop a VO under the picture we already signed.” They already paid for frames. Talking-head without a bed, branded film that shipped mute, event recap with scratch — the picture they approved is what that number bought. A read is a different clock: mark the script, sit a quiet room, take the lines, bounce a WAV they can lay. Bill that clock against the hub floor. Target income, billable-week count, tax buffer you set: those stay on the hub. This page does not copy them, and it is not a 50-state tax engine. Read $180 as 2 × 90 with a dollar sign. Need a different currency on the invoice? Switch it on the hub. Floor still a guess? Build it on how to set a freelance rate.
Voiceover extra = hours you type × hourly floor if YOU read it. Start the clock when the script hits the stand. Stop it when they can lay a take that is not scratch. Two hours is the worked example — mark, mic, a handful of takes, a bounce. Four hours is a longer script with pickups. One hour is wild lines on a short that already had a bed. You own the hour count. This card will not gift the read because “VO is always $200 a finished minute,” will not open a union book this hub does not sell, and will not tuck the booth inside the picture they already paid.
Worked USD: 2h × $90 = $180
First preset. Booth hours: 2. Floor: $90. Product: 2 × $90 = $180.
That $180 is YOU reading onto a picture they already bought. It is not a person looking at the lens. It is not a .vtt of audio that already exists. It is not hours to find a VO artist you are not. It is not a Spanish reskin of the screens. It is not a look pass. Send the dollars before the mic opens. “The VO was included” is not a line this card ever wrote.
Second preset keeps the same $90 and stretches the clock to 4 hours. Extra: 4 × $90 = $360. You typed 4. A longer script, more takes, a quiet-room session still prices as hours × floor, still because they asked after picture, still not a union table, still not $200 a finished minute.
Third preset: 1 hour at $90. Extra: 1 × $90 = $90. Pickup lines are still a read they asked for after the picture. Short is not free, and it is not a finished-minute ticket.
Five other doors — none of them are words on the track
They want a person looking at the lens after a quote that paid you to make the work. That human is on-camera talent, not a mic. Hours they are on set × the rate you type for them live on the talent card. 4h × $150 = $600. Not a SAG rate. Not 20% of the shoot. A spokesperson on camera does not bounce a WAV. You on a mic does not fill a frame. Need both? On-camera hours there, booth hours here. Do not hide a read inside a talent line, and do not hide a face inside this $180.
They want captions, alt, or a transcript of work that already shipped as-is. That is text OF the audio (or of stills), not you recording the audio. Hours you type × floor on the accessibility card. 4h × $90 = $360. Not 15% of the project. Not a WCAG mill. Not a per-minute caption rate. A .vtt does not put words on the track. A WAV does not caption the film. Want both? Caption / alt / transcript hours there, booth hours here.
They want a VO artist you don’t do. Hours you type to find, brief, and review that person live on the specialist card. Worked 3h × $90 = $270. Their invoice sits on expense-markup. Not a 20% markup. Not 15% of the project. Casting someone else is not you sitting the booth. You sitting the booth is this page. That person’s session — if they book one — is hours they are in the booth × a rate you type for them, not your floor and not this card’s $180. Want both? Hunt hours there, your read hours here. This card never multiplies their invoice, and it never invents a union VO table for them.
They want the same screens in another language. That is a second locale, not a read. Hours you type × floor on the translation card. 8h × $90 = $720. Not 30% of the project. Not a per-word mill. Spanish copy is not a VO take. A VO take in the language they already bought is not a French deck. Want both? Second-language hours there, booth hours here.
They want a look after the quote was the edit. Shot match, skin, a LUT, Rec.709. That clock is hours × floor on the color-grade card. 4h × $90 = $360. Not 20% of the edit. Not a per-minute mill. Wheels are not a mic. A mic is not Rec.709. Want both? Grade hours there, booth hours here.
Blogs will sell you $200 a finished minute. This card will not.
VO Twitter still recites “union scale,” “$200 a finished minute,” “the read is always in the picture fee.” None of that is a statute this hub runs. Scratch vs polished vs a booth only names which take they asked for. Dollars here = hours you type × floor if YOU read it. No union table. No finished-minute mill.
If they ask for “the usual VO rate,” answer that this card has none. Show $180 from two hours, type 4, or type 1. You own the hour count. Skip the lecture. No confirm, no mic. The picture they already bought still stands. If the person on the track is someone you are not, the hunt is specialist and their booth is hours × a rate you type for them — still not a union book this page will invent.
Paste the line before the script hits the stand
Name the hours. Name the floor. Name $180, or whatever the card shows. Name that it sits on top of picture they already bought. Copy from this card so the email dollars match the screen dollars.
- 2h × $90. Voiceover extra: 2 hours I type to read onto the locked picture × $90.00/hr = $180.00. The quote was picture. Words on the track are hours × floor if I read it — not a union VO table, not $200 a finished minute, and not tucked inside the frames they already paid. Please confirm $180.00 before I open the mic.
- 4h longer read. Voiceover extra: 4 hours I type to read onto the locked picture × $90.00/hr = $360.00. The quote was picture. Words on the track are hours × floor if I read it — not a union VO table, not $200 a finished minute, and not tucked inside the frames they already paid. Please confirm $360.00 before I open the mic.
- 1h pickup. Voiceover extra: 1 hour I type to read onto the locked picture × $90.00/hr = $90.00. The quote was picture. Words on the track are hours × floor if I read it — not a union VO table, not $200 a finished minute, and not tucked inside the frames they already paid. Please confirm $90.00 before I open the mic.
Skip guilt and “everyone knows VO is $200 a finished minute.” That speech turns a read into a fight. This page has no union table and no finished-minute mill. No confirmed fee, no booth. A face on camera: talent. Captions of audio that already exists: accessibility. A VO artist you don’t do: specialist. A second language of the screens: translation. A look after the cut: color-grade. If the $90 floor moved, rebuild it on the hub, then name this booth extra.
Planning arithmetic — not a union booking
Educational numbers. Not legal, tax, or collections advice. Not a VO agreement. No union scale this hub will invent, no law that prices a finished minute, no $200/minute mill, no 50-state tax engine. Keep the paper you already signed. Need a clause that survives a fight? Counsel where you work writes it before the script hits the stand. Filling these fields is not that clause and does not book a session.
Inputs: hours you type if YOU read it, plus the hourly floor. Output: the extra, and one sentence to paste. Dollars on this card are labeled USD. Live currency and any tax buffer stay on the hub. A VO artist you don’t do is a hunt on specialist; their booth is hours × a rate you type for them, not an hour here.
Rate calculator Face on camera, not a track Captions of audio, not the read Hunt a VO artist you don’t do Set the hourly floor
Billable weeks moved? Recalculate the floor on the hub before you price the read. This page names words on the track after the quote was picture — hours × floor if YOU sit the booth, not a union VO table, not $200 a finished minute. A person looking at the lens: talent — 4h × $150 = $600, their hours × their rate, not this $180. Captions, alt, or a transcript of shipped work: accessibility — 4h × $90 = $360, text of the audio, not the take. A VO artist you don’t do: specialist — 3h × $90 = $270 to find, brief, and review them; their session is hours × a rate you type for them; their invoice sits on expense-markup. Same screens in another language: translation. A look after the edit: color-grade. Floor still a placeholder? Begin on how to set a freelance rate.
FAQ
How do I charge for a voiceover after the freelance quote was picture?
If YOU read it, type the booth hours — script mark, mic, takes, a quiet room, the WAV they can lay on the cut. Multiply by your hourly floor. That product is the voiceover extra. The signed number already paid for the picture. Words on the track are a second clock. 2 × $90 reads $180 because those are the worked-example numbers — change them. Planning only. This is not a union VO table and not $200 a finished minute.
Should I charge a union VO scale, or $200 per finished minute, for freelance voiceover?
No. This hub does not open a union book and does not hang $200 on each finished minute. Hours you type × floor is the only product when YOU sit the booth. If two hours is wrong for your read, type a different hour count.
Is a voiceover the same as on-camera talent, captions, hunting a VO artist, a second language, or a color grade?
Five different doors. Talent is a person ON camera × the rate you type for them — 4h × $150 = $600, a face, not a track. Accessibility is captions, alt, or a transcript of work that already shipped — 4h × $90 = $360, text OF the audio, not recording it. Specialist is YOUR hours to find, brief, and review a VO artist you are not — 3h × $90 = $270. Translation is the same screens in another language. Color-grade is a look pass after the edit. This card is YOUR hours reading onto the track after the picture.
What if they want a VO artist I don’t do, instead of me reading it?
The hunt — outreach, brief, review — sits on specialist. That person’s session is hours they are in the booth × a rate you type for them, not your floor and not this card’s $180. This page keeps YOUR hours if YOU read it: 2h × $90 = $180.
Does filling this voiceover card create a union booking or run a 50-state tax engine?
No. $180 is 2 times 90 labeled USD so you can read it. Currency and any tax buffer live on the hub calculator. Typing here does not write a VO clause, does not invent a union scale, and does not run a 50-state tax engine. If they want a VO artist you don’t do, that hunt sits on specialist — this page is your hours on the read.