YouTube News: AutoDubbing on Old Videos, Collabs Clarification & more

The Expansion of Autodubbing on YouTube

YouTube is making a significant push toward global accessibility by expanding its autodubbing capabilities. Many channels are currently receiving notifications that their existing library of older videos will be updated with autodubbed tracks.

To clarify, autodubbing is a feature that automatically translates the spoken audio of a video into different languages. However, it is important to note that these tracks currently utilize a robotic voice rather than a natural human tone. While the quality may not be seamless, this represents a positive step for creators looking to reach an international audience—particularly English speakers—without the need for manual translation.

For many Creators, this is particularly beneficial for older tutorials. These videos often provide evergreen value but may have been recorded in a single language. While some of these tutorials might eventually require updates due to software or policy changes, autodubbing allows them to remain useful to a global audience in the interim without requiring a full re-recording.

Autodubbing vs. Multilingual Audio

It is important to distinguish between “autodubbing” and “multilingual audio.” While autodubbing relies on AI-generated robotic voices, multilingual audio is a more advanced feature that allows Creators to upload their own high-quality audio tracks. This enables you to provide a professional translation or even record the audio yourself if you are proficient in another language, completely avoiding the robotic sound of AI.

Currently, there have been no major updates regarding the wider rollout of multilingual audio since the tests for multilingual thumbnails back in July. However, as YouTube continues to iterate on its AI and accessibility tools, this remains a key feature for those wanting full control over their international presence.

Clarifications on the Collapse Feature

The “collapse” feature has introduced new ways for Creators to collaborate, but it comes with specific limitations regarding performance metrics and monetization that every user should understand.

Currently, when you upload a video and invite another party via the collapse feature, the distribution of credit is not shared. Only the original uploader receives the revenue, views, and watch time associated with the video. There is no system for splitting these metrics at this time.

However, there is a silver lining: YouTube has indicated that revenue sharing is currently being discussed as part of the feature’s development. While it remains to be seen if views or watch time will ever be split, the possibility of future revenue sharing makes this a tool worth watching.

Strategic Opportunities for Collaboration

Despite the current lack of revenue sharing, the collapse feature offers significant strategic advantages for growth and audience cross-pollination. By partnering with other Creators in your niche, you can introduce your content to an entirely new demographic.

For example, a channel that focuses primarily on news and updates could collaborate with a channel that specializes in deep-dive tutorials. By using the collapse feature, the news channel can provide its audience with high-quality educational content, while the tutorial creator gains exposure to a wider, more current-events-driven audience. If you have competitors or peers within your niche whom you already trust, this feature provides an excellent opportunity to strengthen those professional relationships and grow your respective communities.

Voice Replies and App Requirements

YouTube is preparing for another wave of experimentation regarding voice replies in the coming weeks. While a specific launch date has not been finalized, there is a planned rollout following this next phase of testing.

Creators who wish to utilize voice replies should be aware of a critical technical limitation: these replies must be created using the YouTube app. While this may be less convenient for those who prefer desktop workflows, it is currently a necessity for anyone wanting to engage with their community through this specific medium.

Experimental Updates for YouTube Live

Finally, YouTube is testing several new tools specifically designed for vertical live streams. These experiments are scheduled to run until the end of September and focus on empowering moderators to help Creators reach their milestones.

Some moderators will now have the ability to set “creator goals” during a stream. These goals currently include:

• Jewels: A form of support for the Creator.
• Memberships: Encouraging viewers to join the channel’s membership program (note that gifted memberships are not included in this experiment at this stage).

In addition to goal setting, moderators are gaining more control over the stream environment through experimental options for pinning messages and setting up polls. These tools are designed to increase viewer engagement and provide a more structured experience during live broadcasts. As these features are still in the experimental phase, their availability may vary across different accounts until YouTube decides on a permanent rollout.

Original transcript

Transcript

This week’s YouTube updates: We need to talk about autodubbing. First, channels are getting notifications that their old videos will receive autodubbed tracks. Quick recap: Autodubbing will translate the video’s voices into different languages but in a robotic voice. The more advanced version of this feature would be multilingual audio, which we’ll get to in a moment. Firstly, a big thank you to Renee, who also creates YouTube help content on his channel and kindly let me use one of his screenshots. Please check out his channel in the video description.

It’s a positive step that more content will be translated into various languages, especially English. This could be beneficial for older tutorials that don’t need re-recording but should probably be updated anyway due to their outdated nature.

The other feature is multilingual audio, allowing you to upload your own audio track to videos, avoiding the robotic voice. You could even record it yourself in another language if you’re proficient enough. Unfortunately, there’s been no recent news about multilingual audio since the multilingual thumbnails test in July. But rest assured, as a subscriber to this channel, you’ll be among the first to know about upcoming features and changes, including multilingual audio.

Moving on, YouTube has provided some answers regarding the collapse feature. Currently, when you upload a video and invite someone via the collapse feature, only the original uploader receives the revenue, views, and watch time. There’s no revenue sharing as of now, but it’s being discussed as part of the feature. So, revenue sharing might become a reality in the future, though they haven’t mentioned splitting views or watch time.

The collapse feature could open up interesting co-op opportunities. For instance, our channel primarily focuses on YouTube updates and less on tutorials; however, we could collaborate with others to feature their YouTube tutorials on our channel. Similarly, if we collaborate with someone else, their audience would see our YouTube updates. So, consider this feature and think about potential partners within your niche. You might know competitors you’ve worked with or want to work with—this could be an opportunity to strengthen those relationships.

Next, voice replies seem to be experiencing another wave of experimentation in the coming weeks. I have a specific date noted down, but as it may change, I’ll keep it vague for now. Following this experiment, there’s a planned launch date. Remember, voice replies must be done via the YouTube app, which is less than ideal, but necessary if you wish to utilize them.

Lastly, an experimental update for YouTube Live: Some moderators will have the option to set creator goals like jewels for vertical live streams and memberships (gifted memberships are not included at this stage). Pinning messages and setting up polls are also part of this experiment, which is scheduled to run until the end of September. I’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

If you have any questions about today’s topics or other YouTube-related matters, please leave them in the comments below. Join me next week for more YouTube updates!

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