Estimate voice over duration from word count.
Finished audio length is script words over narration pace, and professional narration runs 140 to 150 words a minute — slower than conversation because clarity and consistent tone matter more than speed. The gap between finished length and session length is what determines cost. Recording requires roughly two to three passes for every usable one, because of flubs, noise interruptions and alternate reads. Editing is the larger figure still: removing breaths, tightening pauses, levelling and mastering routinely runs four times the finished duration, so a six-minute voice over is closer to an hour of studio time end to end.
Finished length
Minutes = script words / narration pace
Session time
Total = setup + finished minutes x retake factor + finished minutes x edit ratio
Because it is done at sub-real-time. Removing breaths and mouth noises, tightening inter-sentence pauses, selecting between alternate reads, then levelling and mastering all require working through the audio in short segments. Four to one is normal for a clean, professional result.
Mark the script for breath points and emphasis before recording, read it aloud once cold to find the awkward phrases, and record in short paragraph-length chunks rather than long takes. Most retakes come from tripping over a phrase that reads fine on the page.