When watching films on Netflix or YouTube, do strange subtitles bother you sometimes? This happens when translators fail to follow the dos and don’ts for subtitle translation.
In this article, we will show you the dos and don’ts when translating subtitles. We hope that these can help you in providing a satisfactory quality of subtitle translation.
What is subtitle translation?
Subtitle translation is a method of translating videos. To be specific, it is a method of displaying the text in another language on the screen, while keeping the original spoken language and display of the video.
In addition to subtitle translation, the two methods below are also used in video translation.
1. Dubbing: removes the sounds of the source (original) language and dubs the video into the target (translated) language. Dubbing is often used in films and interviews.
2. Voiceover: lowers the volume of the source (original) language and covers it with the target (translated) content. Voiceover is often used in news reports and documentaries.
Going back to subtitle translation, it serves to release a film in different parts of the world and expand the film’s global market coverage. Hence, in order to allow the audiences to easily understand the content of a film, the quality of subtitle translation matters a lot.
Rules for Subtitle Translation
Those who have used the closed captions (CC) function on YouTube will agree that the transcript is often lengthy or does not show at the right timing. These result from failing to follow the rules for subtitle translation.
Unlike the texts on a book that can be read repeatedly, subtitles are shown as the video plays. Thus, it is necessary to make great efforts when translating subtitles so that the audience can understand the message immediately. Here are the rules for subtitle translation.
Rule #1: Word Count and Time Limits
- The ideal word count is 4 words per second (the average reading speed for most people).
- No more than 13 words per line (length is subject to the style of the target language).
Key point: Watch the film again to see if the subtitles can easily catch up with the video.
Rule #2: Expressions (clarity and objectivity are key)
- When expressing the message, avoid punctuations and use spaces when necessary.
- Skip unimportant phrases, interjections, and lengthy and insignificant nouns.
- Omit demonstratives such as “this” or “that”.
- Leave anything that does not need explaining. *
*For example, during the Q&A session of a seminar, when the moderator says “The lady in a red jacket on the third row, please raise your question.” When the camera turns to that lady at the same time, “please raise your question” will be a good enough translation.
Key: Check if there are unnecessary pronouns, adverbials (this or that), or meaningless ending particles. Quality subtitle translation complies with these rules. However, machine translation will never be similarly elaborate.
To maintain company reputation and user-friendliness, let professionals handle subtitle translations for important videos.
Subtitle Translation Process
All said, some people may think that professional subtitle translation is costly. But what are the benefits of having subtitle translation done by professionals? What about the differences between professional subtitle translation and machine translation? This short introduction to the operating procedures for professional subtitle translation will tell you more.
Five Steps of Subtitle Translation
Step1.
Step 1 Transcript preparation by professionals.
Step 2 Text and data crosschecking.
Step 3 Text translation.
Step 4 Translation review by professionals.
Step 5 Adjustment of text length and display time.
Subtitle translation done by professionals begins with preparing a correct transcription of the video, and adjusting the text length to be displayed. Then, everything is tuned to perfection before delivering to the client.
Although machine translation today can match human translation by 79-80%, processing and proofreading by professionals is still recommended to ensure perfect delivery of the video’s message.
What to Take Note of When Assigning Subtitle Projects to Translation Services
When assigning a subtitle project to translation services, please take note of the following.
The article linked below can also tell you more about the things you need to know when assigning a project to translation services.
Suggested reading: No more mistakes from substandard translations!7 tips for getting quality translation services.
Note 1: Prepare a High-Resolution Video
The playback resolution of a video varies depending on the video player. Therefore, please prepare a high-resolution source video.
If the resolution of the source video is not high enough, even though there is no problem watching it from the company’s website or with a smartphone, the subtitle may become blurred and illegible once the video is played on a larger screen.
Note 2: Video with Subtitles
If the source video already includes a subtitle, we can cover them with the translated subtitles or display the translation underneath the original subtitles.
For editable video formats, we can remove the subtitle in the source video using special tools before handing the video over to translators. Once the translation is done, we can convert the translated subtitles into the required format for playback.
- Editable video format: MKV, etc.
- Non-editable video format with subtitles: MP4, etc.
Subtitle Translation at PTSGI.com
The advancement of machine translation in recent years has enabled ordinary people to produce video subtitles easily. However, we still need to correct mistranslations, remove unnecessary words, rephrase texts into easy-to-read content, and adjust the structure after machine translation. Although machine translation is less expensive, the likelihood of risking the quality is always high when using the results from machine translation in formal situations. Likewise, the risk of lowering the quality remains when the subtitle translation is done by non-professionals.
If you are looking for high quality subtitle translation, PTSGI.com is surely the best choice to help you produce risk-free, quality subtitles.
As the largest translation company in Asia, with over 50 years of history, PTSGI.com has provided subtitle translation services for leading enterprises internationally such as Netflix, L’Oréal Paris, and Mercedes Benz. The following shows the features of the subtitle translation service by PTSGI.com.
Feature 1: Transcription by Native Speakers
- Professional native speakers are hired to prepare the correct transcript.
- Timecodes are added to the text prior translation.
Feature 2: Support for All Needs
- One-stop support starting from video recording, audio recording, transcript preparation, to subtitle translation.
- Support for multimedia production for company profiles, product descriptions, marketing presentations, and more.
- Support for multilingual subtitle translation of up to 140 languages, done by over 10,000 professional translators from around the world.
PTSGI.com has passed the international translation certification and quality management standards, including ISO17100 and ISO9001, and has also established the TDQCMP® standard operating procedures to ensure the delivery of quality services and translation to clients.
Businesses in search of quality subtitle translation ought to contact us using our online quotation service. In addition, we also offer free trial translations of up to 300 words to help you feel at ease regarding our translation quality. You are welcome to try out the trial translation service we offer.
