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Ask me anything about subtitling | What I did

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Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Ask me anything about subtitling
Poster: José Henrique Lamensdorf
Post title: What I did

[quote]Luciana Costas wrote:

[quote]José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote:

The neater solution I had was on an even shorter video, however I had to check whether it would work. In that case, it did. You can see it about halfway down on [url removed] . It was just a snippet from Roberto Benigni's "Life is Beautiful", to be used for training. The film was spoken in Italian, but they only had it subtitled in English, and wanted Portuguese. So the left is a screencap of what I got, and the right is what I delivered. [/quote]

Hi José,

I think your Portuguese subtitles turned out quite nicely actually! They don't look overlapped or blurred at all. May I ask what your method was in this case? [/quote]

I guess you missed it. As I was downsampling the video from FHD to HD, or maybe from HD to SD - don't recall it now - I cropped the existing subtitles out.

This is what I had:
[img] [url removed] [/img]

And this is what I delivered:
[img] [url removed] [/img]

If you compare, you'll notice that the second image has become a "closer" shot. Of course, I've downsized both images for my web site. As the client wanted just some 5-10 minutes from the entire film for some management or sales training program, I checked, and it would still work. Maybe the entire film wouldn't.

As I said, this was a while ago, so for this cropping I might have used Sony Vegas, AVS Video Editor, Movavi, or VirtualDub - can't remember which one. Most likely the last one, VirtualDub, as I may have done it in one step, while burning the subtitles too. It only works on AVI, but that's my favorite format.


Ask me anything about subtitling | Not a shame, it's an option!

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Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Ask me anything about subtitling
Poster: José Henrique Lamensdorf
Post title: Not a shame, it's an option!

[quote]Luciana Costas wrote:

It's really a shame to know you can't actually get rid of embedded subtitles. I thought you could extract an .srt file from a video in order to translate and replace it later with the new subtitles. [/quote]

Some programs, like [url= [url removed] ]SubRip[/url] can do OCR on subtitles burnt on the video, but the recollection of doing it is not good. I found it easier/faster to translate/retype than fixing the resulting text (Trados worshippers will be throwing farm produce at me). So much for extracting a srt file.

Burning the subtitles is an option with a price tag attached. If the video is in FHD, it may be quite costly, on account of the time it takes to re-render the entire video without losing any quality. It's one of the ways I suggest to cut costs on [url removed] #SVS_EN_04

Some advantages of/reasons for having [i]burnt[/i] subtitles are:
[list][*] Fail-proof presence of subtitles onscreen (poka-yoke) - the only way to show the video [i]without[/i] the subs is by covering the lower part of the screen (with duct tape? :-D ). There is NO chance that an unskilled operator will play the video without them.
[*] Subtitles visual quality - Subtitles will come out as neat and sharp as created, no chance for a lower-grade processor to render them jagged or otherwise ugly, nor with weird characters (ANSI vs. UTF-8) instead of the intended letters with diacritics.
[*] Proof of source - Say the film is American and expensive. If it is shown in the USA with subtitles in Sloboviak - and it is sold in low-income East Slobovia for a small fraction of its US-SRP - this may be evidence of some breach to a licensing contract. [/list]
The disadvantage, you've found it. However it was the only option in the days of VHS analog tape.

.890-files in Subtitle Edit

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Forum: Subtitling
Topic: .890-files in Subtitle Edit
Poster: Janica Lundholm

Dear subtitlers,
When exporting to a .890-file in Subtitle Edit all colour codes disappear. Does anyone know of this is normal or a fault in my software? The strange thing is also that I can open one 890-file sent from my customer (with all colours intact) but not another file (saved exactly the same way but with only a few lines of text in the beginning). I assume the problem lies in SE, and that I will have to change to EZTitles...

Rate of translation for subtitles (English - Vietnamese)

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Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Rate of translation for subtitles (English - Vietnamese)
Poster: Pentower

Hello,

Do you have any experiences for translating subtitles? I would like to know the rate of translation for subtitles (English - Vietnamese). Thanks very much for your sharing.

Best regards,

Ask me anything about subtitling | -

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Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Ask me anything about subtitling
Poster: Max Deryagin
Post title: -

[quote]Sandra Empereur wrote:

Hello

A client sent me videos which I converted (tried everything, .avi, .mpg, .mov...) to be able to subtitle them in Swift, but Swift won't open the clips.
I contacted another subtitler and he could open them without a problem. He also sent me his conversions, but same problem at my end.
I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the time code or .tsd file (Swift doesn't create a .tsd-file for the files - when I try to open them it says duration:unknown and a lot of question marks for start time and end time).

Anyone who recognises this and is able to help me out?

Thanks a lot!

Sandra [/quote]

Hi Sandra,

Swift is notorious for throwing errors when importing video files, and often it happens for absolutely arbitrary reasons. We actually met a person from Grass Valley at IBC in Amsterdam just a week ago, and he said they no longer develop the tool (it was discontinued in 2015), and all tech support for it will cease in 2019. So, I recommend that you move on to another program, however hard it might be financially.

As far as your specific issue — are you using the same version of Swift as the other subtitler?

Why translate a text when what it needs is subtitling?

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Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Why translate a text when what it needs is subtitling?
Poster: Jean Dimitriadis

Hello,

I sometimes receive texts/scripts to translate that are intended for use in video subtitles.

Well, I find this method highly impractical. It does not make any sense.

Why on earth separate the translation from the subtitling part?

How can you guarantee that the translation will be fit for purpose when the linguist doesn’t have access to the video and can’t take the required limitations (timing, characters per line, characters per second, etc.) into account? Or, even better, be able to tweak the time spotting for every language individually.

A corporate client might not understand the implications, or see the difference between translation and subtitling. But shouldn’t translation agencies know better and educate the client regarding the strategy to adopt?

For me, there will be no more translating text blocks when the purpose is to later integrate these text blocks into subtitles.

Processes do impact quality, and I just feel that separating the translation stage from the subtitling stage really hurts the final product, and requires double work.

What do you think?

[Edited at 2018-10-26 10:56 GMT]

[Edited at 2018-10-26 10:57 GMT]

Why translate a text when what it needs is subtitling? | I agree

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Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Why translate a text when what it needs is subtitling?
Poster: Kay Denney
Post title: I agree

In a similar vein, once I had to keep asking to see the video I was translating sub-titles for.
There was one point in particular where the speaker was showing pictures and there was obviously one that spoke for itself, most likely the photo of a wrecked yacht. The speaker was naming parts of the yacht that had broken, as well as, bizarrely, a seal.

Finally, the client sent the video and I watched eagerly... but the camera was aimed only at the speaker, pointing very helpfully at the picture just out of the camera frame.

Turned out that the "seal" was in fact the name for one of the yacht's sails, transcribed with the wrong spelling, because the person who transcribed the video obviously knew nothing of yachting!

Why translate a text when what it needs is subtitling? | absolutely a must.

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Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Why translate a text when what it needs is subtitling?
Poster: Andrzej Mierzejewski
Post title: absolutely a must.

While translating subtitles (e.g. a movie script), watching the video is absolutely a must.

Why translate a text when what it needs is subtitling? | Totally agree

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Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Why translate a text when what it needs is subtitling?
Poster: Valérie Ourset
Post title: Totally agree

I have had that before and declined the job. I mentioned to the agency that I knew nothing about subtitles and could not handle it. On top, it was about robotics, a video course aimed at professionals. Too risky! In this kind of scenario, you need specialists in both fields and I am not. Agencies should be a bit more careful.

Why translate a text when what it needs is subtitling? | I agree

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Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Why translate a text when what it needs is subtitling?
Poster: Flávia Werneck
Post title: I agree

You are absolutely right!
The translation for subtitling is completaly diffent...
The video and sound are essential, because sometimes you are translating subtitles that are already a translation and only with the video you can do this 'second' translation with property. You must have the video and sound to guide you. Otherwise you can translate something out of time or with to many words. Doing subtitles you learn to summarize.

Why translate a text when what it needs is subtitling? | They should know better

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Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Why translate a text when what it needs is subtitling?
Poster: Andreas Kjeldsen
Post title: They should know better

[quote]A corporate client might not understand the implications, or see the difference between translation and subtitling. But shouldn’t translation agencies know better and educate the client regarding the strategy to adopt?[/quote]

They should know better, but unfortunately they often don't, or they just don't care. Just like with translators, there are plenty of unprofessional agencies that will take any job they're offered, regardless of whether they can actually deliver on the requirements and processes involved.

I work mostly full-time with subtitles, and I occasionally get job offers like that. All I can do is explain the issue and offer to work with them and the client to deliver a proper subtitle file. If they're not interested in that, I have better things to spend my time and efforts on.

Audiovisual and Literary Translation Organizations | New AVT unit at ATA

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Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Audiovisual and Literary Translation Organizations
Poster: Dietlinde DuPlessis
Post title: New AVT unit at ATA

The ATA now has a division for Audiovisual Translators!

Netflix Hermes test | Why Netflix Shut Down Its Translation Portal Hermes

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Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Netflix Hermes test
Poster: Wiebke Myohl
Post title: Why Netflix Shut Down Its Translation Portal Hermes

When I read that the Hermes portal is no longer in use I remembered this thread. Maybe the article below is of interest to some who took the Hermes test.

Best,
Wiebke

[url removed]

How to become a movie, documentaries and cartoons translator | Did you become a movie translator?

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Forum: Subtitling
Topic: How to become a movie, documentaries and cartoons translator
Poster: Cristina87
Post title: Did you become a movie translator?

[quote]Alessia Scipione wrote:

Hi

My dream since I were a little child was to become a movie translator. Does any of you know How to do it? and Who shall I apply to?
[/quote]

Hello Alessia,

I found your post while looking for information on how to specialize in subtitling. I was wondering if you managed to make your dream come true and how you did it.

Have a great day,

Cristina

Spotting list rates

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Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Spotting list rates
Poster: LucyOyelade

I'm going freelance, having worked as an in-house subtitler for a couple of years. What is the going rate for creating spotting lists EN to EN? With a script? Without a script? And can anyone advise on a conversion rate for making the spotting list into SSH? Many thanks.

Subtitling for Netflix

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Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Subtitling for Netflix
Poster: Petr Štádler

Hi, I am sure a lot of you have noticed the recent new wave of vendors' recruiting subtitlers for Netflix content. I'd like to join in but have conflicting information as to how the cooperation works.

I believe that it's a universal experience that to be able to subtitle for Netflix, whether individuallly or through an agency, one must sign the NDA - at least I was provided an identical NDA by two vendors, so I assume it's Netflix's general request for all end contractors to sign it. Now, I've been told by one of the vendors that it is possible to work for Netflix through one vendor only (because the NDA can only be signed with/through one vendor). At the same time, I was given the explanation that the number of jobs is not dependent on the vendor through which I work - supposedly, once on the Netflix platform, all linguists translators for a particular language have the same access to tasks, regardless of which vendor they are working with. If this is indeed the case, then the only difference I can see between the vendors would for me be the rate per runtime minute that I am offered by different vendors.

On the other hand, another vendor informed me that the above is not true and their freelancers work directly with Netflix as well as with other agencies, so I am at a loss as to what's true.

Could you please share your experience in this respect? If you work for Netflix, did you have to sign the NDA, are you obliged to work for a single vendor only or can you work for multiple vendors and perhaps also directly? (In case the situation varies regionally, I'm primarily interested in the situation of the newly-recruited Central European languages as my language is Czech.) Thank you in advance!

Sacem: Requesting help with registration process

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Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Sacem: Requesting help with registration process
Poster: Christopher Smith

Hello everyone,

I am currently trying to register with Sacem in order to access royalties from subtitling projects. Their website is a bit of a maze, so I was wondering if any of you have already successfully registered and could spare some time to answer some questions via DM.

Thanking you in advance,

Chris

Sacem: Requesting help with registration process | Same case, for future reference

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Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Sacem: Requesting help with registration process
Poster: Michel Virasolvy
Post title: Same case, for future reference

As a matter of fact, Chris, my last meeting with the ATAA highlighted the need for me to also register as an author with the SACEM (I usually handle B2B subtitling projects for devs and IT people but I stumbled upon DVDs and a couple of series for general public) so I think any help with you might get here will come in handy with me too when I'm back home.

To register, from what I gathered by phone, you have to submit some form by mail (not email, real, actual mail) to their office attached with a definite proof that your work was used and marketed, for instance a scan of that DVD you subbed + your paperprint copy of the subs (with timecodes and stuff) + the contract you and the subtitling lab agreed upon. It takes around 12 days to register you as an author, assuming it's all good. Now, I'd rather a registered author to confirm or detail the process so take all of this with a big pinch of salt.

Subtitling for Netflix | Reach out to your vendor with your doubts

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Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Subtitling for Netflix
Poster: Monica Paolillo
Post title: Reach out to your vendor with your doubts

Because of the very existence of NDAs nobody will be able to reply to any of the questions you asked...

Subtitling for Netflix | NDA

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Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Subtitling for Netflix
Poster: Petr Štádler
Post title: NDA

[quote]Monica Paolillo wrote:

Because of the very existence of NDAs nobody will be able to reply to any of the questions you asked... [/quote]

Surely the existence of an NDA doesn't prevent answering all of those questions?
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