Forum: Subtitling
Topic: [Subtitling Rates] per minute rates
Poster: Bernhard Sulzer
Post title: Don't do it
[quote]Irina MacRae wrote:
Ok, guys, I too received an offer for subtitling with the following rates:
· Translation: $ 1.75 USD per minute of runtime
· Proofreading: $ 0.30 USD per minute of runtime
My language pair is English-Russian, not the most uncommon lol
I never did that before but from I've read above it looks like I shouldn't even try for that much money, right?
If that matters I live in the US.
[Edited at 2016-08-28 01:36 GMT]
[Edited at 2016-08-28 01:36 GMT] [/quote]
Hi Irina.
You're right. You shouldn't do it.
The price should really be based on you watching the videos so you are aware of the volume of spoken words that you are supposed to work with = listen to while watching, translating and writing down. Also, are you asked to use specific software?
Many people argue that the "market" pays such and such for this service ( = a pittance) and that's how it is.
Well, even if that were the case, I would never do that. It's pure exploitation.
On the other hand, I have done subtitling work and I determined the price, and it took into account the actual work involved. Just like for any other project of mine. I am flexible with pricing but if something is obviously ridiculous, there's only one way to go: Don't do it!
PS: Because you mentioned that you've never done this type of work. There is more that goes into subtitling than simply translating and writing down what someone says on screen. It's more than "just" translating. And still, there are people that think it's okay to make much "less" money for doing that than for "just" translating. Go figure.
[Edited at 2016-08-28 16:11 GMT]
Topic: [Subtitling Rates] per minute rates
Poster: Bernhard Sulzer
Post title: Don't do it
[quote]Irina MacRae wrote:
Ok, guys, I too received an offer for subtitling with the following rates:
· Translation: $ 1.75 USD per minute of runtime
· Proofreading: $ 0.30 USD per minute of runtime
My language pair is English-Russian, not the most uncommon lol
I never did that before but from I've read above it looks like I shouldn't even try for that much money, right?
If that matters I live in the US.
[Edited at 2016-08-28 01:36 GMT]
[Edited at 2016-08-28 01:36 GMT] [/quote]
Hi Irina.
You're right. You shouldn't do it.
The price should really be based on you watching the videos so you are aware of the volume of spoken words that you are supposed to work with = listen to while watching, translating and writing down. Also, are you asked to use specific software?
Many people argue that the "market" pays such and such for this service ( = a pittance) and that's how it is.
Well, even if that were the case, I would never do that. It's pure exploitation.
On the other hand, I have done subtitling work and I determined the price, and it took into account the actual work involved. Just like for any other project of mine. I am flexible with pricing but if something is obviously ridiculous, there's only one way to go: Don't do it!
PS: Because you mentioned that you've never done this type of work. There is more that goes into subtitling than simply translating and writing down what someone says on screen. It's more than "just" translating. And still, there are people that think it's okay to make much "less" money for doing that than for "just" translating. Go figure.
[Edited at 2016-08-28 16:11 GMT]