Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Netflix Hermes test
Poster: José Henrique Lamensdorf
Post title: Bingo!
[quote]Mario Chavez wrote:
Such a public test of translation (open to anyone who registers and logs in) is, by definition, an unpaid test. To me, as a translator, taking such a test would only make sense if a) I have some experience subtitling and b) I have a gap between projects to spend time in an unpaid test.[/quote]
I have been translating video for subtitling, and doing the entire subtitling job since 2004. I mean professionally, not as a fansubber. Furthermore, I have been translating video for dubbing since 1987.
Hence the time spent taking this test was a justifiable marketing investment for me.
Tens (or maybe hundreds) of thousands of people saw it, and thought, [i]"Hey, I speak two languages, I love watching movies, this could be profitable fun!"[/i]. So they took the test, free and harmless.
Now Netflix/Hermes are left with the mission to sift through this crowd, and find the people they need to achieve their goal. Maybe in some language pairs they'll find only amateurs. As the learning organization they have been showing they are, maybe they'll set up their own training programs in subtitling for these languages.
Now, for them, it's like watching a marching ants parade, checking which ones carry the "best" (under any reasonable criteria) leaves, and luring them to their ant hill. Fortunately, thanks to the way the test was devised, computers alone might undertake a good deal of the task.
(Not sure whether this post will remain here. An earlier post of mine on this thread was hidden by a Proz moderator without any explanation whatsoever, beyond another post by someone else having been rated and hidden under Rule #1. No chance to edit, amend, anything. Just squelched. I'll never know what the reason was, if it was personal or otherwise, whether it was some bias/grudge against the other poster or me, or otherwise. No lesson learned from it.)
Topic: Netflix Hermes test
Poster: José Henrique Lamensdorf
Post title: Bingo!
[quote]Mario Chavez wrote:
Such a public test of translation (open to anyone who registers and logs in) is, by definition, an unpaid test. To me, as a translator, taking such a test would only make sense if a) I have some experience subtitling and b) I have a gap between projects to spend time in an unpaid test.[/quote]
I have been translating video for subtitling, and doing the entire subtitling job since 2004. I mean professionally, not as a fansubber. Furthermore, I have been translating video for dubbing since 1987.
Hence the time spent taking this test was a justifiable marketing investment for me.
Tens (or maybe hundreds) of thousands of people saw it, and thought, [i]"Hey, I speak two languages, I love watching movies, this could be profitable fun!"[/i]. So they took the test, free and harmless.
Now Netflix/Hermes are left with the mission to sift through this crowd, and find the people they need to achieve their goal. Maybe in some language pairs they'll find only amateurs. As the learning organization they have been showing they are, maybe they'll set up their own training programs in subtitling for these languages.
Now, for them, it's like watching a marching ants parade, checking which ones carry the "best" (under any reasonable criteria) leaves, and luring them to their ant hill. Fortunately, thanks to the way the test was devised, computers alone might undertake a good deal of the task.
(Not sure whether this post will remain here. An earlier post of mine on this thread was hidden by a Proz moderator without any explanation whatsoever, beyond another post by someone else having been rated and hidden under Rule #1. No chance to edit, amend, anything. Just squelched. I'll never know what the reason was, if it was personal or otherwise, whether it was some bias/grudge against the other poster or me, or otherwise. No lesson learned from it.)