Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Subtitling strategy for training videos
Poster: José Henrique Lamensdorf
Post title: Did you read my article?
[quote]Ambrose Li wrote:
[quote]José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote:
A snippet from [url= [url removed] ]my web page on the video dub/sub issue[/url]:
[quote]Subtitling definitely doesn't work for technical instruction films. One cannot read something like [i]"Pull the latch release under the cover to get access to the control knob underneath", and watch how it's done at the same time.[/i][/quote]
[/quote]
Not speaking as a professional subtitle translator here, but IMHO dubbing does not need to (and indeed should not) preclude subtitling.
Subtitling may sometimes be required even if the video is dubbed, such as if some of your target audience may be deaf. In certain countries or regions (such as, very soon, my own province of Ontario), subtitling will very much be required for this very reason. [/quote]
Ambrose, I don't want to quibble about it, however for the benefit of readers who are learning about it, I'd like to set the record straight.
Subtitling = audio in language A + subtitles in language B
Closed captioning = both audio and subtitles in the same language; subtitles include the description of relevant noises, e.g. "car starts", "door slams", "loud music", etc.
The article above covers the decision [i]dubbing x subtitling x hybrid[/i] only. However in [url= [url removed] ]another article[/url], I say:
[quote]This article would not be complete if I failed to mention closed caption. They are like subtitles, however with a different purpose: providing the complete audio for hearing-impaired spectators. They don't require translation, as closed captions are in the same language as the audio track being played. No objection however, to closed captions on a dubbed video. They include not only the full spoken script, but specific noises, such as [car starts], [bell rings], [dog barks], etc.
Bear in mind that the hearing impairment might not always be in the spectator, but a noisy environment, such as in a train station, may render closed captioning useful.[/quote]
I'm not trying to be a pain, but instead highlight the importance of proper terminology, which is rare. This very week, I had two cases of different local PMs hiring me because clients of theirs wanted videos in English "transcribed".
As I probed for more information, the PMs called their clients, and ascertained that they wanted the videos "transcribed into Portuguese". I had to explain that this is not transcription, but translation instead. If it's translation they want, it can (and should) be done directly from the video; it's worth checking whether the expense in transcribing will be justified.
More phone calls. One client wanted a verbatim transcript and its translation, side by side, in a table, one full sentence in each cell (and called it "transcription"). The other one wanted the entire video subtitled (and called it "transcription" too!).
A long story was made short here, however had the proper terminology been used, all of us (clients, PMs, I) would have saved more than a dozen phone calls, and a lot of precious time, as both jobs were "urgent", as usual.
That's why I published these two and many other articles on my web site.
[Edited at 2013-03-21 10:11 GMT]
Topic: Subtitling strategy for training videos
Poster: José Henrique Lamensdorf
Post title: Did you read my article?
[quote]Ambrose Li wrote:
[quote]José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote:
A snippet from [url= [url removed] ]my web page on the video dub/sub issue[/url]:
[quote]Subtitling definitely doesn't work for technical instruction films. One cannot read something like [i]"Pull the latch release under the cover to get access to the control knob underneath", and watch how it's done at the same time.[/i][/quote]
[/quote]
Not speaking as a professional subtitle translator here, but IMHO dubbing does not need to (and indeed should not) preclude subtitling.
Subtitling may sometimes be required even if the video is dubbed, such as if some of your target audience may be deaf. In certain countries or regions (such as, very soon, my own province of Ontario), subtitling will very much be required for this very reason. [/quote]
Ambrose, I don't want to quibble about it, however for the benefit of readers who are learning about it, I'd like to set the record straight.
Subtitling = audio in language A + subtitles in language B
Closed captioning = both audio and subtitles in the same language; subtitles include the description of relevant noises, e.g. "car starts", "door slams", "loud music", etc.
The article above covers the decision [i]dubbing x subtitling x hybrid[/i] only. However in [url= [url removed] ]another article[/url], I say:
[quote]This article would not be complete if I failed to mention closed caption. They are like subtitles, however with a different purpose: providing the complete audio for hearing-impaired spectators. They don't require translation, as closed captions are in the same language as the audio track being played. No objection however, to closed captions on a dubbed video. They include not only the full spoken script, but specific noises, such as [car starts], [bell rings], [dog barks], etc.
Bear in mind that the hearing impairment might not always be in the spectator, but a noisy environment, such as in a train station, may render closed captioning useful.[/quote]
I'm not trying to be a pain, but instead highlight the importance of proper terminology, which is rare. This very week, I had two cases of different local PMs hiring me because clients of theirs wanted videos in English "transcribed".
As I probed for more information, the PMs called their clients, and ascertained that they wanted the videos "transcribed into Portuguese". I had to explain that this is not transcription, but translation instead. If it's translation they want, it can (and should) be done directly from the video; it's worth checking whether the expense in transcribing will be justified.
More phone calls. One client wanted a verbatim transcript and its translation, side by side, in a table, one full sentence in each cell (and called it "transcription"). The other one wanted the entire video subtitled (and called it "transcription" too!).
A long story was made short here, however had the proper terminology been used, all of us (clients, PMs, I) would have saved more than a dozen phone calls, and a lot of precious time, as both jobs were "urgent", as usual.
That's why I published these two and many other articles on my web site.
[Edited at 2013-03-21 10:11 GMT]