Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Hard-to-price subtitling/translation job
Poster: José Henrique Lamensdorf
Post title: Some input
The average ratio I've seen among colleagues translating video is 6:1. This means it takes us 6 minutes to translate one minute of playing time, or that we translate 10 minutes in one solid work hour; no time allotted to stretch or yawn.
Among the people who do it for a living, the slowest reported was 12:1. This may be a beginner, or someone specializing in some subject area that requires extensive research most of the time. The fastest speed demon reported a 5:1.
Quite frankly, I avoid charging clients by working hour on account of two factors, viz.:
a) unpredictability - the client wants to know beforehand how much it will cost; and
b) it involves my personal skill - the client should never be penalized for the translator's lack of experience.
My pet example for (b) above involves DTP. I have been using PageMaker for more than a quarter century. I can do anything with it in a snap. If I charge any such job by the hour, I'll be grossly underpaid for all my investment in mastering PageMaker. On the other hand, if a client asks me to do the very same job using, say, QuarkXPress, they'll be grossly overcharged for the many hours I'll spend reading manuals & help screens, not to mention trial-and-error.
So I only charge by the working hour when the job comprises mostly "being available", such as interpreting. If the interpretee talks like spitfire, or drags over a script, I get the same per hour.
Translation for subtitling prices may vary a lot within the same language pair/market. It ranges from free (i.e. fansubbers) to high quality corporate video (incidentally, my niche). I tend to define corporate video as 'Disney-standard quality with technical vocabulary'.
To give you an idea, taking figures roughly, to translate feature films/TV series on pre-timed "templates", I charge about half per minute of playing time of what I charge for script-less corporate video.
So it's likely that you'll get inconsistent input on rates. It is advisable that you check what your specific market is willing to pay for each type of service, and if that is profitable taking your productivity into account (though it will hopefully improve with practice).
Topic: Hard-to-price subtitling/translation job
Poster: José Henrique Lamensdorf
Post title: Some input
The average ratio I've seen among colleagues translating video is 6:1. This means it takes us 6 minutes to translate one minute of playing time, or that we translate 10 minutes in one solid work hour; no time allotted to stretch or yawn.
Among the people who do it for a living, the slowest reported was 12:1. This may be a beginner, or someone specializing in some subject area that requires extensive research most of the time. The fastest speed demon reported a 5:1.
Quite frankly, I avoid charging clients by working hour on account of two factors, viz.:
a) unpredictability - the client wants to know beforehand how much it will cost; and
b) it involves my personal skill - the client should never be penalized for the translator's lack of experience.
My pet example for (b) above involves DTP. I have been using PageMaker for more than a quarter century. I can do anything with it in a snap. If I charge any such job by the hour, I'll be grossly underpaid for all my investment in mastering PageMaker. On the other hand, if a client asks me to do the very same job using, say, QuarkXPress, they'll be grossly overcharged for the many hours I'll spend reading manuals & help screens, not to mention trial-and-error.
So I only charge by the working hour when the job comprises mostly "being available", such as interpreting. If the interpretee talks like spitfire, or drags over a script, I get the same per hour.
Translation for subtitling prices may vary a lot within the same language pair/market. It ranges from free (i.e. fansubbers) to high quality corporate video (incidentally, my niche). I tend to define corporate video as 'Disney-standard quality with technical vocabulary'.
To give you an idea, taking figures roughly, to translate feature films/TV series on pre-timed "templates", I charge about half per minute of playing time of what I charge for script-less corporate video.
So it's likely that you'll get inconsistent input on rates. It is advisable that you check what your specific market is willing to pay for each type of service, and if that is profitable taking your productivity into account (though it will hopefully improve with practice).