Learning the Basics of Video Translation

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The language services, accessibility and translation markets are big business — and demand is rising. According to Statista it was worth more than $56 billion dollars in 2021, and another researcher, Cision, believes the markets will reach $96.1 billion by 2027.

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Language services encompass the set of language assistance solutions that offer varying degrees of interpretation, translation, comprehension, localization, and other training services. They include a wide range of electronic, written, and multimedia materials for transcription, dubbing, narration, and voice-over. When it comes to M&E, demand is rising in part because of the local-global expansion of streaming service providers.

Here are some of the use cases, production methods and considerations related to video translation, courtesy of technology provider Verbit.

There’s a distinction between subtitling and captioning. The two solutions appear as text on screen but address different viewer preferences. When a viewer activates captions, they appear in the same language as the original content. The reason for this is that captioning is a solution focused on accessibility where subtitles are about translating to a new language.

In addition, captions interpret nonverbal sounds. If there’s a knock at the door or someone honks their horn, the captions convey that message. Captions also indicate when there is music playing and may state the artist and song or the tone. For instance, [eerie music] or [upbeat music] may appear on the screen to give the viewer more context.

Captions are a key accessibility tool for people who are deaf and hard of hearing, although many other viewers prefer to watch with captions on for various reasons.

The process of dubbing only impacts the audio file of a video. If the film has background music or non-verbal sounds like dogs barking or glass breaking, that audio also remains. However, translators will switch out any dialogue and narration from the original language to another language. In some instances, the filmmakers will even alter the gestures and mouth movements of the actors to match the new audio. The aim is to create an illusion that the characters are talking in the language of the target audience.

When users transcribe video to text, they create a written version of the audio content — useful for record-keeping or to preserve an interview. Having a searchable transcript makes it easy to jump to various points within a video. With the rise in digital content, there’s also a growing need to translate subtitles for online video translation.

Manual transcription and translation take significant time and are often inefficient. However, technical processes, including those using AI, can leave users with poor-quality results. Verbit advises a hybrid process where AI is used to produce a first draft of transcripts to streamline the process, but then ensures accuracy by having professionals review each transcript or captioning file.