Subtitling
Penetrate New Markets with Tailored Translation and Subtitling Services
Subtitle and go beyond all the spoken language limitations
What is Subtitling?
Subtitling is the process of translating verbal speech and adding a written text to audio-visual media to be displayed on the screen. It is a type of audiovisual translation that is used in videos, clips, movies, music videos, games, series, documentaries, etc. Subtitling is not a literal translation of what is being said, but it takes into account the uses of the language and the cultural background of the target audience.
How does it work?
Subtitling services consist of the four following phases:
Spotting
The process of defining in/out times of each line/phrase, so that they are synchronized with the audio, and adhere to the minimum and maximum duration times, taking the shot changes into consideration.
Translation
Translating from the source language to the target one, and localizing the verbal content to match the cultural background and be fully understood by the viewers. The translation should adhere to the limits of characters of the screen display.
Correction
Checking the sentence structure, punctuation, spelling rules, language conventions, line breaks, hyphens, ellipsis and italics. The subtitles must be rightly positioned not to distract the viewer.
Simulation
After performing all the previous tasks, the video must be reviewed in a screening with the subtitles as it will appear on the final product. Edits, refining and modifications of text and timing would be applied during this simulation session.
How do we do it?
Contentech acknowledges the growing importance of subtitling and its influence on positioning businesses and achieving the target revenue. Therefore, it handles the 4-steps process – Spotting, Translation, Correction, and Simulation – according to the following principal criteria:
Spatial Dimensions
Our team makes sure we follow the maximum onscreen lines (2) when subtitling, and that the separation of the two lines does not interrupt the “linguistic whole” in the phrase. At the same time, we adhere to the convention of the maximum characters per line (For French, Italian, German and Spanish it’s between 37 and 39 characters). The maximum characters per second (20) is highly asserted.
Temporal Considerations
Our professionals recognize that subtitles must be synchronized with the audio and the video, that the subtitle should appear and disappear exactly when a person starts and finishes his line while preserving the six-second rule (Average reader can read a two-line subtitle in six seconds, and if the subtitle stays longer the viewer may read it again).
Linguistic Considerations
Because we are tied with maximum length and characters of the sentence, subtitles would normally be a reduced version of the spoken lines. Our specialists make their best to guarantee that the subtitle does not miss any piece of information that would affect the overall meaning of the scene, and punctuation marks are used as in normal texts.
Communication Channels
In addition to dialogue, we work on subtitling all the information appearing on the screen like letters, street names, newspapers, banners, etc. Also, Non-verbal information, like instrumental music, background noises, sound effects, animals, etc., is described in the subtitles.
Subtitling Facts:
- More than 60% of YouTube viewers are non-native English speakers.
- 85% of Facebook videos are watched on mute.
- Videos without subtitles are watched, on average, 66% to completion, while videos with subtitles are watched, on average, 91% to completion.
- Subtitles increase video reach, 15% more shares, 17% better reactions, and 26% more call-to-action.
- Captions improve SEO and Google ranking.
Why should you subtitle?
Subtitles play a key role nowadays in conveying the right messages and reaching the greatest number of audiences. Other advantages include:
Subtitle now and make sure your message is conveyed!
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