The third and final article in the video subtitling mini-series will talk about how EVS Translations creates subtitles in one language for videos in another.
As mentioned in the previous articles, the video is transcribed by one of the linguist experts, before a native speaker of that language proofreads that transcription. This is standard procedure at EVS Translations, as we want to ensure that no nuances, idioms, or cultural differences arise within these transcriptions that could skew the message. That is also why only native speakers of that language will proofread the text afterwards – to ensure top quality.
After the transcription, a native speaker of the target language now translates the text with the help of CAT-tools and industry-specific glossaries, although customer-specific word banks can also be used upon request. Once the translation is complete and proofread by yet another native speaker of the target language, it is sent back to the Translation Engineering team for video incorporation.
Here, the subtitles have to be carefully worked back in, so that they coincide with speech breaks, grammatical elements, and context, but the hardest part of this step is the change in character length. As most languages have different kinds of syntax, they also have different word lengths, in which something like “Sorry” could turn into “Entschuldigung.” Given that this can easily throw off the character number on screen (about 70 characters is the EVS Translations standard), the team has to work hard to rearrange everything to make it fit and make sense again. But the end product is always a professional, multilingual video ready for corporate use.
Has this peaked your interest? Don’t hesitate to contact us now to learn more about our video subtitling services!
