We are studying the key quality checks that subtitle translators should perform when translating high-quality foreign subtitles.

• Foreign subtitle translation is a highly specialized field. With the explosive growth of online video content and the introduction of new regulations on video-on-demand content, this field is also growing.this field is also growing. Anyone who works in the translation department knows that good translation is comparable to an art form. It is impossible to accurately translate from one language to another mechanically. There are too many syntactic and cultural differences between languages, and sometimes it is not suitable for word-for-word translation. When working with documents, it is difficult to decide what words to use, what structure to retain, and what elements to localize, but adding a video that requires highly accurate timing (1/100 second) to the mix is ​​comparable to a brand new Ball games.

  Limit caption line length

  Most customers will get guidance on subtitle strip length requirements from their video service provider. The length of the line between the client and the client is expected to vary significantly, usually between 25 and 55 characters. The character limit for the most commonly used subtitles or closed captions (or CC subtitles) in the video production industry is 42, so if you are not sure, you can consider using this as a standard.

  When translating foreign subtitles, it is important to remember that some languages ​​are usually more important than others. For example, if your work is from English subtitles to Chinese subtitles, the lines may be shortened from the original text. The same is true for SRT files. If you translate English subtitles into German, each line may be 50% longer, and you may need to modify the time to keep the video and subtitles in sync.

  Maintain foreign subtitle structure

  ubtitle lines do not often appear as complete sentences. They are usually divided into small, manageable pieces and segmented according to the best grammar of the source language. As any good freelance translator knows, languages ​​can vary greatly in the structure and composition of sentences. When translating a document, usually, the translator will make the choice of changing the arrangement of certain words or even the entire clause.

  However, when it comes to foreign subtitles, structural differences between languages ​​can cause some problems. For example, in almost all foreign videos, you may find universal or recognizable words or phrases in the foreign voice. When translating subtitles, if the translated subtitles are reorganized too much, they may be too far away from recognizable words or names, making the subtitles look out of sync.

  Maintain a reasonable reading speed

  Whether it is English subtitles or foreign subtitles, reading speed is very important. If the subtitles disappear from the screen too quickly and the viewer has no chance to read it, the subtitles are useless. Professional captioning and closed captioning software is expensive, but it should provide a feature to limit the reading speed (usually up to 250 words per minute). It's worth browsing around, but online free software usually doesn't have these features.

  Double check the encoding of foreign characters

  When it comes to subtitles, encoding is really important. Choosing the wrong encoding to save will cause the characters to be displayed incorrectly, read like complete gibberish, or, worst of all, like a long string of question marks! Professional software, such as WINCAPS or SWIFT, will provide subtitle authors with the option to select a language and automatically save it as a writing format. On the other hand, free or cheap software may not allow this option, on the contrary, the code needs to be entered manually. Therefore, when writing and translating foreign subtitles, it is important to understand the differences between the different options and which option is right for you. For example, ANSI or UTF-8.

  Narrative double check

  Closed captions and some subtitles should include mandatory narration (text displayed on the screen with the video). This is standard practice for English subtitles, but using subtitles to translate videos from one language to another is absolutely critical. Forgetting to translate the compulsory narrative will deprive foreign audiences of the opportunity to understand important information, and as a subtitle translation, missing this information will give you a bad reputation.

  Consider location and format

  Although some customers do not specify format requirements based on the visual beauty of fonts or subtitles, it is better to set their own standards. If you are creating. SRT files will be passed to the client that processes them to add them to the video, and you don't need to consider placement or formatting options because these options are not available for basic. However, if your client asks you to burn subtitles to their foreign videos in the SRT file, you need to be careful to make good location and format choices. This includes: proper use of bold and italics; changing colors as required to indicate different speakers; changing positions to avoid conflicting on-screen text or reading difficulties, and avoid using background colors or using pop-up or rolling captions.