If you are a video producer today, chances are that sooner or later you’ll be asked to deliver subtitled content.

Whether you’re a filmmaker submitting to international festivals or a branded-content producer with clients who do business globally, it’s important to understand the basics of the subtitling process.

So over the next couple of posts, we’ll tell you what you need to know to make sure your subtitles are on point, and that you don’t waste your money on shoddy work or inefficient practices.

 

Let’s start with the basics.

How subtitles are created in a professional environment
  1. We take your video and transcript, and load it into subtitling software.
  1. The subtitler breaks up the transcript into short segments that are precisely timed to the dialogue, taking into account content and rhythm.
  1. The subtitler then translates the dialogue segment by segment, adjusting the segmentation as needed for the new language, and condensing the text. Subtitles are almost never a word-for-word translation of the spoken dialogue; they’re a condensed version because they have to fit the time and space available. Otherwise, the viewer will be struggling to keep up with the text and miss the action on screen.
  1. The subtitler takes care not to go over the maximum number of characters per line. (The common limit for broadcast and streaming is 42.)  The subtitler is also watching the reading speed (measured in the number of characters in a subtitle divided by the time the subtitle is on screen) to make sure the viewer has enough time to read the text, and making sure the subtitles don’t conflict with shot changes in the film, which can be distracting.
  1. A reviewer goes over the subtitles, checking against the original language, making sure the translations are accurate and well-written, and checking for typos. The subtitler and reviewer often discuss translation choices to come up with the best solution.
  1. Finally, we export the subtitles in any format required – a simple SRT for online use or import into Premiere; TTML for Netflix, iTunes and other VOD platforms; a QuickTime with alpha channel, etc.

And there you go. Audiences around the world can see your content as you intended it. 

NEXT: What NOT to do when creating subtitles for your video content.

Want great subtitles for your project? Give us a shout.