Closed captions are a legal requirement for broadcast and VoD content. Broadcast and VoD Closed captions include sound effects, speaker identification and working with exact specifications to ensure accessibility. When translating closed captions, it’s vitally important that the translation is accurate and the text still complies with specifications as per the original source file. Any professional closed captioning and translation company should work with the aspects below in translating and localising caption content. 

Closed Captioning and Localisation

When working on translating video for broadcast and VoD content, one of the key important factors is localisation. Translation isn’t a simple process. There are structural, syntactical and contextual differences between languages. If these differences aren’t translated sympathetically, target language translations can wind up being well below par. This is where localisation comes in. Localisation requires extensive knowledge and understanding of sayings, cultural references and other linguistic nuances. 

Character Limits and Line Splits in Translation

Especially when translating Asian languages including Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean and Japanese, line splits in subtitles are important. In these languages, there are no spaces in between letters and words, so it’s important to make the correct splits between subtitle lines to make sure text retains its meaning. Even when working with languages which use Latin based characters, it’s always preferable to split subtitles sympathetically, taking into account both audio pauses, punctuation and grammar. 

Subtitle Reading Speeds

Some languages can be much longer than others when it comes to wordiness. For instance, German can be up to 30% longer to read than English, whereas Chinese can be 30% or more, shorter. If subtitles have too high a reading speed, viewers may not have time to read the translated captions before they vanish. Whilst the starting point of working with caption translation is using a source language SRT, translators and professional subtitlers should alter timings once the text is translated to ensure optimum screen time. 

Foreign Language Encoding Issues and Compatibility

Subtitle burning involves the process of rendering subtitles onto a video image to display permanently. For broadcast and VOD, sidecar caption files are required, allowing viewers to turn captions on and off as required. Different caption formats have compatibility with different characters, which means some formats may not function and/or display correctly with certain languages. Using the correct caption formats and correct encoding will ensure that your translations are fit for purpose.

So there you have it, our guide to translating video for broadcast and VoD service providers. If you would like to know more about this topic visit our pages on closed captions to get a better idea. If you already have a video or film which you would like translating into a different language then why not click the button below for a quick and easy quote from our friendly team.