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Someone to indicate me a good subtitling software?
Thread poster: Véronique Fourneaux
Véronique Fourneaux
Véronique Fourneaux  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 19:54
English to French
Jan 5, 2017

Hello all,
In search of new activities after twenty years in the literature translation, I began working on subitiling translation for a firm that has its own private software to do so, but as you may already know work isn't regular in that branch, therefore I'm looking for a good subtitling translation software (accepting all files) in order to be able to work for other possible clients. A free one would be a good idea too.
Any suggestions?
Thanks a lot!
Véronique


 
Nathanael Fourie
Nathanael Fourie  Identity Verified
Member (2015)
Norwegian to English
+ ...
Aegisub Jan 5, 2017

Aegisub is pretty good; potentially the industry standard for free, open source software.
www.aegisub.org/

[Edited at 2017-01-05 12:05 GMT]


Susana Rodrigues
 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 15:54
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
It depends on what you mean by "subtitling" Jan 5, 2017

To me, as I do the entire job, it's a three-step process, which I describe at http://www.lamensdorf.com.br/subtitling.html.

However I got into subtitling in 2004 after having spent 17 years in the video translation-for-dubbing realm, so my m.o. might be somewhat different from standard practice.

You can find all information on digital video software, links for downl
... See more
To me, as I do the entire job, it's a three-step process, which I describe at http://www.lamensdorf.com.br/subtitling.html.

However I got into subtitling in 2004 after having spent 17 years in the video translation-for-dubbing realm, so my m.o. might be somewhat different from standard practice.

You can find all information on digital video software, links for download, and even some tutorials at http://videohelp.com.

My favorite software for video translation is Express Scribe. In one week, it led me to retire the two open-reel audio recorders I had used for over a decade to do it.

For time-spotting, there are several options:
- Subtitle Workshop
- Subtitle Edit
- Aegisub
... being the most popular freeware.

Finally, for burning subs onto the video, my choice is VirtualDub (also freeware) with Lee Avery's Subtitler plugin. Though it confines me to burn subtitles onto AVI files, I love the outstanding quality it delivers. Most video converters nowadays include the possibility of burning subs, like Any Video Converter, AVS4you, Movavi, etc.

Keep in mind that many translators only do one or two out of the three steps, depending on the clientele.

Only translation is usually required by subtitling studios or video distributing companies. Sometimes - though not always - they request time-spotting too.

Translation and time-spotting is common when the end-user of any kind will generate subs on-the-fly, e.g. YouTube or using the VideoLAN VLC player.

The three steps are usually required by corporate clients (my main niche) - where video production is NO part of their core business - who want a finished video that will always play with flawless subtitling onscreen.
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Véronique Fourneaux
Véronique Fourneaux  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 19:54
English to French
TOPIC STARTER
wow Jan 5, 2017

Forgive my inexperience José, but what you do looks very complicated to me!
When reading you I might say the firm I work with (a big video firm) sends me work nearly chewed in advance since everything else is done (English subtitles, time-coding, burning and all) and I only have to translate the English subtitiles.
Therefore I might go see what Aegisub looks like since Linguisticano and you recommend it.
Anyway, thanks a lot to you two for your prompt answer and may this new
... See more
Forgive my inexperience José, but what you do looks very complicated to me!
When reading you I might say the firm I work with (a big video firm) sends me work nearly chewed in advance since everything else is done (English subtitles, time-coding, burning and all) and I only have to translate the English subtitiles.
Therefore I might go see what Aegisub looks like since Linguisticano and you recommend it.
Anyway, thanks a lot to you two for your prompt answer and may this new year bring you all that you dream of!

Véronique
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AlexanderZeller
AlexanderZeller
Australia
Professional Jan 5, 2017

Subtitlecreator is the best software for subtitle
it provides subtitles in different file formats, you can choose any format you need.
But I would suggest you use professional services because they are trustworthy and provides accurate results. You can try the services of
"migration translators" for this.

[Edited at 2017-01-05 12:05 GMT]


 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 15:54
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
Templates Jan 5, 2017

Véronique Fourneaux wrote:

Forgive my inexperience José, but what you do looks very complicated to me!
When reading you I might say the firm I work with (a big video firm) sends me work nearly chewed in advance since everything else is done (English subtitles, time-coding, burning and all) and I only have to translate the English subtitiles.
Therefore I might go see what Aegisub looks like since Linguisticano and you recommend it.
Anyway, thanks a lot to you two for your prompt answer and may this new year bring you all that you dream of!


Véronique, you are working on what's called "templates".

Though this compromises quality to some extent, it's the most economical way to have one video translated into multiple languages.

Transcription is done once, in advance. Many translators charge considerably less when it is provided. Spotting (breaking the text into adequate chunks) is also done once and in advance. And time-spotting (when each sub goes IN & OUT) is also done once and in advance.

All that is left to do is to translate the text on the template into each of the required languages, and the video can be aired!

To give you a comparison, let's assume that I would translate EN>PT a video without a script, and time-spot it for $500. If they hired two others like me, using the same process separately, into, say, FR and ES, the process for PT+FR+ES would cost $1,500.

I usually charge half to translate on a template, so $250 in this case. Let's assume that they have spent another $250 in transcription & spotting. If the two others charge the same, the entire EN>PT+FR+ES job will cost them $1,000.

If you increase the number of languages (pretty common in a worldwide-distributed DVD), savings can be awesome.

Just one thing to keep in mind as a blossoming subtitling translator: conciseness!
The more concise your subs are, the more time a spectator will have left - after reading them - to enjoy the movie. Templates usually have the entire script verbatim.
So if in the original someone says, "It is indeed my wholehearted opinion that...", use something like (sorry for my lame FR!) "Je pense même que..."


 
Véronique Fourneaux
Véronique Fourneaux  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 19:54
English to French
TOPIC STARTER
Conciseness Jan 5, 2017

Lol
Conciseness, I learned it very quickly when begining, José!
First featurette was hel, but then it came almost naturally.
Now, already downloaded Aegisub. Now I'll have to figure how does it works, but without any file to put in it I fear it's gonna be quite theoretical.


 
jbjb
jbjb  Identity Verified
Estonia
Local time: 20:54
Estonian to English
+ ...
big Jan 5, 2017

All of the bigger and not-so-big companies work with templates because that is the most efficient way (as José accurately described).
What you are left with are corporate clients who have no idea about subtitling and need a few project a year - they pay a lot but you need a much more thorough (José-like) knowledge of subtitling before even thinking in that direction.
And you have some clients who allow you to work with templates but modify them - many of the majors also allow this
... See more
All of the bigger and not-so-big companies work with templates because that is the most efficient way (as José accurately described).
What you are left with are corporate clients who have no idea about subtitling and need a few project a year - they pay a lot but you need a much more thorough (José-like) knowledge of subtitling before even thinking in that direction.
And you have some clients who allow you to work with templates but modify them - many of the majors also allow this but translators are not trained to do that because they assume freelancers will give up on the work due to low rates long before it becomes feasible to spend time on training, so it's better to leave them in the "just replace the text" mode.

Whatever free subtitling software you choose, it won't be industry standard. Basically the subtitling industry has a standard like TRADOS in ordinary translations. So if you are using free software, you depend on companies who are willing to take your work and convert them into the standard after you deliver - there are enough of those companies but fewer and fewer because converting often means a thorough inspection of the file.
You may get advice on software that is almost as good or "looks like" TRADOS, that "does the same things", "offers the same quality" - but it won't be TRADOS, and that's it.
Even the proprietary software of big companies needs someone to convert the files on their end before they are sent to the client. The only aim of the private software is to allow translators to create files that they cannot use anywhere else later, and they cannot use the software to work for any other client.

That said, there is no point to invest in the subtitling version of TRADOS until you have a client ready to pay for this kind of service.
Working for a number of major companies using their own private software might be just as good a way of insuring regular work.
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S.J
S.J  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 14:54
English to Arabic
+ ...
Sorry, can I ask you about the company name? Jan 6, 2017

Véronique Fourneaux wrote:

Hello all,
In search of new activities after twenty years in the literature translation, I began working on subitiling translation for a firm that has its own private software to do so, but as you may already know work isn't regular in that branch, therefore I'm looking for a good subtitling translation software (accepting all files) in order to be able to work for other possible clients. A free one would be a good idea too.
Any suggestions?
Thanks a lot!
Véronique


 
Véronique Fourneaux
Véronique Fourneaux  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 19:54
English to French
TOPIC STARTER
Many thanks to all! Jan 6, 2017

Many thanks indeed, this post/conversation was very enlightening.
With the exception of the firm that sends me templates (sorry Sjaatoul, I prefer keeping its name for me) I might not try to go any further in that direction. For one, Trados and all professional tools are very expensive and second, it would be a lot of training without any result guaranteed. And work, I need it as soon as possible!
Véronique


 
jbjb
jbjb  Identity Verified
Estonia
Local time: 20:54
Estonian to English
+ ...
subtitling Jan 6, 2017

You will find other topics under Subtitling with suggestions about professional subtitling software. The expense is either a few thousand euro to buy or an annual rent (starting from about 1,000 euro). As for the company in question, the majors who give you their subtiling software are SDI and Deluxe, also BTI.

 
C. MASKA
C. MASKA
France
Local time: 19:54
Member
English to French
+ ...
SubtitleEdit Jan 15, 2017

try to download subtitleedit.exe

Elena Kharlamova
 
Joana Polonia
Joana Polonia  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 18:54
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Professional or free? Feb 9, 2017

Hi,

For me, a nice cost-benefit subtitling software is Spot. It is a little expensive, but I can guarantee you can't find any better.
Other option is Lemony 5, less expensive but also good.
And if you are thinking of a free software, I would recommend Subtitle Edit by Nikse.dk


Przemek Kalemba
 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 15:54
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
The professional is at the helm Feb 9, 2017

Joana Polonia wrote:

Professional or free?

For me, a nice cost-benefit subtitling software is Spot. It is a little expensive, but I can guarantee you can't find any better.
Other option is Lemony 5, less expensive but also good.
And if you are thinking of a free software, I would recommend Subtitle Edit by Nikse.dk


jbjb wrote:

Even the proprietary software of big companies needs someone to convert the files on their end before they are sent to the client. The only aim of the private software is to allow translators to create files that they cannot use anywhere else later, and they cannot use the software to work for any other client.

That said, there is no point to invest in the subtitling version of TRADOS until you have a client ready to pay for this kind of service.
Working for a number of major companies using their own private software might be just as good a way of insuring regular work.


Spot and a few other USD 4-digit-priced subtitling programs are not privately owned by any subtitling company, however they create some "rare" subtitle files formats , which incidentally are adopted by some (or most?) European broadcast companies.

As Jbjb smartly pointed out, such procedures renders the subtitle files useless, if they leak to the web. If people can download movies/series from illegal sources AND find these subtitles for download too, say, in SRT format, the broadcast industry may be at stake.

As mentioned on Wikipedia:
Subtitles created for TV broadcast are stored in a variety of file formats. The majority of these formats are proprietary to the vendors of subtitle insertion systems.


So these formats are not necessarily "professional", but exclusive to specific professional systems.

What matters is the outcome. Of course, these pricey programs should be feature-laden to make the pro's life easier, but - to make an analogy - Trados on its own won't improve an unskilled translators output.


Many years ago, I knew a mechanic, a true specialist in wheel alignment and suspension. His name was Mario. Surprisingly, his wheel alignment machine was pretty spartan, devoid of all the bells ans whistles that already existed, not impressive at all. However he kept it accurate to the dot.

Mario said, "The machine only measures what is there, and I am the one who has to decide what has to be adjusted, where, and how much, to make it correct. I don't need the machine to give me any advice, I know it!"

In 1968 Ford launched a new model in Brazil, the Corcel, based on the Renault 12 design. It was a new trend, front-wheel drive, which has its peculiarities that I'll refrain from explaining here. It was very successful for almost two decades while it was manufactured.

The first Ford Corcel cars quickly wore off the front tires on the inside. Mario challenged the Ford engineering specs for wheel alignment, and set his own. After these cars had been through Mario's shop, they wore tires evenly, and they lasted much, much longer. Yes, Ford revised their wheel alignment specs to Mario's.


This is all to say that a really professional subtitler will know what s/he's doing so well, that they won't need "advice" from the software. They can get top-notch results from barebones freeware.


 
Faustine.Rou (X)
Faustine.Rou (X)
Local time: 18:54
English to French
time-spotting Feb 9, 2017

If I may, José, do you spot your subtitles yourself or do you always use your clients' templates ?

 
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Someone to indicate me a good subtitling software?







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