How to prepare video content for quality translation?

With ongoing advancement and technology working on video content has become crucial in this digital age. Gone are the days when this medium was confined to movies and shows. The businesses and corporate sectors have also started to use these different video platforms to market and advertise their products and businesses. To make it accessible for people all across the world translation of the videos is an important part of the business. A business that is limited to its home country has limited growth. Translating it into different languages can widen the reach, helping to produce more business and boosting sales.

Video translation services are now significant to address the needs of a diverse audience. However, this is a technical and challenging process. It demands a lot of effort, concentration, and dedication. Moreover, it is also important to understand the whole process and how it works before translating it to the selected languages. The video makers and businesses as well as the video translation company, should sit together and brief each other about the important steps. The businesses should be able to convey their goals and expectations. To excel in this field comprehending the steps for preparing the video content can be beneficial for both parties.

Here are a few primary steps that can aid businesses in navigating through the technicalities of the process of preparing video content for translation.

Before Translation:

There are certain key steps that should be ready before starting the translation process.

Add transcripts

Adding transcripts is a crucial step. You as a video maker should be providing the transcript of the video content and dialogues in the original language. This transcript should contain all important details as well as the complete script. Translators, this way can have the content in the original language and can go through it for a better understanding to translate it with a clear contextual reference. This is especially crucial for scripts with complex and technical terminology.

Identify speakers and background noise

Background noise often emerges as a big challenge while working on video translation services. Therefore, sorting it in advance can help with better and quality translation. The translators should identify the speakers and list the number of speakers. Moreover, they should also be able to transcribe the background noise for better. Preparing it in advance helps with accurate subtitles and dubbing that can reflect the audio cues for better clarity for one and all.

Provide cultural context

Cultural context is extremely crucial for video translation. You as a business should ensure you choose a translation agency that has native speakers as translators as they can relate the video culturally more appropriately. Moreover, you should also provide cultural references and all the special industry jargon that has been mentioned in the videos and may require an explanation for international audiences.

Determine translation format

Video translation services can be of different types. Make sure that you have conveyed to the translators about your preference and choices of translation format. These could be subtitles, dubbing, and voiceovers and a few could ask for the combination of these styles. Each format comes with its pros and cons. Therefore, working on these according to the client’s requirements also aids in getting through the video translation accurately.

Prepare style guides

Style guides may vary with the target audiences’ expectations and clients’ requirements. You should convey the preferences of the style guide to the translation agency so that they can brief their translators and team accordingly. You should ensure that you convey clear guidelines to the translators. Consistency should be implemented and every technical term should have uniform and standard explanation all across different formats.  

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Choosing the right translation services

People may believe that video translation is an easy task however the fact says otherwise. Translating the content in the most precise and accurate manner requires a lot of effort. Therefore it is important that you go with a professional translation company. There are different translation agencies dealing with video content and its translation. However, not all of these are an appropriate choice. You should select a reputed and professional translation agency with relevant experience in video translation. Also, make sure that you go through their previous work and the results achieved.

Technical Preparation:

Video translation asks for technical preparation as well. This is a technical process with multiple pitfalls. To avoid all these challenges, it is important to consider technical preparation beforehand.

Optimize video quality

Video quality often differs according to the devices used for recording. Therefore, optimizing the video quality is imperative to deliver quality translation. Ensure that the video and audio quality is good enough to produce an accurate translation. Poor audio can lead to mistakes and misinterpretations. This further leads to inaccuracies maligning the translation product.

Time synchronization

Timecodes and time stamps hold great significance in the long videos especially. Timecoding the transcript helps to match the video footage. The translators this way can align the dubbing, captions, or subtitles more systematically with the right corresponding dialogues.

Choose file formats

The file format is what the users use to download or look for their desired video translation. So these should be compatible with the chosen translation format and also as per the desired delivery platform. Also, translation agencies and their teams should know about these formats already to produce quality translations.

Provide technical specifications

Many clients demand different technical specifications. Therefore, if you have any, mention these in advance. These could be requirements about the frame rate, bitrate, and resolution.

Conclusion

Video translation is a challenging process. To navigate through it professionally, it is advised to follow certain techniques and challenges. Preparing content for video translation while following certain practices with technical preparation helps to produce quality translation products.

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