Multimedia can be very engaging and is all about good content. If you want to translate, subtitle, and have voiceover, this requires specialized talent and expertise.
You can capture your audience and get you message across at many different levels, and gain a lasting impression and help establish recognition of your brand and product line.
Let’s address the facets in translating a video. We first require a transcription of the audio portion in the native language, from the original video work, normally in Mpeg2, Mjpeg or an Avi format,in as high a quality as possible. The transcription is then translated into the target language.
We then prepare the subtitles to fit in the time line. Often because of a different target language and the number of words involved, a subtitle may require considerable editing to get the right expression and nuance in the time allotted, to synch properly with the video portion of the content.
There’s also the question, on occasion to avoid using harsh language or expressions. Then again a client may want to leave colorful expressions in a subtitle or voice over for the sake of authenticity or artistic expression. There are judgment calls that need to be made. We often ask our client to first review the translation and subtitles.
If we are just working with subtitles, we then author and encode the video. Once you have a translation and subtitles in one one language, it can be economical to just translate subtitles into one or more additional target languages. This technique can also be used for Flash presentations.
Voiceovers are more unique as well as costly, due to the studio time and acting talent, depending on the number of voices required. Your voiceover talent should speak very well in the target language with a professional and neutral accent. Additionally you want talent that understands the source language, so that you get a voice that expresses more feeling and has a grasp of the subject matter and content, where the narration does not sound mechanical.
The subtitles also need to be consistent with the voiceover narration, for the sake of continuity. The finished product should read well and sound good to the editor and viewer. Please be aware it make take several changes and edits to get to the final product which is quite time consuming.
The final product is authored encoded, burned onto a DVD with a suitable label.
If you are in
What is next on the horizon is the HD DVD or Blu Ray formats for HDTV, which is usually 16:9 and a much higher density DVD and larger file size.
Routinely I play regular DVD’s on an HDTV with a standard DVD player.
They work fine even though they may not be the highest resolution. You can also use a DVD player with an up-converter, to improve detail and resolution.
While we are beginning to receive 1080i HDTV signals , the major advantage is that you see more detail and can often count the hairs on someone’s head or see the pores on their face in a close up. This leads to a greater sense of verisimilitude.
The question to ask is if it is necessary to be on the cutting edge for a video to be shown on a PC monitor online to get the message and content across.
Visit us at www.cistranslations.com
