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Leaving 'space' for a translation

Hello


I'm preparing a job where I will be subtitling spoken English to English subtitles and others will then translate.


I'm a bit unsure about how to proceed.


I know that I should leave 'space' in case a translation is a bit longer


But what does that mean in reality and what are the effects?


If I use less characters per subtitle window in English, I will need more subtitle windows surely?


Now if the translator doesn't need this space, they will fit their subtitles into the first window and not need the second window.

So what happens now? Do they have to delete the second window in their language or can they just leave it blank if they don't need it?

Will that blank window show up?

eg English maybe < 35 char per line

Window 1:   The man took the dog
                      to the veterinary surgeon

Window 2:    as it seemed listless.

In French maybe

Window 1: L'homme a amené son chien chez le vétérinaire
                    parce qu'il semblait léthargique.

What happens to window 2 now?

Worse, I don't know if all the translators are familiar with subtitling and able to edit the time slots on an srt

Need general help and advice please

Thanks in advance

1 Comment

Hi Safetex,

If translators can make a translation track in the same Amara page you use to make the original captions, there is no issue: they can translate from your captions, and also split and sync the translated subtitles independently.  So in your example, the French translator could simply delete Window 2, and then readjust:
  • the matching between English and French using the little lock icon (see "17. Scroll Lock Button" in The anatomy of the subtitling editor),
  • the timing of the French subtitles when they reach the syncing stage.

 However, if whoever commissions the subtitle translations insists on having the same syncing in the original and all translated subtitles, and on a line/subtitle length limit for all languages, then yes, you'd have to be more careful, because many languages use more characters than English for the same content.


Back to your example, in this second case: you chose to stick to <25/line in the English subtitles: that's maybe a trifle overcautious if the limit is <35/line. You could probably safely increase that to 30-33/line, with a total <65/subtitle.



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