SUBTITLING

Clear captions for broader reach

Subtitling: what is it, exactly?

Subtitling is the process of displaying text on a screen to convey spoken dialogue, sound effects, and other relevant audio information from a video. This text is typically shown at the bottom of the screen and is synchronized with the audio. Think of your favorite streaming platform. Hundreds of movies and shows at the tap of a button, and odds are many of them are not originally in English. Thus, subtitles are a very simple and affordable, yet effective, way of making your context understood. Millions of words are translated every day in order to help you have the best viewing experience.

But subtitles are not only made from one language to another. Thanks to closed captioning, or subtitles for hard of hearing, content can be rendered accessible to individuals with diverse needs.

The function of the subtitles and their different target audiences will influence the characteristics of said subtitles. Therefore, it is important to understand the different types of subtitles and their requirements.

Formats we work with

Time always moves forward, and so does the way we interact with audiovisual content. We provide localization services for a variety of conventional and digital formats, including:

Feature films

Short films

TV series and miniseries

Streaming content

Documentaries

Web series

Corporate and training videos

E-learning content

The most common types of subtitles

Interlingual subtitles

By far the most common, interlingual subtitles are for the benefit of viewers who do not speak the language of the video. Often this implies the adaptation of wordplay or other elements which do not translate directly. However, character limitations are applied in order to avoid disturbing the viewing experience. A professional translation will strive to find the perfect balance.

Subtitles for hard of hearing and closed captions

Closed captioning, or subtitles for hard of hearing, allow individuals with special needs to view and understand audiovisual media. They may include annotations to indicate intonation or other non-verbal cues, as well as different colors to distinguish speakers.

Closed captioning is addressed to diverse individuals with different degrees of disability and life experiences.

Inserts

Perhaps you don't want subtitles. Perhaps you prefer dubbing, but you still want all on-screen information to be relied to your audience. Inserts in subtitling refer to brief on-screen text translations of signs, text messages, or other visual elements within a video. These translations ensure that viewers understand important written content that appears in the original language, maintaining the context and enhancing the overall viewing experience.

Browse our accessibility options

Why you need a human touch

Professional subtitling may not be cheap, especially if you're on a budget, so you may be thinking of skipping that step or cutting down expenses with machine translation. However, let me give you some reasons why saving some of the budget for professional subtitles will be beneficial for your project:

Contextual accuracy: AI and machine translation struggles at understanding context. You may have heard of tonal languages. Well..., what if I told you tone matters in any language? A proficient translator with a deep understanding of tone and nuance could come up with dozens of different translations for the word "Sure", depending on how it is used!
Characterization: Does the hermit living at the top of the mountain speak the same as your happy-go-lucky martial arts apprentice? Characters have different speech patterns, including slang or regional accents, which make them unique. Just like in real life! A skilled localizer can adapt these nuances successfully to breathe life into your characters and make sure they feel believable to Spanish audiences.
Cultural awareness: Viewers are not just passively interacting w.ith your media. Their enjoyment is directly influenced by their own background, including their knowledge of social norms and pop culture. You want your translators to be fully immersed in the target culture in order to make sure all cultural references are understood and no misunderstandings arise-
Personalized approach: Audiovisual content can come in many forms. What is your target audience? Where is your story set? A good localization understands the unique needs of each project and caters to them for a seamless viewing experience.

You may think that any translation is better than none at all, but if not done properly, subtitles can become distracting and ruin the experience. Don't let an awkward localization get in the way of your vision!

The subtitling process

Time coding

Ideally, the translator works with a subtitle file in the source language with time codes that will make the subtitles appear in sync with the spoken word, leaving them to worry only about linguistic issues. However, for an extra charge, at Press Play we also offer time coding compliant with the standards of the most common streaming platforms.

Translation

Due to the wide range of topics and formats, subtitle translation requires a multidisciplinary approach. At Press Play we look at every video with a unique lense in order to recognize the challenges they present and tream them accordingly.

Translate your video

Quality control

So now your video has subtitles in Spanish. The job is done. Right? The CQ step reviews the implementation of the subtitles in order to correct any linguistic or readability issues.

We utilize state-of-the-art software to detect any technical issues in subtitles.

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