MemoQ and Powerpoint - stable? good? reliable?
Thread poster: Comunican
Comunican
Comunican
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:50
Spanish to English
+ ...
Aug 9, 2009

Hello,
I'm now thinking of giving MemoQ a go, given Proz's current software + training offer (I think training is essential with these complex software packages to avoid frustration and to get the most out of the functionality).
I tend to get quite a few of Powerpoint files so, before I go spending my money, could anyone tell me how how good/reliable/stable MemoQ is with them?
Thanks very much.


 
Karen Stokes
Karen Stokes  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:50
Member (2003)
French to English
Great Aug 9, 2009

I use MemoQ for all my PowerPoint translations and it's always handled them beautifully: in fact one of the first jobs I did with MemoQ was a series of complex PPT files and I had no problems at all.

Hope this helps.

Best,

Karen


 
Epameinondas Soufleros
Epameinondas Soufleros  Identity Verified
Greece
Local time: 21:50
Member (2008)
English to Greek
+ ...
Go ahead and try it for yourself Aug 9, 2009

According to my experience, it is quite robust. But don't take my word for it, go ahead and download MemoQ to try it for yourself: you can use it for real projects if you wish, yet some advanced functionality (like alignment) is missing, and you can only use one TM per project, without being able to re-use a TM (i.e. you must create a new one for each new project). That is the MemoQ4free mode, but it should be more than enough for you to check the reliability of the program for PowerPoint files.... See more
According to my experience, it is quite robust. But don't take my word for it, go ahead and download MemoQ to try it for yourself: you can use it for real projects if you wish, yet some advanced functionality (like alignment) is missing, and you can only use one TM per project, without being able to re-use a TM (i.e. you must create a new one for each new project). That is the MemoQ4free mode, but it should be more than enough for you to check the reliability of the program for PowerPoint files.

MemoQ rocks in every aspect, and there's a new version, version 4.0, on the way, too.

And, oh, the guys who develop it are linguists, not mere programmers. Computational linguistics at its best, I say. But let us know what you think after having given MemoQ a go.

[Edited at 2009-08-09 17:51 GMT]
Collapse


 
Lia Fail (X)
Lia Fail (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 20:50
Spanish to English
+ ...
45-day trial Aug 10, 2009

Comunican wrote:

Hello,
I'm now thinking of giving MemoQ a go, given Proz's current software + training offer (I think training is essential with these complex software packages to avoid frustration and to get the most out of the functionality).
I tend to get quite a few of Powerpoint files so, before I go spending my money, could anyone tell me how how good/reliable/stable MemoQ is with them?
Thanks very much.


Before you buy, why not try? You can get 45 days. If you've used a CAT tool before, it's not that complex, the start guide is basic but adequate.

I am testing it and really like it (I've previously used Trados and Wordfast). I don't want the training, I'm learning as I go (and anyway, by now I've learned a lot of what the training would help me with).

By the way, there are always "offers" (for CAT tools anyway, it seems), so don't feel pressurized to buy just becuase you feel you might "miss out". MemoQ was available to me a few months ago as an offer (I postponed), again recently (it suited me to test it, as I had a new and large project that I wasn't going to need my TMs for), and now through ProZ ....

It's really great, compared to the previous tools I was using, it just seems so smart and robust.

PS. As far as I know, I'm not using the "free" mode like Epameinondas, it's the full works. I've aligned in it, again, slightly different from Trados but similar principles, and it's worked beautifully (well, Trados Align simply crashed fairly constantly, why I don't know)

[Edited at 2009-08-10 00:26 GMT]


 
Comunican
Comunican
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:50
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks for the recommendation Aug 10, 2009

Karen Stokes wrote:

I use MemoQ for all my PowerPoint translations and it's always handled them beautifully: in fact one of the first jobs I did with MemoQ was a series of complex PPT files and I had no problems at all.

Hope this helps.

Best,

Karen


 
Comunican
Comunican
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:50
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks for the feedback, how does it compare with Wordfast? Aug 10, 2009

[quote]Lia Fail wrote:

It's really great, compared to the previous tools I was using, it just seems so smart and robust.

Hi Lia
Thanks for that, it's very useful to hear someone in a similar situation.
I do feel I need training, since I downloaded the trial version and didnt really know what I was doing (typical male, I don't get on well with manuals!).

So, you think it is better than Wordfast?

Thanks


 
Comunican
Comunican
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:50
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
They sound like significant negatives for MemoQ Aug 10, 2009

Epameinondas Soufleros wrote:

yet some advanced functionality (like alignment) is missing, and you can only use one TM per project, without being able to re-use a TM (i.e. you must create a new one for each new project).


Hi and thanks for your feedback
Can you really not have one big TM? That seems crazy since there will be times - especically with legal texts, for example - when the same phrases occur. So are you saying that for each job yuou create a separate TM and they all sit separately - how bizarre!

And there is no alignment? That seems like a big drawback - I use the align thing now and again, and I would not like not to have it...

Thanks for your comments


 
Wolfgang Jörissen
Wolfgang Jörissen  Identity Verified
Belize
Dutch to German
+ ...
To set things right Aug 10, 2009

Comunican wrote:

Epameinondas Soufleros wrote:

yet some advanced functionality (like alignment) is missing, and you can only use one TM per project, without being able to re-use a TM (i.e. you must create a new one for each new project).


Hi and thanks for your feedback
Can you really not have one big TM? That seems crazy since there will be times - especically with legal texts, for example - when the same phrases occur. So are you saying that for each job yuou create a separate TM and they all sit separately - how bizarre!

And there is no alignment? That seems like a big drawback - I use the align thing now and again, and I would not like not to have it...

Thanks for your comments


This limitation applys to the free version of MemoQ. In fact, the full version enables you to use as many TMs simultaneously as you wish.

As for alignment, I am not sure. But if you already have an aligner and you are satisfied with it, why not stick to it and export the resulting TM into a TMX file or another compatible format.


 
Lia Fail (X)
Lia Fail (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 20:50
Spanish to English
+ ...
Let me count the ways ...! Aug 10, 2009

[quote]Comunican wrote:

Lia Fail wrote:

It's really great, compared to the previous tools I was using, it just seems so smart and robust.

Hi Lia
Thanks for that, it's very useful to hear someone in a similar situation.
I do feel I need training, since I downloaded the trial version and didnt really know what I was doing (typical male, I don't get on well with manuals!).

So, you think it is better than Wordfast?

Thanks




First of all, if you've used WF (or Trados), you understand the basic notions of CAT. However, MemoQ (like DVX, I believe) works somewhat differently. Basically with WF or Trados you work in the document (which is comforting, becuase it feels familiar). With MemoQ you work in a database. This is a bit strange to get used to at first.

MemoQ is better becuase:

It makes me work better, somehow, becuase instead of doing a rough first draft then a number of rounds as I did before, now segment by segment I translate to quite a high level of completion. Partly this has to do with the interface itself, and also the measure of progress (you can see what % of a document or project is completed at anytime), and odd as it may seem, I find that motivational.

You don't have to concordance to find a term, all repetitions and similar fragments are shown in a box and you just click to reuse. That's also the term base, which you can add to by highlighting source and target fragments and clicking to enter.

I can do a lot of small operations that I couldn't do in Trados or WF, like copying part of the source to target, sorting sentences in numerous ways (eg, highest match first or last, longest or shortest source first or last), if I change the translation in one part of the text, it will change all other instances in the same document automatically, etc.

Finally, it seems more robust that the Trados I was using, which occasionally needed a fix doc operation, sometimes my error with tags, but there are no tags to mess you up in MemoQ. But Trados was frustrating in other ways (eg, if there WAS a missing tag, it affected the entire paragraph and it wasn't always easy to find it), and MemoQ seems to be smarter and more intuitive. Probably becuase it was designed by translators. Trados Align always was unreliable for me, but MemoQ Align works well.

I'm using the 45-day trial version, and it has full functionality. Not to mention great e-mail help from MemoQ.


 
Lia Fail (X)
Lia Fail (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 20:50
Spanish to English
+ ...
another plus Aug 11, 2009

When I copy and paste from the WWW, the font adapts to MemoQ. With Trados/WF, I had to manually change the font and size.

Not much ... but MemoQ is full of little surprises like that:-)


 
Aguas de Mar (X)
Aguas de Mar (X)
ATA article describes it as one of the best Aug 12, 2009

Hello Comunican,
I have not used MemoQ, but I just finished reading an article published in the June 2009 issue of the ATA (American Translators Association) Chronicle entitled "MemoQ: A Strong Contender for the Title of Best Translation Environment Tool", by Naomi J. Sutcliffe de Moraes. She pretty much has the same opinions as Lia, and mentions that the limited TM capabilities pertain to the trial version, and not to the paid one. I am not sure if you have access to the ATA magazine, so
... See more
Hello Comunican,
I have not used MemoQ, but I just finished reading an article published in the June 2009 issue of the ATA (American Translators Association) Chronicle entitled "MemoQ: A Strong Contender for the Title of Best Translation Environment Tool", by Naomi J. Sutcliffe de Moraes. She pretty much has the same opinions as Lia, and mentions that the limited TM capabilities pertain to the trial version, and not to the paid one. I am not sure if you have access to the ATA magazine, so you could read by yourself, but the article sounded so good, that I will definitively look into the possibility of acquiring it.
Collapse


 
Damian Harrison (X)
Damian Harrison (X)
Germany
Local time: 20:50
German to English
Alignment Aug 12, 2009

I finally settled on using MemoQ because it features an excellent and easy-to-use alignment tool. Wordfast users, on the other hand, must either follow the 21 step alignment process for Wordfast 5.53 or puchase Pro Tools in order to align translations.
The MemoQ documentation is also much more comprehensive than that of WF, which often left me more confused about an error than I already was...


 


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:


You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

MemoQ and Powerpoint - stable? good? reliable?






Trados Studio 2022 Freelance
The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.

Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.

More info »
Wordfast Pro
Translation Memory Software for Any Platform

Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users! Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value

Buy now! »