I Have never Done this before... Thread poster: Christopher H
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At the moment, I am translating subtitles for a classic movie, as I could find nothing of quality on the subtitle websites. Now, I worked off of a horrible English translation, and a Spanish translation, with the help of some dictionaries and Google Translate. It is quite painstaking...
I first went through the bad English translation, and fixed extremely poor grammar and spelling, and made it more storylike and conversational. I translated the songs in a poetic fashion, as I find ... See more At the moment, I am translating subtitles for a classic movie, as I could find nothing of quality on the subtitle websites. Now, I worked off of a horrible English translation, and a Spanish translation, with the help of some dictionaries and Google Translate. It is quite painstaking...
I first went through the bad English translation, and fixed extremely poor grammar and spelling, and made it more storylike and conversational. I translated the songs in a poetic fashion, as I find that in better keeping with the story and feel. After I finished my correction of the English subs, I went through the entire thing again, with the Spanish as a reference. and I am now matching it to the movie. As I match it to the movie, I am adjusting my translations many times over, as there can be so much more added to the translation when observing body language and situation.
I am sure that this is a very heterodox way of translating, but I know that I am producing real quality. I guess that you cannot really make money doing what I am doing here. If One can, I would be delighted. I wonder, if in translating classic foreign movies, if I could produce copies of said movies with my translations, copyrighted of course, to put on the market.
Writing is an art, and it is the only art that I do well. Besides the culinary arts... OK, one of two. The movies that I am trying to sub into English are sometimes very obscure, and they don't have a huge market. I know that I am going to be doing more movies, but it takes so much time and effort (I am sure I will speed up over time) that I do not want to just throw them out to the internet world with no compensation... Not that I am against sharing, but really!!
Before I posted, I started reading a bit on this forum. This movie has taken me about 30 hours so far, and I am only 7 minutes into the "cueing". This is a difficult part. I am unaware of software that will help with this aspect, but it would be quite nice to have! Anyway, I would love advice and thoughts on this! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Hello Christopher | Nov 16, 2014 |
welcome to Proz.com & the world of translating. I do not know if srt will help you, as it might be more for transcribing than translating. Translating subtitles is ,far, far more time consuming than translating any text, and it then depends on how the translation is to be done. If you are sent a word fie, you have to constantly check and go back and forth. If you are translating beneath the video itself-this depends on the client who determines which format he/she uses-it is simpler as yo... See more welcome to Proz.com & the world of translating. I do not know if srt will help you, as it might be more for transcribing than translating. Translating subtitles is ,far, far more time consuming than translating any text, and it then depends on how the translation is to be done. If you are sent a word fie, you have to constantly check and go back and forth. If you are translating beneath the video itself-this depends on the client who determines which format he/she uses-it is simpler as you can then see the translation immediately beneath the video + the fact that there is a limit to how many characters are put underneath. My 2 cents of advice is to charge a per minute fee and be sure that it is higher than what your minute fee normally is. Good luck. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I've been doing it for 10 years, and counting | Nov 16, 2014 |
Christopher,
I get the impression that you are trying to reinvent the wheel, unaided. Your present wheel is apparently square. In comparison to the previous triangular wheel, it causes 33% more bumps per turn, yet the ride is smoother from its being faster, and the bumps being not so high. Your next prototype will be a hex-shaped wheel, twice as many bumps than the triangular one, 50% more than the square. Eventually, you'll figure out that the circular wheel is bump-free, however t... See more Christopher,
I get the impression that you are trying to reinvent the wheel, unaided. Your present wheel is apparently square. In comparison to the previous triangular wheel, it causes 33% more bumps per turn, yet the ride is smoother from its being faster, and the bumps being not so high. Your next prototype will be a hex-shaped wheel, twice as many bumps than the triangular one, 50% more than the square. Eventually, you'll figure out that the circular wheel is bump-free, however this may take you a while.
Search the web for an online, or a conveniently located offline course in subtitling.
Search and browse http://www.videohelp.com on the software available to do this work.
I am presuming that you are skilled in translation already.
The subtitling process, as explained for translation clients, is described at http://www.lamensdorf.com.br/subtitling.html .
And finally, an experiment I did in exactly what you are trying to do got its report and final conclusions in an unindexed and unlinked 'secret' page hidden in my web site: http://www.lamensdorf.com.br/conserto-legenda-barata.html
It is available in Brazilian Portuguese only. Maybe you can understand it from your command of Spanish (though I am aware that the other way around, viz. ES from PT, is much easier), or perhaps Google Translate will help for this once.
The general conclusion is that fixing thoroughly bad subtitles took bout the same time it would take to redo them from scratch. Furthermore, due to the occasional boredom-induced leniency, the overall quality of an original translation for subtitles is probably much better than what comes out of this 'mending' attempt. Though you supposedly won't understand much of it, the comparison spreadsheet, the outcome of the experiment, should sketch a picture.
Good luck! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Thayenga 
Germany
Local time: 01:41
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
| A paid assignment? | Nov 16, 2014 |
Christopher H wrote:
I wonder, if in translating classic foreign movies, if I could produce copies of said movies with my translations, copyrighted of course, to put on the market.
Is this a job assigned to you by a client? Were you provided the transcripts (English & Spanish)? Or are you doing this on your own?
If it's a paid job assignment, then all rights belong to your client.
If you do this on your own, you need to contact the production company to get a) permission to officially translate and insert the subtitles, and b) permission to "own and distribute" that movie including your subtitles ... which I seriously doubt.
To my knowledge no copyright for subtitles exists. You would have to check with the WGA.
Writing is an art, and it is the only art that I do well. Besides the culinary arts... OK, one of two. The movies that I am trying to sub into English are sometimes very obscure, and they don't have a huge market. I know that I am going to be doing more movies, but it takes so much time and effort (I am sure I will speed up over time) that I do not want to just throw them out to the internet world with no compensation... Not that I am against sharing, but really!!
Doing this on your own renders no compensation. Again, putting these moviews online can cause or most probably will cause severe copyright infringements. Even if you get permission to put these movies on the net, you will have to pay royalties. Yes, you have to pay the rightful owners of these movies. Which will still be cheaper than a law suit on the account of copyright infringements.
Before I posted, I started reading a bit on this forum. This movie has taken me about 30 hours so far, and I am only 7 minutes into the "cueing". This is a difficult part. I am unaware of software that will help with this aspect, but it would be quite nice to have! Anyway, I would love advice and thoughts on this!
Just enter subtitling software in any search engine and you'll be getting results by the hundreds.
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| Why are you working from translation? | Nov 16, 2014 |
You are suppose to translate dialogues yours. Sometimes distorted grammar may be intentional, so you have to be careful. Not all characters speak literature professors language.
I usually charge per word--this way some clients do not expect that things take five minutes. Also, you have to be extremely careful with time codes--there are some programs that help you, but still you have to be careful. I am searching for a perfect program myself, which I have not found so far, especiall... See more You are suppose to translate dialogues yours. Sometimes distorted grammar may be intentional, so you have to be careful. Not all characters speak literature professors language.
I usually charge per word--this way some clients do not expect that things take five minutes. Also, you have to be extremely careful with time codes--there are some programs that help you, but still you have to be careful. I am searching for a perfect program myself, which I have not found so far, especially one that is very precise and easy to use as far as the time codes are concerned.
There are some good transcription programs but when you translate the text, the segments are usually longer or shorter than the original. Sometimes you have to eliminate redundant words to make the translation fit the script time-wise.
I do subtitling really sporadically--mostly for documentaries.
[Edited at 2014-11-16 11:14 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | About the Film | Nov 16, 2014 |
The film is from the early 30s and in German. I have no working knowledge of German, and I could not find a German transcript for this endeavor anyway. I do not believe that the movie is in distribution by anyone. I have recently become quite interested in early international film, and am finding that a lot of the movies I come across or desire are not easy to find, and often have no subs that are useful to me if I do find them. I find that I can easily follow a story in languages I do not know ... See more The film is from the early 30s and in German. I have no working knowledge of German, and I could not find a German transcript for this endeavor anyway. I do not believe that the movie is in distribution by anyone. I have recently become quite interested in early international film, and am finding that a lot of the movies I come across or desire are not easy to find, and often have no subs that are useful to me if I do find them. I find that I can easily follow a story in languages I do not know through the picture and the body language, but I would rather have an actual text to understand better the story I am engaged in. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Max Deryagin
Russian Federation
Local time: 04:41
Member (2013)
English to Russian
Christopher H wrote:
The film is from the early 30s and in German. I have no working knowledge of German, and I could not find a German transcript for this endeavor anyway. I do not believe that the movie is in distribution by anyone. I have recently become quite interested in early international film, and am finding that a lot of the movies I come across or desire are not easy to find, and often have no subs that are useful to me if I do find them. I find that I can easily follow a story in languages I do not know through the picture and the body language, but I would rather have an actual text to understand better the story I am engaged in.
You see, serious subtitling agencies are very reluctant to work with amateur subtitlers, let alone beginner ones. At the very least, before contacting them, you should first familiarize yourself with FCC's requirements for subtitling and captioning, learn about the existing technologies and formats, and get to know the best practices for timecoding and translating subtitles. Do you know what a shot change is and how you should work around one in terms of timing? Do you know how to estimate the best cps/wpm rate for your subs based off the video you work on? Do you know how to create subtitles for a DVD? No? Well, then you should probably first do some research.
Also, having an excellent command of both the source and target languages is an absolute must. Don't you dare using Google Translate or your body language reading skills for any serious project — that will surely get you in trouble.
After the above-mentioned is settled, you will need to spend a considerable amount of time looking into the available free subtitling tools and learning to use them to their full potential. Oh, and by the way, mentioning that you work in SW6, Jubler or Aegisub is an instant turnoff for about 4 out of every 5 subtitling agencies — they expect you to own and use professional subtitling software like Swift Create, CaptionMaker, EZTitles, Spot, WinCAPS or something of the sort. The basic versions of these programs cost ~$2,000, give or take.
After you do your research on the subtitling standards and programs, and if you feel like you have what it takes, you will need to contact subtitling agencies and video publishers that work with film classics, to offer your services. I know for a fact that the guys at Kino Lorber create subtitles for classic films ( http://www.kinolorber.com/kino-classics.php ), so you can start off with contacting them. If they turn you off, ask them why they felt you are not a good fit, and then improve based on what they say. Rinse and repeat until you make it into a good company.
Good luck with pursuing your dream!
[Edited at 2014-11-16 21:21 GMT]
| | | | Edward Potter
Spain
Local time: 01:41
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
| 1930s? German? | Nov 17, 2014 |
Christopher H wrote:
The film is from the early 30s and in German. I have no working knowledge of German... I would rather have an actual text to understand better the story I am engaged in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSYk8ofhYFY&index=1&list=PLA20DAC818C423798
Dude, I think I found the movie you are translating on the internet! Look no further, just copy it!
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Edward Potter wrote: Christopher H wrote:
The film is from the early 30s and in German. I have no working knowledge of German... I would rather have an actual text to understand better the story I am engaged in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSYk8ofhYFY&index=1&list=PLA20DAC818C423798 Dude, I think I found the movie you are translating on the internet! Look no further, just copy it!
The movie is a propaganda film. I love history, and had only heard about these films, and thought I would like to see them for myself. Especially the one about St. Joan of Arc. Not sure how that could have been used as propaganda, unless it was due to her undying loyalty to her king. But her king was a scoundrel. Anyway, I am sure that many of them are fantastically done movies, as are many of the propaganda films of today. Which obviously abound.
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