Subtitle Adaptation

Adaptation to Subtitles

Adaptation is the art of being able to shorten or lengthen a translation to match the original subtitle length.

No translated text has the same length as an original text. For example, a sentence translated into French, is on average, about 20 to 30% longer than its English counterpart. One simply cannot read 20% additional text in the time the presenter speaks the original text. The translated subtitle text is only on the screen for the duration of the time the presenter speaks it. If the subtitled text is longer, then not all of it can be read. For most people, reading text also takes longer than listening to the audio; and you also want to watch the action on the video as well.

It is therefore very important that the translated subtitle text can be read comfortably during the time it is on the screen. In order to be able to read a subtitle during the time it can be seen on the video, the spoken text may have to be paraphrased. This will ensure that the video can be watched and the text read at the same time. Experienced subtitling professionals are available to translate and adapt your video.

Additional Resources:
Authoring
Closed Captioning
Laying of Subtitles
Subtitled Screen Text
Transcription
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