Video Translation: Key Challenges & Their Solutions

Do you know that in this era of digitalization, one-third of the people on the internet use YouTube? There are one billion YouTube users that are using localized videos in 88 countries, and its content is translated into a whopping 76 different languages. On a daily basis, the accumulated hours that people spend watching videos is one billion, and it’s only one video site. People prefer to watch videos that are in their native language. Therefore, to use this medium appropriately, many companies go for video translation services.

Significance of Video Translation

The world has become more globalized. Therefore, to expand the business outside the borders, companies use this medium to educate their employees working in subsidiaries and attract potential customers to buy their products and services. With the help of video translation, you can reach the potential audience, no matter in which part of the world they reside and which different languages they speak.

Video translation is used in every field but one field which is taking its full advantage in marketing and advertising. It is a very challenging task. Therefore, to overcome the challenges of video translation, many global companies take the assistance of professional translation agencies.  They translate the video content into multiple languages so that it can be used for tapping into different markets.

The other benefit of recorded translation is that it raises brand awareness. It has made it easy to advertise your products and services in far-off places where you never have thought of advertising before. You can create brand awareness and engage existing customers with you and attract new ones.

There are also some practical uses of the video translation. Many global companies used it in the digital world to enhance their company profile. On the other hand, many manufacturing companies use it to guide how to use their products and services. Moreover, how to take leverage from them. The time and cost spent on video translation are worth it because it will help you to connect with a wider audience, and connecting with a wider audience means reaping more revenue. You must be wondering, is it easy to translate the video into multiple languages? No, it is not so easy. You must overcome some challenges. Let’s have a look at them.

Going With the Pace

One of the important challenges faced by the video translator is pace. When we speak naturally, we speak at a fast pace. However, when we try to translate it, it creates a problem with timing. When translating videos, the translator should give attention to time because it takes time to read subtitles. Moreover, it also affects the voice-over actors to speak with the video imagery.

Text Expansion for Subtitles

For video translation, one of the important things to use is subtitles. In the subtitle translation, the translator has to take care of text expansion.  This is because some languages expand after translation,  while others contract. The problem arises when the text expands. It causes difficulty to accommodate the text in the required space. Other problems can be

·  The expanded text can take the space of the screen and block an important visual.

·  It might be possible that you have space for one subtitle string on the screen and there are more subtitles required for conversation.

· The people are unable to read the text in the required time because of its length.

· It becomes difficult to sync the subtitles with the audio.

· Sometimes text expansion will make your video unprofessional and people will avoid watching it.

Voice Over for Dialogue Translation

Unlike text expansion, an audio expansion for voice-over also creates a problem.  This problem occurs when your translated sentences are 10% longer than originals and when you come across multiple dialogues in the audio. It becomes difficult for people to sync their lips with conversation. How to solve this problem. For this, you must use voice-overs during the filming and editing phase so that you can leave enough space between the dialogues to accommodate audio expansion.

People Cannot Read Fast

People feel difficulty in reading long subtitles in a limited time. Therefore, if you are dealing with text expansion, you must find long dialogues and sentences with difficult words. Thus, it becomes difficult for people to cope with. For the solution to this problem, you must keep this challenge in your mind because at the stage of subtitling and voice-over, you cannot go back to the development phase to make changes.

Dialogue Clashes can Affect Translation

No doubt, that video translation is a bit tricky. Usually, people interrupt each other during daily conversations and start interfering in others’ conversations. Therefore, if you are in a real conversation or delivering a dialogue, you will come across this problem at different times. In-text and audio expansion, maintaining the flow of conversation is very difficult. There is no specific solution to this problem. You can just avoid the problems of conversation clashes to mitigate dialogue clashes.

Video Translation can Distract Attention

Video content is used to engage viewers with graphics and content. Therefore, to take the essence of video translation, you must select the right translation method. You must decide whether subtitles will grab the attention of the viewers or strong visuals.  If the visuals of the company are so strong, then it will hinder the impact of your content. For foreign brands, it is essential to impart the message through subtitles so that you can convey your message. On the other hand, technical aspects like audio and text expansion will help you to determine which form of translation to go for.

How do you overcome translation challenges?

The best way to overcome the challenges of video translation is to do proper planning. With the help of planning, you don’t have to overdo the technical part of the video, which is amending the subtitle, syncing the voice-over. Moreover, you should know in which languages you need to accommodate your video so that you can leave the space accordingly because of language expansion and contraction issues.