Using CaptionSync's Caption Translation Feature

CaptionSync supports translation captioning in Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, or Dutch. Our translation feature allows users to generate synchronized foreign language caption/subtitle files for a submission, once the native language caption files have been created. In this tutorial we show how to request translated captions for your existing captioning submissions.

This feature is available for 6 months after your initial Captioning submission. For Italian or Dutch requests you will need to provide your own translated transcript. For the others, you can choose to supply your own or have us do the translation.

Tutorial

One-Time Setup:

• Log into CaptionSync, click Settings -> Account Features. Select Add Translation to my account, and click Request Account Feature. You will receive an email updating you about the feature status. Note that if you can't see Translation on the "Account Feature to Add" drop-down menu, then it's already enabled.

Making Translation requests:

• Once you're notified that the feature is enabled, log back in and you will see a Translate tab on your CaptionSync account:

• Before requesting translated captions, ensure you're happy with the native language results -- timing for the translated captions is based upon these results. If you need to make changes to the results, use our Redo feature.

There are two methods available to request translated captions, depending on whether you are uploading your own translated transcript or not: using the "bulk" Translation request feature, available only when we provide the translated transcript; or requesting translated captions from within individual Submission Details pages.

Using the "bulk" Translation request feature (available for English, Spanish, French and Portuguese):

• Go to Translate -> New Translation Captions. A list of available submissions is presented.
  NOTE: If your Transcription-Captioning request failed originally, or Result Review was performed on your request, ensure you choose the most recent results by selecting the submissions where the Description starts with Redo: (lower case).

• Select the target language in the Translate To column, for the submissions you want to translate, and then click Request Translations (note that using this bulk translation feature does not allow you to submit your own translated transcript):

• You can use the Guidance for Translator feature to send notes and specific instructions for the translator. Note that this guidance will be applied to all the individual Translation requests. If you need to leave specific guidance for each individual submission, place the request from its Details page instead.

• Click Request Translation Captions. It typically takes about 5 business days to create the translated transcript, and then we generate the caption files.
  
  NOTE: Please ensure you don't have multiple windows/tabs open in CaptionSync, or reload the request page, when requesting translation! This could result in submissions not processed or duplicate requests!

Making a Translation request from an individual Submission Details page:

• Go to Caption/Transcribe -> Status of Submissions, and select the submission you wish to have translated. 
  NOTE: If your Transcription-Captioning request failed originally, or Result Review was performed on your request, ensure you choose the most recent results by selecting the submissions where the Description starts with Redo: (lower case).

• On the Submission Details page, the Translation Captions field will show if the submission is eligible. If it is, click the Do... link for the target language:

For English, Spanish, French and Portuguese, you can request a transcript translation, or provide us with your own transcript. For the other languages, you'll need to provide us with a translated transcript.

• If you request a transcript translation, you can use our Guidance for Translator feature to send notes and specific instructions for the translator.

• If you provide us with your own translated transcript, ensure you follow our formatting guidelines and that you start from the Clean Text Transcript (.clean.txt) - this is a transcript without markers (i.e., caption break markers, sync markers and style markers, like ^M00:05:43, ^B00:00:35, or ^E00:34:46), and with paragraph breaks only at the start of each new speaker. If you did not originally request the .clean.txt output for the native language results, use the Redo feature to do so.

• Click Request Translation Captions. If you provide us with your own transcript, it'll take a few minutes to generate captions for your media file. If you request a transcript translation, it typically takes about 5 business days to create the translated transcript, and then we generate the caption files.
  
  NOTE: Please ensure you don't have multiple windows/tabs open in CaptionSync, or reload the request page, when requesting translation! This could result in submissions not processed or duplicate requests!

Monitoring the status of the request, Cancelling a submission and retrieving results:

• To monitor the status of the request, go to Translate -> Status of Translations:

• You can cancel a request up until the translator starts working on a submission (Awaiting Translation status). Select the ID of the Translation request, from the Status of Translations page, and click the cancel link:

• Once a translation request completes, the status will show Succeeded:

• You can retrieve the new results from your results email, or go to the Status of Translations page and download the results from the Translation Details page.

Making a Translation request for an additional language:

To make a Translation request for an additional language, you can either use the "bulk" Translation request feature, or simply select the link to the language in the original Submission Details page.

Using the "bulk" Translation request feature (available for English, Spanish, French and Portuguese):

• Go to Translate -> New Translation Captions. Select the additional language from the drop-down menu under the Translate To column. Already translated languages will not appear in this menu; they will be displayed under the Exist Trans column ("Existing Translations"), with an orange background. Finally, click Request Translations:

Making the Translation request from the individual Submission Details page:

• Go to Caption/Transcribe -> Status of Submissions, and select the relevant submission. Click the Do... link for the additional language. The language(s) already translated will be listed as See..., with a green background.

• Click Request Translation Captions on the next screen.

If you are using Translation for VOD needs:

Caption results from our Translation feature require manual review and adjustment before they are acceptable for most VOD services (e.g., iTunes). If you intend to use the translated caption files for VOD applications, you must first have the Cinema Certified Result Review service performed on the original (native language) caption results, and then have the Cinema Certified Result Review service performed on the translated caption results. Note that Cinema Certified Result Review for translated results cannot be ordered online; please contact us for information on obtaining this service for translated files.

Additional Notes:

• Please ensure you don't have multiple windows/tabs open in CaptionSync, or reload the request page, when requesting translation. This could result in submissions not processed or duplicate requests.

• Attached to this tutorial are two .m4v samples, one has subtitles translated to Spanish and the other subtitles translated to Portuguese.

• Like a Redo, translation can only be requested for as long as we keep your media file – 6 months from the date of the original submission.

• This feature generates approximate results: the timing for translation results is generally good, but it is an approximation because the translated text doesn't occur in the media file. If you wish to improve the timing of the translated captions, learn how in our Editing and Repairing your Translated Results article.

• The feature of including inline parenthetical comments in translated outputs has not yet been implemented (e.g. [Música] or [Rires]). So such comments will not be printed into the caption files.

• If you choose to provide the translated transcript, we are not able to provide transcript review or debugging.

• You can cancel a Translation request up until the translator starts working on the submission, by clicking the Cancel link on the Translation Details page.

• If you requested Video Encoding with your original submission, that output will not be generated for your translated files. Video Encoding is not currently available for translation requests. If you need an encoded output for your translated submissions, please contact us.

• Pricing for translation services can be found in the Supplementary Price Sheet (help page). There are 2 components: the Translation service itself, and the generation of the translated caption files. For our bill-in-arrears clients, your invoices will show two billing codes for each translation submission: X (Translation) and S (Translation Captions). For prepay clients, you will need to buy a sufficient number of minutes of Translation and Translation Captions to submit your request. Again, the total combined cost of these two items equals the price shown in your Supplementary Price Sheet.