For languages CaptionSync's Translation feature does not yet support, you may try to translate directly from the source caption file; this is only feasible for caption files that are in a human readable format. In this article we show how to do this.
Translating directly from the Caption File:
Download the source caption file from your CaptionSync account. You can use any caption file that is in a human readable format; the most common formats used for this purpose are .srt, .vtt, or .dfxp.xml. Open the file in a text editor. You will need to replace the source caption text with the translated text, without changing the metadata or the timing information contained in the caption file. Once you have the source text replaced, save the file with the exact same extension as the original.
.SRT format:
The .srt format does not typically contain styling or layout metadata; only timing information. To translate a .srt file, edit the file and replace only the display text, leaving the caption numbers and timing data intact. Note that the .srt file must be saved in UTF-8 format when done. In the example below, the text to be replaced is highlighted in bold.
Source .srt file:
1
00:00:00,516 --> 00:00:05,566
[ Music ]
2
00:00:06,066 --> 00:00:08,316
>> Michael Levin: We selected
Automatic Sync Technologies
3
00:00:08,316 --> 00:00:09,696
and their CaptionSync service
4
00:00:09,696 --> 00:00:12,826
because they have been
serving the education industry
Here is the .srt translated into Spanish:
1
00:00:00,516 --> 00:00:05,566
[ Música ]
2
00:00:06,066 --> 00:00:08,316
>> Michael Levin: Nosotros
seleccionamos Automatic Sync
3
00:00:08,316 --> 00:00:09,696
Technologies y su producto
CaptionSync, porque ellos han
4
00:00:09,696 --> 00:00:12,826
prestado este servicio en el
sector de la educación durante
.VTT format:
The .vtt format can contain styling/layout metadata, and a header, in addition to the timing information; this text needs to be left as-is during translation. Also note that some characters may be escaped, like the double chevron (>>) as >> . Leave these escaped characters as-is. Again, the .vtt file must be saved in UTF-8 format when done. In the example below, the text to be replaced is highlighted in bold.
Source .vtt file:
WEBVTT
00:00:00.516 --> 00:00:05.566 A:middle
[ Music ]
00:00:06.066 --> 00:00:08.316 A:middle
>> Michael Levin: We selected
Automatic Sync Technologies
00:00:08.316 --> 00:00:09.696 A:middle
and their CaptionSync service
00:00:09.696 --> 00:00:12.826 A:middle
because they have been
serving the education industry
Here is the .vtt translated into Spanish:
WEBVTT
00:00:00.516 --> 00:00:05.566 A:middle
[ Música ]
00:00:06.066 --> 00:00:08.316 A:middle
>> Michael Levin: Nosotros
seleccionamos Automatic Sync
00:00:08.316 --> 00:00:09.696 A:middle
Technologies y su producto
CaptionSync, porque ellos han
00:00:09.696 --> 00:00:12.826 A:middle
prestado este servicio en el
sector de la educación durante
.DFXP.XML format:
The .dfxp.xml and other TTML formats contain a header with styling/layout metadata and timing information. Also note that some characters may be escaped, like the double chevron (>>) as >> . You will typically not change these escaped characters. You also need to ensure you don't delete any of the syntactic or semantic elements, like <head>, <body>, <div>, etc.
If you need to add an extra line to a caption, due to differences in the number of characters between the two languages, you can do so using a line break: <br/> . See the third caption below for an illustration on how to do this.
Once again, save the new file in UTF-8 format. In the example below, the text to be replaced is highlighted in bold.
Source .dfxp.xml file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<tt xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2006/10/ttaf1" xmlns:tts="http://www.w3.org/2006/10/ttaf1#styling">
<head>
<styling>
<style id="1" tts:textAlign="center" tts:color="#FFFFFF" tts:backgroundColor="#000000" tts:fontSize="16" tts:fontFamily="Verdana" tts:wrapOption="wrap"/>
</styling>
</head>
<body>
<!-- Created by CaptionSync from Automatic Sync Technologies www.automaticsync.com -->
<div xml:lang="en" style="1">
<p begin="00:00:00.51" end="00:00:06.06">[ Music ]</p>
<p begin="00:00:06.06" end="00:00:08.31">>> Michael Levin: We selected<br/>Automatic Sync Technologies</p>
<p begin="00:00:08.31" end="00:00:09.69">and their CaptionSync service</p>
<p begin="00:00:09.69" end="00:00:12.88">because they have been<br/>serving the education industry</p>
Here is the .dfxp.xml translated into Spanish:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<tt xml:lang="es" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2006/10/ttaf1" xmlns:tts="http://www.w3.org/2006/10/ttaf1#styling">
<head>
<styling>
<style id="1" tts:textAlign="center" tts:color="#FFFFFF" tts:backgroundColor="#000000" tts:fontSize="16" tts:fontFamily="Verdana" tts:wrapOption="wrap"/>
</styling>
</head>
<body>
<!-- Created by CaptionSync from Automatic Sync Technologies www.automaticsync.com -->
<div xml:lang="es" style="1">
<p begin="00:00:00.51" end="00:00:06.06">[ Música ]</p>
<p begin="00:00:06.06" end="00:00:08.31">>> Michael Levin: Nosotros<br/>seleccionamos Automatic Sync</p>
<p begin="00:00:08.31" end="00:00:09.69">Technologies y su producto<br/>CaptionSync, porque ellos han</p>
<p begin="00:00:09.69" end="00:00:12.88">prestado este servicio en el<br/>sector de la educación durante</p>
Important Notes:
- When translating caption files directly like this, you will want to strive to keep approximately the same content in each caption so that the timing comes out right. Keep in mind that the target language may take more (or less) characters to represent that same content, so the line lengths in the new caption file may be different than the original file. In some players, this may cause unexpected line-wrap or truncation, particularly if the line length increases significantly. In such cases, you may need to be creative with your translation to get the new text to fit properly.
- You can see all the source and target languages currently supported by CaptionSync's translation feature in our Translation Overview article.
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