Journey into Hospitality: Captivating Subtitle Videos

Why Translate Subtitles in Your Video?

Let’s look at a few movies and TV streaming services: at the end of March Netflix had 183 million subscribers around the globe (gained 15.7 million paid subscribers in the first quarter of 2020); Disney+ surpassed 50 million global subscribers in its first five months alone; Hulu has 30 million paid subscribers (up 7.2 million since 2018). These massive figures were gained by translating their content into various languages, and all these services use subtitles (Conklin, 2020). Then there is YouTube. It has 2 billion logged-in monthly users, and almost 15% of YouTube’s traffic comes from the States; each visitor spends 11m 24s per day on YouTube on average; over 70% of YouTube’s views are on mobile and YouTube is the second most-preferred platform for watching videos on TV (Cooper, 2019). Remember that YouTube’s main revenue comes from adverts that are displayed before, after or in-between videos, and these ads could be yours. Then, of course, there are social media platforms: Facebook with its more than 2 billion active users, Twitter with 271 million users worldwide, and LinkedIn with around 550 global users (Fouche, 2019). Now, imagine putting your company’s advert on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn in a video that has been localized for a specific audience: the possibilities and reach are limitless.

Technical Specifications of Subtitle Translation 

Subtitle translation is a technical process. Usually, companies that specialize in this type of translation have their own language tool that the translator uses; therefore, a client knows that their requirements will be met. Usually, these requirements (or technical specifications) are: the number of characters that should be on the screen and the length of time of the subtitle, meaning, for how long a subtitle should be seen on the screen. In theory, subtitles usually consist of one or two lines of an average maximum length of 35 characters; however, in some cases, there can be up to 39 and 43 characters. They are either centered or aligned-left. However, in some countries like Japan, for instance, subtitles may appear vertically. Most clients, however, especially in television and film, request a two-line subtitle of 60-70 characters that stays on the screen for 5-8 seconds. In order to give viewers enough reading time, subtitles should be shown at a pace not exceeding some 12 characters per second and the lines must not consist of more than 70 characters per subtitle (1-2 lines) (Gotlieb 2001). Currently, there are also professional subtitle translation programs that work with pixels not characters, allowing for proportional lettering, which means that linguists can write as much text as possible, depending on the font size being used and the actual space available on screen, but this software is still expensive and not so widely used. 
 

Why is Wavel Studio Always Preferred for Travel Video Subtitles? 

Wavel Studio is a great choice for creating subtitles in travel videos due to its user-friendly interface, extensive language support, customization options, automatic timing feature, and affordable pricing. The simple drag-and-drop interface makes it easy for users, even those without professional video editing experience, to add subtitles to their videos. With support for over 60 languages, including less commonly used languages, Wavel Studio is ideal for travel videos with multilingual content. The customization options allow users to personalize their subtitles to match their video's branding and style. The automatic timing feature saves time by creating subtitles with accurate timing based on the audio in the video. Lastly, Wavel Studio's pricing options, including a free trial and a pay-as-you-go plan, make it accessible to a wide range of users. Overall, Wavel Studio is a versatile and affordable tool for creating high-quality subtitles in travel videos. First, subtitle translation for content localization. This is the most common; a typical subtitle uses one or two lines and it is placed at the bottom of the screen, or sometimes at the top, if the subtitle overlaps with hard-coded text such as opening credits and non-verbal dialogue or text. Subtitles start with the audio but continue to display one or two seconds after the audio has ended so that the reader can finish reading them. If the dialogue or monologue is fast-paced, the subtitles are normally shortened or rephrased Second, closed captioning - subtitles for the hard of hearing. Subtitles display only the spoken text (sometimes unspoken, depending on what is seen on the screen), but closed captions display also a text description of what is heard, for example, describing background noises, a phone ringing, and other audio cues. If subtitles generally use two lines then, closed captions can have three. Also, note that closed captioning is a US-specific format of subtitles for the hard of hearing. Third, subtitle translation for access services. Similar to closed captioning, these subtitles have not only the spoken text but also speaker IDs and sound effect descriptions and may also be seen on-screen where the speaker is positioned. These subtitles are optional for online videos or on-demand streaming services or DVD, meaning, you have to select these in order to see them.