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The Elusive Perfect Translation

September 3, 2019

Why are perfect translation so hard to achieve? For starters what is a perfect translation anyway? It’s rare that two professional linguists will agree on a single best approach to translation of a body of text. There are typically options and multiple approaches to expressing equivalent meaning in any language. This is intuitively true even […]

Spanish Voiceover Video Dubbing

August 20, 2019

Adding a Spanish voiceover to an existing video with an English speaker requires a few steps in the order listed below and described below. 1) A written text version of the spoken English 2) Translation of the written text into Spanish 3) Recording the Spanish voiceover with a professional voice talent 4) Adding the voiceover […]

The Elusive Perfect Translation

September 3, 2019

Spanish Voiceover Video Dubbing

August 20, 2019

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

The Elusive Perfect Translation

September 3, 2019

Why are perfect translation so hard to achieve? For starters what is a perfect translation anyway?

It’s rare that two professional linguists will agree on a single best approach to translation of a body of text. There are typically options and multiple approaches to expressing equivalent meaning in any language. This is intuitively true even to speakers of a single language.

So perfection in translation is relative to the person evaluating the translation. Even when agreement is achieved in the approach to take with a translation there are likely to be compromises and trade-offs.

Then there are possible actual errors in translation that can occur despite processes put in place to minimize them. No human activity can be 100% safe from errors. Translation companies typically don’t advertise this fact (that an error can occur). Still no provider of human translation services can maintain the impossible standard of perfection indefinitely.

Smart translation companies and clients will both be wise to consider the eventual reality of a translation discrepancy. What then? How can the possible negative impact be kept to an absolute minimum?

Spanish Voiceover Video Dubbing

August 20, 2019

Adding a Spanish voiceover to an existing video with an English speaker requires a few steps in the order listed below and described below.

1) A written text version of the spoken English

2) Translation of the written text into Spanish

3) Recording the Spanish voiceover with a professional voice talent

4) Adding the voiceover to the video

Transcript: If a written version of the video’s spoken audio (e.g., a script) is not available then transcription can be performed. To produce a transcript a linguist listens to the spoken audio on the video and then writes down exactly what is heard. A timecode to indicate what is spoken at certain places in the video can be helpful to include for the final step of adding the spoken Spanish in place of the existing spoken English.

Translation: Once a written version of the text exists then the script/transcript can be translated into Spanish. For quality assurance a second linguist then proofreads the first linguist’s translation. When the script is intended for a Spanish voiceover recording linguists can be asked to make the Spanish translation as concise as possible in order to allow space for eventual placement back into the video within its original duration.

Voiceover recording: A professional voice talent (male or female according to the client’s preference) is then tasked to read and record the Spanish text.

Video editing: The final step is for a video technician to replace the original English spoken audio with the newly prepared Spanish voiceover and synchronize the audio as close as possible to the original.

For additional information or to request a quote for video services in Spanish or virtually any language please contact us by telephone, email, or chat (chat available during regular business hours).

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

The Elusive Perfect Translation

Spanish Voiceover Video Dubbing

The Elusive Perfect Translation

Spanish Voiceover Video Dubbing

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

The Elusive Perfect Translation

Spanish Voiceover Video Dubbing

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