Multi-media Localization is all about Connecting Culturally

How often have we come across dubbing of commercials, serials and sales presentation which are a sheer disgrace to the language and are completely out of synch with the culture of the target audience?

One can clearly make out that the voiceover artist has either not understood the context or not been briefed about the subject matter. A good language version of AV will never be seen as a dubbed version in the final release. It will be read and seen as original itself for common viewers as the script is told in the language of a target audience and gets into their wavelength immediate. The cultural connection is obvious as the voiceover artist takes care of correct pronunciation and style of presentation in the target language.  The professional native translator of film script not only understands the medium but also the message for conversion. The Project Manager responsible for Multimedia Localization engages the services of language supervisor during the recording and he directs the voice-over artist for online recording in a format that fits the meter. Another linguist is present during mixing and sound recording in a sound recording studio to get the lip-synch properly and voice-over matching the length of each frame. Similarly the subtitling is done for clarity and goes well against the background of visual.

Whether it is a 30second Ad commercial or corporate AV, a clear brief about the end user and the market should be the starting point. Professional language translation agency all well equipped with a pool of voice over and dubbing artist who are speakers of the native language in which script translation and audio localization are desired.

Planning for Multimedia Localization

1.       Decide on your language requirement during master film production stage: In this approach, the creative will think internationalization of the concept and give appropriate allowances both in a visual and audio portion of the commercial for changes during localization. For example, in India, multimedia campaign and pan India release require a need for regional exposure as per the major spoken language of a target market. English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam are important language as per states of India. Although English is not the native language, it is always considered as it is the common medium of communication and is understood across India. Hindi is a major spoken language and mother tongue of the majority of the population and hence cannot be ignored. Other languages follow as per market priority 

2.     Plan the Localization to culturally connect and speak in their language: After the master production, adaptation for local market requires audio localization. Advertising Agencies and film production house who have coordinated to produce the original language version is normally approached for doing language version. This approach is good if you are doing dubbing and post-production in all language as per marketing plan and advertising campaign simultaneously to save cost, time and at the same time get language adaptation of edits properly. 

Specialized translation service agencies that work with film production houses and have multimedia studio facility are the right choice for taking care of localization in Indian and International language at any time. The source language script is analyzed along with visual and the story board with duration and time elapsed for each sequence with a brief narration of character in the film is given to professional writers to produce target language version matching the length and duration of each sequence. Professional scriptwriters in native language are engaged to translate the voice over with appropriate style and lyrics and match the length of audio to the time duration set in the original film. An extra length of audio will mean speeding up the flow to fit the length with that of original during language edit stage at the studio. This will lead to distortion or hurry in the flow or a jump which gets noticed after the production of the commercials. 

Compromising either on localization of content or production quality will result in a dubbed version which looks and feels like a foreign version to viewers. Adding sub titles is another area of challenge. Sub titles should not be force fitted to match the length of the video. The purpose of a subtitle is to enable to make viewers who cannot understand the audio version, read the sub title. Rehearsing the subtitle for a time taken and adjusting the length of visual stay without increasing the total duration is an art and science which experienced editor does in the presence of expert linguist.

Audio Visual localization is a key element of multimedia localization. Much of the information generated by organizations nowadays is in multimedia format, be it in audio, video, animated or online format. In order to successfully communicate with as wide an audience as possible, such content must be localized and adapted in order to meet local linguistic and cultural conventions.

Experienced translation service agency like Shakti Enterprise offers audio-visual localization services in any language for a multimedia campaign. The services encompass script translation, voice over and dubbing artist selection, online process to get the language version, Audio-video transcription, quality analysis and checking to fix within the time frame for each sequence with during of time taken for each frame and time elapsed, sound mixing, recording in a sound studio and final language dubbing for all your international market.

How to Safeguard against Translation Mistakes

Four critical areas of focus to avoid translation mistakes: 

1.    Source Content Analysis

Review the source content in all respects before sending the document for translation. Modify and get the source document approved in all respect. If there is a small spelling mistake that has changed the meaning, the translator will not know the intended message and he will presume the source material he received for translation is right. Blaming the translator later, re-phrasing the original document later will mean post edit translation and delay.

2.    Selection of Translation Agency

Engage with professional translation service providers who are qualified and experienced and have the right resources to handle the project.

3.    Providing clear project brief

It is important to have a dialogue with the Project Manager in the translation agency immediately after sending email communication to explain the use of the translation project so as to get a framework of the target customer. This understanding will greatly help with selecting appropriate native translator for the task. Half the battle is won if the beginning is done rightly. 

4.    Proofreading before final production

Translation is a human endeavor and mistakes can happen. Instead of blaming the translation agency or the translator after the job is done and mistakes are found from customer feedback, it is better to review and proof check the final document with reference to source document not only for the content but also for the formatting of the final translated document.

Professional translation service is important if you want to speak in customers’ language and culturally connect with the vast majority of the population who do not understand English. Alternatively, if your source document is in a language other than English, you will not be understood by International customers who communicate in English. 

Translation services companies or translation service agencies are specialized in the field of translation for global communication. They engage with native professional writers for document translation, technical translation, medical translation, marketing translation, a legal translation that are notarized and certified. Apart from translation the professional translation agency also takes care of the DTP requirement. 

Engage with professional translation service provider and safeguard against translation errors. The value for money for engaging with professional translation service provider is greater compared to the translation cost, if you consider the damage to your brand or miscommunication of the message, translation mistake can generate due to wrong selection.

Identify the translation service agency that is right for you

• Very often you will find a full-fledged professional translation service company gives you the best guidance and offer end to end language solution including DTP. The value for money is greater when compared to outsourcing through freelance translators for each language. Firstly, the time is taken to select the resource, brief the translator and ensure consistency across all language in terms of terminology and style.

• Whether it is document translation or technical translation, it is always better to select the translation agency that can take the responsibility of proof checking and formatting so that you are ensured of the quality.

• When it comes to Financial or Legal translation, certified translation and notarization of the document safeguards you against mistakes that can sometimes have damaging consequences. It is important here to mention that your own source content has to be perfect and proof-checked before sending to the translator. Any mistake in original will reflect in the translation which even a proofreader will not know. For example, there are so many words in English with different meanings as per the context of communication or a small spelling mistake in the word can lead to a costly translation error. Imagine a sentence “Take oath before taking Charge”. If there is a typo mistake in the word ‘oath’ and the letter ‘O’ is changed to ‘b’, you have the sentence reading “Take bath before taking charge” A good translator or project coordinator will find the mistake in the sentence as he is going through the document and will change the word ‘bath’ to ‘oath’ and then translate the sentence accordingly. Failure to do so will cause embarrassing result in the final translated file.

Professional Translation Company adds value to your projects and ensures quality for which a slight premium is always worth considering

Global Language Translation

You already have a global presence. All your translations, production, and printing of Marketing collateral's, User manuals, Documentation and other information sharing are decentralized with branch offices that are given responsibility to translate the material from a source language to in their preferred language. After all, the overseas local office knows the requirement and they can localize the content best while translating. They speak the customers’ language and understand the cultural differences that need to be addressed while localizing. 

While it seems to be good to give the job of localizing the content to the branch office, it has some problems.

•  Less control on the translation content and quality.
• Difficulty in communicating the internationalization that is very important for consistent communication across all regions and in all languages.
•  Changes in content may affect the mandatory requirement and hence will affect brand image. 
• The scheduling of brand launch is not in control as you have delegated the localization needs to branch office.
• Professional translators may not be engaged and terminology consistency may miss out in the final translation. Even the translation quality may suffer. 
• You will only come to know about the mistakes when you do the back translation after the job is done.

The task of translation for global market should ideally begin with Globalization, followed by Internationalization and then Localization and Translation Services 

What is Globalization?

It is conceptualizing the Product line for the global market so that it can be sold anywhere in the world. The Product or the Service or the Software has some basic thoughts or principles or formulations which are the foundation upon which the global communication structure is set. There is no compromise on this once finalized.

What is Internationalization?

It is the process of generalizing the product so that it can handle multiple languages with no negative appeal in terms of brand name, brand color, the tone of communication and the setting. For example United Colors of Benetton have certain style which appeals to certain target group universally. But in regional market it may be a put off or lead to rejection due to extreme stance. Internationalization is taking a position which will go well in global market. In case of United Colors of Benetton, they have taken a conscious position to create a brand value for an International image. The colors, the style of presentation, graphics all are addressing to trendsetters and off the beaten track approach.

What is Localization?

It is adapting the product and product communication so that it is in tune with the customer aspiration of the region without sacrificing the International touch. To take the example of United Colors of Benetton, the job of Localization is to moderate the graphics and idiomatic translation to appeal to socioeconomic and cultural compulsions. Hence in Middle East countries and Asia, localization will mean communicating the brand value with core proposition being kept intact. But copy and graphics suitably modified. 

What is Translation?

It is the process of converting the source language into target language. An understanding of the context and meaning of the source language is important for translating the content to convey the same meaning in the target language. This is best done by professional native translators with domain knowledge so that you get the right word and sentence in target language for impact of communication and the message is as if it is originally created for them and not translated or dubbed for foreign market.

Shakti Enterprise Global Language Solution is offered for all your technical and non-technical documents by engaging appropriate native translators who have years of experience in the chosen field.