Guidelines for successful media translation management

For free advice on media project management, or for a manager to help you, click here.

1. Determine the Audience: Who is your target audience - your employees? general public? television?

2. Determine the Dialect: Make a list of the geographical locations of the people who will receive the translation. If they speak Spanish, for example, are they only in Texas or Miami, or are they all over Latin America, or in Spain?

3. Prepare Glossary: Examine your text and try to determine if there are many "industry specific" words. For example, does your document say something common like "wrench" or something more specific like "crimp"? Make a list of these words, and see how long that list is. If there are tons of words, that means you need a specialist translator, such as "Technical, "Medical" or "Marketing". And, if you have pre-existing translations for these words, please include them when you order the job. These words are called a Glossary. Translators work in some 50 industries, so Glossaries are highly recommended if you have preferred translations of your own.

4. Select Category: You can use your own translators or your client's translators. If you need translation support, email to support@globaldirectorcenter.eu. Or select a translator yourself by following the Directory links to your language and click on the link in the language of your choice, corresponding to the type of translation you decided upon in #3 above. Clicking the link will send an email to the translation team. Specify the type of translation you desire and attach the scripts, or at least a clear idea of the media subject matter. If your project is still in the concept phase, do some "guessing" as to its future content.

5. Ask for a free Estimate: Exchange emails requesting a cost estimate, and be sure to include your deadline. The translators on this site are excellent and reliable, all tested and approved by @International Services, well known in the field of the media translation. A moderator may glance at your email just to be sure the basics are included such as video or audio length, dialect needed, etc. and may ask questions if anything is unclear.

6. Order Translation: You can order translation directly from the translator or call @International Services who will help by giving free advice or managing the translation process (770.414.6000).

7. Translation Receipt: Once a deadline is agreed, the base translation will be finished on time, barring unforeseen circumstances. The translation will look like the original, unless the project is an exception, or has special needs.

8. Reviewing the Base Translation: When the Base Translation arrives, it is your choice how to proceed. Your client may wish to review the translation, or you may wish to request a review of the translation from another translator (your own or from @IS or the Directory). If the text is for a voice recording, such as a video script or IVR script, many directors bypass review and go straight to studio, because minor typos do not affect audio recording, and if you use the right talent and/or studio, they verify translations as they record. If, however, your text is for print and distribution, or is highly technical or advertising, you may wish to consider the merits of engaging a Reviewer. Many companies bypass the review stage if the text is for their employees, for budget control. But if the text is for distribution in any way that could possibly harm your corporate image, a review stag is recommended. You can click on the Review link in the Directory for the language of your choice, and request a Reviewer, ask @IS to review, or have your vendor or internal people review. If you use internal people, it is recommended that that they be highly educated in the foreign language, not people who only speak the language at home. The best reviewers are PhD's with specialization in the area of the translation, and who have not lived outside their native country for more than 3 years. Other good reviewers are certified translators accredited by the U.S. State Department or ATA. Keep in mind that it is quite normal to have many opinions on various word-uses in translation, so expect that people want to doodle with the translation. If you have used one of the translators from this Directory, we recommend that you do not automatically accept any changes that your own personal reviewer desires to make, but rather to send the suggested changes back to the original translator for confirmation. These translators will be honest with you, and if your reviewer is wrong, you will be advised accordingly. If what the reviewer wants is acceptable, the translator will inform you.

10. Narration: If your translated recording must be the same length as the original, such as narration for a video, then the translated script must also be the same length - paragraph by paragraph - as the original language script. This can be done with "table type" documents, such as MS Word tables or Excel. Alternatively, import the original and the translation into the inexpensive software called Translate Your Video, part of this suite of software, will highlight the text that is too long, and will continue to assist the translator until the script is properly adapted for recording. If, however, your video is not narration, but rather has lips moving on-screen for which you are trying to replace the spoken word (lip sync), then most translators cannot assist with this. Adapting a script for lip sync is a highly skilled form of adaptation, and lip sync projects tend to be approximately 2 to 3 times more expensive than non-lip sync projects. For help and support with lip-sync adaptation, email to: support@internationalservices.eu

11. Choosing a Voice Talent: Use the talent of your choice for your recordings - your favorite, your client's favorite, or select from the Audition Center (1,500 talents worldwide). If you choose a voice talent from the Audition Center, your recording is guaranteed for quality, accent and dialect. However, it is vitally important to differentiate between a Directed Talent (recording in a professional audio studio, with engineer and a director present), versus a Freelance Talent (a talent working out of their home, with microphone and recording equipment). The huge draw to the Freelancer is, of course, lower cost. However, home talents make a many more mistakes than does a studio recording, they do not edit as well, and their attention is split between performing and editing tasks. Professional audio studios provide checks and verifications throughout the process (with talent, audio engineer, director and talent all working together); the Freelancer is a single person responsible for all of these services (performance, directing, editing and quality control). Because no one person alone can be perfect, the Quality Guarantee cannot apply to Freelance voice talents, but they are guaranteed for accent and dialect, and each home talent has been very carefully selected from among the clutter of the internet.

12. Product Check: All end products must be checked. Your chances of flawless work from talents listed in this Directory and listed the Global Director Center who record in audio studios are 98%. But there is still that remaining 2% possibility of an editing error, or a misunderstanding of a technical word, or similar. It is recommended to either submit the recording to the translator for "Product Check", or to synch the sound to a video and then send the audio to the translator for "Product Check". It is not recommended to use the same people who recorded the track as your product checkers.

13. On-Screen Graphic Text: If the project also contains on-screen graphic text, one of the common errors people make is to try to retype the text, especially if it is Spanish or similar Latin-alphabet language. Avoid typing. Rather, copy-paste. Please turn off any auto-hyphenation, remove any auto-corrections features, and do not change from caps to lowercase or vice-versa, nor hyphenate without permission of the translator. Note that many display fonts that function in English, but may be lacking the accent marks and letters of another language, and keyboards vary throughout the world. On-screen text must also be proofed carefully for errors once inserted into your project. Proofing can be done with screen shots or with videos on the web or for download. Cutting-corners on this step is not recommended because text errors on-screen are very obvious.