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WHAT YOU READ AND LISTEN TO WHILE WATCHING WHAT YOU LIKE: LET’S TALK ABOUT SUBTITLING AND DUBBING

 

The other day I was having a conversation with a good friend of mine about the current situation in the world. Of course, without realizing it, we started talking about the new habits we have adopted as a society because of the pandemic that we are experiencing today.

Among them, perhaps the most relatable for everyone is the fact that we have to spend much more time at home. This new reality has led us to change the way we spend our free time.

Personally, I have developed a growing affection for streaming platforms, series, and movies.

This new passion made me realize that in this blog I generally write about traditional translation and that perhaps I have left aside some of the other services that we also provide in TecniTranslations.

I am talking about audiovisual translation and more specifically about dubbing and subtitling services, which I would like address in this article.

{OPEN PARENTHESIS}

I don’t know if it happens to you, but in my case, when I think of dubbing and/or subtitling, I immediately go back to the time when I used to go to the movies.

I remember how happy I was that my favorite characters spoke my own language -how wonderful to be able to understand each other so well!- I thought as a child.

Of course, back then, the rigorous process that had to be gone through to achieve that understanding never crossed my mind.

{CLOSE PARENTHESIS}

Going back to the main topic of this article, I want to tell you briefly what each service is about, and what are the main differences between them.

First, it is important to clarify that, regardless of whether it is subtitling or dubbing, the first step will always be transcription. Although it would be ideal to have the original script used to create the audiovisual, this is rarely the case. That is why we use transcription as the first step to get from audio to text (in its original language).

Now, let’s talk about subtitling.

To state the obvious, this is the process used to create subtitles, which are those small texts that appear at the bottom of a movie.

Subtitling consists of dividing the transcribed text into lines of approximately 15 characters, and then translating them into the target language. Finally, these lines of text are inserted into the audiovisual, carefully ensuring that they are synchronized with what is happening in the video. It sounds easy, but it is not!

And, dubbing?

Well, this is a slightly more complex process. We translators are in charge of translating the script. The script is then passed on to voice actors, who are in charge of acting the intention of the original audiovisual actors with their voice.

So, to summarize and to finish, I leave you with the main differences between the two:

  • Subtitling allows the viewer to enjoy the audiovisual with the original voices, something that does not happen with dubbing.
  • Subtitling is a simpler technique since it requires smaller equipment and a simpler process compared to dubbing.
  • In subtitling, only the texts are used to express the dialogues in the language of the target audience. In contrast, in dubbing, the speaker has to act and not simply narrate the script.

In short, nowadays audiovisuals, from movies to videos created specifically for the corporate world or social media, are one of the most important and powerful means of communication and entertainment. At TecniTranslations, we are very happy and proud to be able to provide such services so that these videos can be shared and enjoyed around the world, no matter in which language they were originally created.

 

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