OTP Learning Series 05: Subtitle length and reading speed
-
0:01 - 0:06Let's talk about the new subtitle info box
in the Amara interface -
0:06 - 0:10and about how useful it can be
to transcribers and translators. -
0:12 - 0:15Any time you click a subtitle
to start editing it, -
0:15 - 0:17you will see this pop-up.
-
0:18 - 0:21You may notice
that it starts with timing data, -
0:21 - 0:26but here, I'll focus on what you can do
with the other information in this box, -
0:26 - 0:29that is, the number
of characters in the subtitle -
0:29 - 0:32and the number of characters per second.
-
0:33 - 0:35First, let's talk about...
-
0:36 - 0:3842.
-
0:39 - 0:43In languages that use the Latin alphabet,
-
0:43 - 0:47if your subtitle
is more than 42 characters long, -
0:47 - 0:50you need to break it into two lines.
-
0:50 - 0:53This makes the subtitle easier to follow
-
0:54 - 0:59and prevents offline players
from breaking it in weird ways. -
1:00 - 1:04In the new info box,
you can see both the total subtitle length -
1:04 - 1:08and the number of characters
in each of the two lines. -
1:09 - 1:14When the total subtitle length in that box
goes over 42 characters, -
1:14 - 1:17it means that you need
to break the subtitle, -
1:18 - 1:21but also that you need
to think about how to break it. -
1:22 - 1:26After all, it's not like you want to have
one line of 42 characters -
1:26 - 1:29and then one line
with just one character in it. -
1:30 - 1:36So, break it in a way that the two lines
are as close in length as possible. -
1:37 - 1:39And let me give you an example.
-
1:40 - 1:44This subtitle is 51 characters long.
-
1:45 - 1:47Now, you could break it like this,
-
1:47 - 1:51with one line of 14 characters
and another line of 36, -
1:52 - 1:57but it will be easier to read
if you make the lines more balanced, -
1:57 - 2:05like here, with one line of 27 characters
and another line of 23 below. -
2:06 - 2:08When breaking subtitles into lines,
-
2:08 - 2:12also try to keep
"syntactic wholes" together. -
2:12 - 2:16What this means is that you don't want
to break up a phrase -
2:16 - 2:19that linguistically works as "one thing."
-
2:20 - 2:22For example, in English,
-
2:22 - 2:25you want to keep the article
together with the noun, -
2:26 - 2:29the adjective with the noun
that it modifies, -
2:29 - 2:33and a preposition
with the thing that it refers to. -
2:35 - 2:40You can find out more about line breaking
in a guide on our OTPedia -
2:40 - 2:42entitled "How to break lines."
-
2:43 - 2:48Now, on to the other thing we can learn
from that subtitle info box. -
2:49 - 2:52The number of characters per second,
-
2:52 - 2:54which is also known as...
-
2:54 - 2:55The reading speed.
-
2:56 - 3:00Because after all, it's not only about
how long the subtitle is, -
3:01 - 3:03but also about how long
it stays on the screen -
3:04 - 3:06and how much time
we give people to read it. -
3:08 - 3:12The ideal reading speed for languages
that use Latin script -
3:13 - 3:17is about 15 to 21 characters per second.
-
3:17 - 3:21But where is this number coming from,
and why is it important? -
3:22 - 3:29Well, the reading speed tells you
how long your subtitle can actually be. -
3:30 - 3:33For example, if you have
a subtitle with 40 characters -
3:33 - 3:36which displays for two seconds,
-
3:36 - 3:41you only require the viewer
to read at 20 characters per second. -
3:42 - 3:44This is easily manageable,
-
3:44 - 3:48so 40 characters
would be fine in this case. -
3:48 - 3:53But if the same subtitle were to stay
on the screen for only one second, -
3:54 - 3:58the viewer would need to be able to read
at 40 characters per second, -
3:59 - 4:02which is impossible for most people
to keep up with, -
4:02 - 4:06and it would mean that the subtitle
needs to be shortened. -
4:07 - 4:11Fortunately, you don't need to calculate
all that stuff in your head, -
4:11 - 4:14because the new info box
in the Amara interface -
4:14 - 4:16will do the work for you.
-
4:17 - 4:22Let's see an example of why maintaining
a convenient reading speed is important. -
4:23 - 4:29In this short clip from a TEDxNoviSad talk
by Dragana Marjanović, -
4:29 - 4:35the reading speed in all of the subtitles
is above 21 characters per second. -
4:38 - 4:40And what happened right after
the first year of our doing this project -
4:40 - 4:43was that I was awarded what was to be
my first very big architectural project, -
4:43 - 4:45which was to plaster up all of the surface
of the pretty four-story staircase -
4:46 - 4:47that was located in a nice building
-
4:47 - 4:48located in the famous city
of Grenoble, France. -
4:48 - 4:51This, for me, was a four month long period
of work related practice -
4:51 - 4:53which was mostly in France
but also partly in Bulgaria -
4:53 - 4:54and after that was concluded,
I began to study again. -
4:54 - 4:57This time, it was the earth architecture
of Spain and Portugal. -
4:58 - 5:01When I was finally able to return home,
I immediately began my graduation project -
5:01 - 5:03which was about the earth architecture
of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. -
5:04 - 5:08So, anyone remembers
what happened in Bulgaria? -
5:08 - 5:10And where was the nice building?
-
5:12 - 5:15For the previous clip,
I modified the English subtitles -
5:15 - 5:19created by Tatjana Jevdjic
and reviewed by Ivana Korom, -
5:20 - 5:25and made them longer, with reading speeds
much over the comfortable values. -
5:26 - 5:30Here is the same clip
with the original subtitles, -
5:30 - 5:35so, with perfect reading speeds
of no more than 21 characters per second. -
5:36 - 5:41After the first year,
we got the first big job: -
5:41 - 5:46to plaster the four-story staircase
in a building in Grenoble, -
5:46 - 5:49after which I had
a four-month work practice, -
5:49 - 5:52partly in France and partly in Bulgaria,
-
5:52 - 5:55and then I was studying
earth architecture of Spain and Portugal. -
5:56 - 5:59I returned home and started
a graduation project -
5:59 - 6:02about the earth architecture of Vojvodina.
-
6:03 - 6:05Much easier to follow, right?
-
6:06 - 6:08The thing about the subtitle reading speed
-
6:08 - 6:11is that in addition
to reading the subtitles, -
6:11 - 6:14the viewer needs to take in
other information, -
6:14 - 6:17like the speaker's body language
and intonation -
6:18 - 6:21and some on-screen content
like slides and pictures. -
6:22 - 6:25And it may be difficult to follow
the subtitles themselves -
6:26 - 6:28if they disappear very quickly.
-
6:28 - 6:31Especially if the viewer
doesn't understand the original language -
6:31 - 6:34well enough to help them
figure out what's going on. -
6:35 - 6:37And thankfully, that new info box in Amara
-
6:37 - 6:43helps you see when the reading speed
exceeds the 21 characters per second limit -
6:44 - 6:47and thus, it shows you where you can help
the viewer in following the talk. -
6:48 - 6:50To fix the reading speed,
-
6:51 - 6:56some more advanced users may want
to adjust the timing of some subtitles, -
6:57 - 7:01but in almost every case
your main tool will be... -
7:03 - 7:04Compression.
-
7:05 - 7:10Which means, trying to express
the same meaning in a shorter subtitle. -
7:11 - 7:14For example, an almost literal translation
-
7:14 - 7:20like "Now, what I would like to give
you people here is yet another example," -
7:20 - 7:22with 70 characters,
-
7:22 - 7:24can be changed into...
-
7:24 - 7:26"I'd like to give you another example,"
-
7:26 - 7:30which compresses it down to 37 characters
-
7:30 - 7:34and which may mean this will allow
the viewer to read it -
7:34 - 7:36before it's gone off the screen.
-
7:36 - 7:40Trying to find a way
to compress the subtitle is fun, -
7:40 - 7:43and the new interface helps you
-
7:43 - 7:47by showing you
when compressing is necessary, -
7:47 - 7:50but also when you can do without it.
-
7:51 - 7:53You can learn more
about compressing subtitles -
7:53 - 7:55and find other compression
strategies and examples -
7:56 - 7:57in another guide on OTPedia,
-
7:58 - 8:00called simply "How to compress subtitles."
-
8:01 - 8:04I encourage you
to explore the new interface -
8:04 - 8:07and these new,
helpful tools that it offers. -
8:07 - 8:11And, for now,
happy transcribing and translating!
- Title:
- OTP Learning Series 05: Subtitle length and reading speed
- Description:
-
This tutorial explains how to use the subtitle info box in Amara to work with subtitle length and reading speed. The links used in this video are:
http://translations.ted.org/wiki/How_to_break_lines
http://translations.ted.org/wiki/How_to_Compress_SubtitlesThis video has been created for the volunteers working in the TED Open Translation Project. The TED Open Translation Project brings TEDTalks beyond the English-speaking world by offering subtitles, interactive transcripts and the ability for any talk to be translated by volunteers worldwide. Learn more at http://www.ted.com/pages/287
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED Translator Resources
- Duration:
- 08:13
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for The Subtitle Info Box: Subtitle length and reading speed | ||
Krystian Aparta approved English subtitles for The Subtitle Info Box: Subtitle length and reading speed | ||
Ivana Korom accepted English subtitles for The Subtitle Info Box: Subtitle length and reading speed | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for The Subtitle Info Box: Subtitle length and reading speed | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for The Subtitle Info Box: Subtitle length and reading speed | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for The Subtitle Info Box: Subtitle length and reading speed | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for The Subtitle Info Box: Subtitle length and reading speed | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for The Subtitle Info Box: Subtitle length and reading speed |