Subtitling Services

What are Subtitles?

Gone are the days when messages has to be blasted out loud and in your face. In today's digitally driven world, getting your message through is key. The myriad distractions and noise out there will drown out your message if you do not find other ways to rise above all these. In comes Subtitling Services to help get your message across.

Subtitles are now a common sight. You see subtitles everywhere. You see them on short videos, Instagram, Tiktok, and billboards. You even see them in the toilets. They can appear in different types of fonts, formats, and languages. It is so common and underrated that it goes mostly unnoticed. Subtitles, however, perform an essential function in our daily lives. Subtitles bridge communication gaps, and our Subtitling Services will help you accomplish that seamlessly.

Here we share some interesting facts about subtitles you may find interesting. The earliest subtitles were known as intertitles, and they were used in silent movies to clarify scenarios and give characters voices. As you can see, Subtitling Services exist even during the silent movie period.

When sound became a part of moving pictures, the role of subtitles was transformed into one that assists the hearing-impaired (SDH – Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing) in understanding what is happening on the screen.

In these scenarios, subtitles are text rendering of dialogues or commentaries on screen. They are provided mainly in the same language without additional information to transmit the message from the moving pictures. This also includes improving the understanding of dialogues where strong accents are involved.

Technology has changed the way subtitles are created, presented, and used.

Nowadays, subtitles are no longer restricted for use to assist the deaf and hard of hearing in understanding what is happening on the screen. It is now a standard tool used to enhance viewers' experience. And it is also used as a marketing support tool through subtitling services to extend the reach of marketing messages in noisy and crowded places where media is used extensively in the form of infomercials, billboards, etc.

Subtitles are for use to enable understanding across different languages and cultures, effectively extending the global reach of marketers.

When done correctly and accurately, bearing in mind the cultural differences, nuances that may improve or disrupt messages, religious sensitivity, etc., subtitling can even help build goodwill and reduce the need to reproduce marketing messages for different markets, thus leading to savings in marketing cost.

As an essential part of the multimedia localization process, translated subtitles allow audio-visual materials made in a specific language to reach a wider global audience and expand the type of multimedia material choices available to viewers globally. Think Netflix, HBO, Disney+, and more.

WHY SHOULD YOU CHOOSE LINGUA TECHNOLOGIES INTERNATIONAL SUBTITLING SERVICES?

Professional subtitling services are the best way to turn your video into an effective marketing tool. Adding subtitles can help your business reach out to new customers and expand its presence in an increasingly competitive market.

The key to success is choosing the right subtitling services for your needs, so here are some factors to consider when selecting professional subtitling services:

• Are they familiar with the different types of source files, and can they handle them?
• Are they able to support the different file formats output for subtitles?
• Are they using the latest technology to incorporate high-quality subtitles into different video formats?

When you choose to work with Lingua Technologies International for your subtitling requirements, you can be sure that we will be able to meet your needs. The simple fact is that we have been offering subtitling services since 1996.

We have a strong track record of delivering high-quality subtitling services that are of industry standard. Our team of professionals has over 25 years of experience in the industry, so that is a lot of experience to draw on when it comes to providing subtitling services for short films, advertisements, movies and television shows etc.

We also offer a wide variety of customization options, including font choices, font sizes, background colours, and more—which means you'll never have to worry about what kind of subtitles fit your brand or project best!

WHAT ARE THE PROCESSES FOR SUBTITLING SERVICES?

Now that you know what subtitles are and their short history, let us talk about the subtitling process behind the Subtitling Services we offer. As mentioned above, subtitling adds text (dialogues or commentaries) to any form of audio-visual multimedia to allow audiences to understand the message being conveyed and what the actors in the audio-visual multimedia are saying.

This audio-visual multimedia can come in many forms like films, television, corporate videos, promotional videos, YouTube videos, and any other form of videos accessed from the internet.

Since a considerable percentage of the global population does not speak and understand English, subtitling can help non-native English speakers comprehend these videos. Subtitling services can facilitate viewers' understanding of the context and premise of these videos better.

Subtitling, which consists of displaying dialogue and sound effects in text form, mainly shown at the bottom of the screen, can also be turned on or off by viewers.

There are many reasons why some viewers have chosen to turn on subtitles while watching a film or video. Most do not want to be distracted by noises from their external environment.

However, internal factors like the soundtrack's inconsistent volume and the media's foreign language nature can also be due to internal factors. Ultimately, subtitling enables viewers to maximize their understanding and enjoyment of the media they watch.

WHAT ARE CLOSED CAPTIONS? ARE CLOSED CAPTIONS THE SAME AS SUBTITLES?

Closed captions are also subtitles, but while subtitles "texturized" the dialogue or spoken words of the actors or narrators, closed captions go further by including the description of other parts of the soundtrack like background noise, sounds made by characters or the environment, and other audio cues.Closed captions assume that the viewers are unable to hear the audio. Thus, a complete description of the sounds, which would otherwise be heard, would enhance the understanding and enjoyment of the media.

WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF SUBTITLING SERVICES OR CAPTIONING AVAILABLE?

In general, our subtitling services offers the following offline captioning:

Pop-on positioned Captioning
Pop-on positioned captioning consists of 2-line titles displayed sequentially. Each of the lines is individually timed in sync with the on-screen events of the film edits.

The individual caption forms a unit of meaning. It is introduced in such a way to make it easy to read and understand. In some instances, speaker identities are used. Positioned captioning should always be used for dramas, comedies, shows with numerous speakers, and TV or DVD.

Pop-on un-positioned Captioning
In pop-on unpositioned captioning, the 2-line captions are inserted and timed in the same way pop-on positioned captioning is done.

The difference is that they are centre-positioned and centre-justified into 2-line titles displayed in sequence. Each of the lines is individually timed. But not to the exact frame.

The main difference here is that speaker Identities are not used. In its place, a dash is used instead to indicate when there is a speaker change. Pop-on unpositioned captioning is suitable for reality programming, documentaries, and the web, where positioned captioning may be challenging.

Roll-up Captioning
Roll-up captioning is commonly used when time is tight to broadcast and when there are few speaker changes. Speaker identities are not used, as it is not difficult for the viewer to figure out from the picture who is talking.

Subtitling For The Deaf And Hard Of Hearing
Like pop-on un-positioned captioning with the addition of speaker identities and heavier use of italics to indicate off-screen sound, SDH or Subtitling for the Deaf and Hard of hearing is a form of closed captioning that supplements relevant parts of the soundtrack that are important to the understanding of the plot.

WHAT ARE THE FILE FORMATS FOR SUBTITLES?

Subtitles are available in various formats, which can be somewhat confusing for those approaching subtitling for the first time.

For a start, here are some of the formats commonly used:

• SRT (SubRip Text)
• SSA (SubStation Alpha)
• TTML (Timed Text Markup Language)
• SBV (YouTube format)
• DFXP (Distribution Format Exchange Profile)
• VTT (Web Video Text Track)
• TXT (untimed text transcript)

Do not let the list above overwhelm you. Let us calm your nerves by saying that the most common format used in subtitling is the SRT format. It is compatible with most subtitling applications and can easily be uploaded to popular videos like YouTube. It is also easily editable using any text editor.

Example of SRT file.

It is effortless to be intimidated by the variety of subtitling file formats, software, and applications. Depending on what you plan to do with the video after the subtitles are added, we can suggest the most appropriate form to adopt for the different scenarios:

• Displaying video and subtitles ONLINE
• Displaying video and subtitles using A MEDIA PLAYER
• Using subtitles in VIDEO EDITING APPLICATION

WHAT ARE THE COMMON MISTAKES SEEN IN SUBTITLING SERVICES?

Formats aside, subtitles can go wrong when we do not place enough importance on the process of its creation.

When done correctly, subtitles can be a tool that enhances understanding and creates an emotional affiliation that sometimes can be missing due to noise, distraction, and language differences.

The timing of the subtitles is one of the most significant factors affecting the final quality of the audio-visual presentation. Timing mistakes can be rather irritating. At worst, timing mistakes can give the plot away and reduce the presentation's overall enjoyment, leaving viewers frustrated.

You must have seen hilarious subtitles and had a good laugh with your friends and family about it. Translation of subtitles that do not consider the viewers' cultural background and language use can be offensive.

Translations that are too literal or translated by machines can often disrupt the enjoyment and understanding of the film, leaving viewers dumbfounded and with a nasty aftertaste.

25 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN TRANSLATION AND SUBTITLING SERVICES

Whether you need to get your message out to a local or global audience, our professional team of language translation experts and subtitling specialists are at your service.

Lingua Technologies International Provides The Following Services:

• Translation for Subtitling
• Transcription for Subtitling
• Same language subtitling
• Technical language subtitling
• Subtitling for the deaf & hard of hearing
• Foreign language subtitling services

We look forward to supporting your outreach to your clients through our subtitling services. For more information and general inquiries, please do not hesitate to give us a call or drop us an email. We can be reached via telephone at +65 6576 0138 or via email at inquiry@translationsingapore.com.