Author: Isaac

Learn the factors that subtitling service providers consider when pricing their services and why the prices are not everything when choosing a suitable provider.

The world has become a global village thanks to the internet. Video content has become popular, whether it’s for entertainment, educational, or marketing purposes. Platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok help creators reach a global audience despite their language, demography, or physical ability.

Videos are all about visuals and audio. But how can you use videos to reach deaf or hard-of-hearing persons? How about reaching and relating with international customers?

Subtitling and captioning services help you reach the hearing impaired, foreigners who don’t understand your native language, and get a global audience. Despite their locality or language, you can sell your products and services to anyone accessing your video content. When your video provides multilingual captions and subtitles, foreigners can relate to your content and thus purchase your services or products.

How Subtitling Services are Priced & Why the Price isn’t Everything

Subtitling services prices vary from one provider to the other. High prices do not guarantee quality services, while low prices don’t always give you a return on investment. But what factors influence the amount of money you will be charged for subtitling or captioning services?

Factors that Determine Subtitling Service Prices

When you search for subtitling service prices on the search bar, you will get different prices, as low as $1 per minute to $ 50 per minute. The cost depends on a variety of factors, including the following:

> Video duration

> Turnaround time(urgency)

> Multilingual/monolingual

> Audio quality

> File format

> The experience and competency of subtitling provider

Video Duration

Most subtitling service prices depend on the video duration. The longer the video, the higher the price. Some companies will charge different rates for corporate, educational, and entertainment content. At Wordsburg, we charge the videos per minute, whether a movie, corporate presentation, or university lecture.

Turnaround Time (urgency)

You will pay more for urgent orders. Most subtitling services pricing models have a turnaround option where the agency determines your quote based on the turnaround time.

Multilingual or Monolingual

Most subtitling services providers offer English subtitles and captions, but only a few offer excellent multilingual subtitling services. Multilingual subtitling services prices differ from monolingual ones. This is because the former needs translation into a different language first before the subtitling process.

Audio Quality

When searching for subtitling service prices online, you will come across many agencies without a straightforward pricing model. Most will ask you to fill a form and attach your file to get a quote. The providers want to gauge the audio quality before giving you an estimate.

Poor quality audio on a video will have you paying more because the subtitling process depends on accurate transcription.

File Format

There are different subtitle formats, and most agencies have a different price for each format. At Wordsburg, we produce closed captions(CC) in the following formats:

> Direct on video

> Subrip

> Scenarist

> MacCaption

> Timed Text

> Quicktime Timed Text

> Transcript

> WebVTT

> DFXP

> Cheetah. CAP

> Spruce Subtitle File

> Avid DS Subtitle File

> Facebook ready SubRip

Get in touch with us for the best subtitling service prices on any of the following formats.

Experience and Competency of Subtitling Provider

A provider with a solid portfolio and years of experience will charge more than a startup trying to woo customers into giving them gigs. When you hire an experienced provider, you will get high-quality services that will provide you with a good return on investment.

We are a trusted choice for video subtitling services, with a team of over twenty editors to subtitle your work in over a hundred languages.

What are the Steps in the Subtitling Process?

The subtitling process entails five steps. These are:

#1: Quality control- we use top-tier software and technology to check the audio quality, video quality, time codes, and whether the file is complete.

#2: Transcription and formatting- our experienced transcriptionists will accurately convert the audio into text and format the time codes and time stamps.

#3: Translation- our team of over 1000 translators will translate the transcript into the language of your choice if need be.

#4: Placing the subtitles in the right place will break down the subtitles and synchronize them with the video to appear in the right place. This involves making sure the words are not interfering with the clarity of the video.

#5: File output- polishing up the file to make it viewer-ready by embedding the subtitles correctly in the file.

Subtitling Service Prices for the Top 5 Agencies Globally

We have compiled subtitling service prices for the top 5 agencies globally. Take a look.

#1 Wordsburg

Wordsburg is a top subtitling services provider with offices in the UK, Singapore, and Malaysia. We offer subtitling and captioning services at affordable rates and fast turnaround. Our pool of over 1000 translators will translate your project to the language of your choice, while the team of over twenty editors will ensure you get industry-standard subtitles.

We also offer transcription, voiceover, translation, legalization, and interpretation services, making us a one-stop-shop for most of your content creation and distribution needs.

Wordsburg charges $4.44 per minute, but the price could go up to $10 for videos with a short turnaround time. The best way to get a detailed price card is to contact us for a personalized quote.

#2 Day Translations

Day Translations is a leading New York-based communications agency specializing in subtitling, captioning, translation, localization, and interpretation services. It offers subtitling services for businesses and entertainment sectors such as movies, documentaries, tutorials, corporate videos, and public announcements.

Day Translations subtitling prices are quite pricey, starting at $15 per minute.

#3 GoTranscript

GoTranscript is a global agency that provides subtitling services alongside other services such as transcriptions and translation. It is a pretty modest subtitling provider offering the service in around forty languages. However, the agency outsources work to offshore employees, who sometimes compromise the accuracy of subtitles with accents, typos, etc.

GoTranscript subtitling rates start from $8.50 per minute. The price may vary according to language requirements, the number of speakers, audio quality, and the urgency of work.

#4 Voquent

Voquent is a top language services agency specializing in voiceover, subtitling, translation, and captioning. It offers subtitles in over 100 languages with industry-standard accuracy. However, their services are pricey.

Voquent price model depends on whether your project is an entertainment, educational or corporate video. The firm price ranges from$ 18 to $33 per minute, the most expensive being corporate videos.

#5 Happyscribe

Happycribe is a leading language services agency specializing in transcription, translation, and subtitling.  The firm offers both AI-aided and human subtitling to guarantee businesses satisfactory captions. They have a native translator and subtitling experts that maintain the original meaning of captions in multilingual subtitling.

Happyscribe charges different rates for AI and human subtitling, with the latter pricing starting at $23.56 per minute.

Wrap Up

Subtitling service prices vary from one agency to another. The prices depend on the length of your video, the urgency, the audio quality, subtitle format, and language requirements. When choosing a subtitling service, the price is not everything, but it is a significant factor.

The machine translation software vs. human translation debate is gaining momentum with advancements in technology. Learn everything you need to know about the two types, which is better, and when to use each type.

Have you ever read a translated Facebook post or comment and laughed at how ridiculous the translation sounded?  That is one of the shortcomings of AI-aided machine translation; inaccuracies. We appreciate technology’s role in making our work easier, but sometimes, machine translation software can lead to costly inaccuracies.

So, how do machine translations compare to human translations? Which translation better suits your business needs?

We will answer these questions in this article as we get down to the machine translation software vs. human translation discourse. We will also look at each method’s pros and cons and when to use each type of translation.

Let’s get started.

Machine Translation Software vs. Human Translation

To better understand the machine translation software vs. human translation showdown, let’s first look at each type individually.

Machine Translation Software 

Machine translation software uses artificial intelligence tools, algorithms, statistical analysis, and defined rules to translate a word to the preferred language instantly. Also known as AI translators, these tools include Google Translate, Yandex, Microsoft Translate, Amazon Translate, Unbabel, and Cloud Translation API.

Machine translation is divided into four types. These include:

1) Rule-based machine translation– the translation software uses algorithms to study the source language’s grammar, syntax, and phrases to translate into the target language.

2) Neural machine translation– the neural approach incorporates machine learning technology to instruct the translation software on translating large volumes of text. It is the most widely-used approach in current machine translations due to its sophistication and accuracy.

3) Statistical machine translation– this type of translation depends on existing translations and other defined rules. This method translates texts by analysing the correspondence of the source language and the target language.

4) Hybrid machine translation– this translation method combines the statistical approach and the rule-based technique. It is more sophisticated and accurate, but it still has its share of drawbacks, such as the need for a human proof reader.

Pros of the Machine Translation Software

Machine translation software offers fast translations that save you time. You can use the extra time to work on other business areas such as marketing or delivering products and services to clients.

Moreover, machine translations are cheap. Some AI translators will not charge you a dime to translate your project. The affordability makes machine translation software the best choice for business start-ups with tight budgets.

Furthermore,  you are spoilt for choice, with several AI-translators at your disposal. These tools give you the flexibility you need to build your business.

Cons of the Machine Translation Software 

AI translators have come a long way since the first machine translator in 1954, but there is room for improvement.  The primary pitfall of machine translation software is inaccuracy. Most AI translators only offer up to 80% accuracy, affecting your business.

Another reason why most businesses shy away from machine translation software is the loss of tone, context, and even meaning during translation. Such errors may put off your target audience leading to poor conversions or sales. Moreover, loss of meaning may lead to costly miscommunications.

Human Translation

Human translation entails hiring a human conversant with the source and target languages to translate your text from one language to the other. These individuals have the necessary training, certification, and experience to handle such work, and the results are excellent.

Human translators have been around for decades, and despite the rise of AI-powered translations, they remain an integral part of business translations.

Pros of Human Translations

Human translations are precise and accurate. When you hire a professional translator, you can rest assured your project will have the right tone, engagement, and context. A certified translator uses their intuition, knowledge, and understanding of your target audience to craft engaging and relatable text.

Secondly, human translators are conversant with the latest developments and trends in language and human interactions. For example, a human translator will know some words are gender insensitive or culturally degrading and therefore omit them in their translations.

Lastly, human translators offer you the advantage of revisions and amendments in case of errors.

Cons of Human Translations

Human translations are costly. You will dig deeper into your pockets, but you will get a good return on investment in the long run.

Human translations are also time-consuming. You need to look for certified translation service providers, vet their capabilities, hire them, and send the work. They will then research and translate your project to ensure high-quality output.

Are you looking for a human translator who will deliver high-quality work with a quick turnaround? Wordsburg offers fast translations into over 100 languages at affordable rates.

Which One is Better? Machine Translation vs. Human Translation

By now, you understand the benefits and downsides of each type of translation. If you have the machine translation vs. human translation debate in your head, several factors will help you decide. These are:

1) Kind of Project

Machine translation will do satisfactory work for simple guidelines, manuals, and comments. However, if it’s a complex project such as a movie, webinar, company reports, or stakeholders briefings, you’d better hire an experienced human translator.

If you are working with sensitive data such as medical, legal, or patent translations, Wordsburg is here to help. We also translate gadget and app-related data into your preferred language.

2) Target Audience

Your target audience determines which type of translation suits your project. Machine translations may work fine for general audiences, but technical audiences or marketing professionals may need precise and accurate presentation of the original text.

3) Time

Machine translations are fast. On the other hand, a professional human translator takes time to translate the project and ensure the tone, context, and engagement are perfect. The type of translation you choose will depend on your deadline and project needs.

4) Budget

Human translations are pricey, but you get real value for your money. If you’re working on a worthwhile project with a capacity to bring in huge profits, invest in the project by hiring a certified translation agency.

However, if you are starting your business and your finances are tight, go for machine translations, but have a native speaker proofread it. At Wordsburg, we offer affordable translation services that will give you a good return on investment. Contact us today for a quote.

When to Use Machine Translation

Generally, you can use machine translation for projects that don’t require precision, such as internal documents within your business and work whose general meaning is enough. Moreover, if you want to first translate original work before hiring a human translator to proofread it, machine translation can save you time and money.

When to Use Human Translation

Human translations are better than their machine counterparts. The following are situations when human translations are necessary:

A. When your project demands 100 % accuracy

B. When translating confidential and sensitive texts such as legal documents, product guidelines, medical manuals, and personal documents.

C. When your project is meant for marketing professionals or other creative language audiences

Get high-quality, affordable, and multilingual translation services from the best translation agency in Singapore, the UK, and Malaysia. Contact Wordsburg today for a quote.

Wrap Up

The machine translation software vs. human translation debate is longstanding and lingers with recent AI and machine learning developments. Each type of translation has its pros and cons, and the decision to go for each depends on your project type, budget, target audience, and business goals. However, most business and official translations require a human touch even after using AI translators.

Learn why your business needs web translation and where to find reliable web translation services in Singapore and the UK.

According to Statista, approximately 60% of the world’s population are active internet users. This means that your online business has a broader customer base than ever. Web translation and glocalisation have played a crucial role in helping online entrepreneurs make a killing out of their global client base.

Glocalisation comes from two words; globalisation and localisation. It entails making a business entity accessible to anyone across the globe, while localisation is making such a business local in all aspects such as culture, language, art, and trends. 

Therefore, glocalisation combines the two aspects to make your business seen all over the world and give your prospective clients a personalised feeling. It has transformed how we do business and other areas such as e-Learning.

However, glocalisation is not easy. It involves technical web translations and other technological solutions. This article will highlight what web translation is, how it helps your business and choosing the best provider that suits your business.

What is Web Translation?

Web translation entails converting your website content from one language to another. The process involves the adaptation of texts, videos, images, GIFs, and PDFs from the original language to a target language. It is not simple because so much goes to a website than the text and visuals.

For instance, a website will have on-page texts in the form of blog posts, homepage, about us page, and contact page. The same website may have pop-ups such as subscription notifications, prompts when a client clicks on a link, error messages, and advertisements. Furthermore, off-page details such as metadata also need to be translated.

Therefore, web translation is one of the technical translations, and only certified web translators can deliver quality work. If you are looking for reliable and professional web translation experts, Wordsburg is here to help.

What is the Process of Web Translation?

For other types of translation, such as medical, legal, scientific, or marketing translation, you send the project to the expert and wait for the final results. When it comes to web translation, the process becomes complex because you need to get involved in keeping your website’s codes and CRM intact. The right web translator will translate your website from any domain into any language of your choice.

There are three types of website translations. These include:

> Standard translation

> Localisation

> Transcreation

1) Standard Translation

Sometimes when browsing the web, you may come across a website with content in one language, but other things like confirmation emails or pop-ups are in another language.

For instance, you may come across a Dutch website with translated English articles. However, if you attempt to subscribe to a newsletter or an email list, the confirmation notification comes in Dutch. That is an example of standard website translation. 

Standard translation is replicating the source text from a website to another language. It is not the best form of web translation because it does not translate off-page stuff like codes and metadata.

2) Localisation

You can tell a generic translated text from an expertly translated text that fits the target language’s context, syntax, and style. The latter happens when a translator localises the original text to match the target language’s culture, art, and trends. Localisation is better than standard translation because it puts the creative pages into context. These include the About us, homepage, marketing campaigns, and service pages.

3) Transcreation

Transcreation is a combination of website translation and the creation of new copy that resonates well with the target language. This means that the translator will not only translate the texts but also develop new slogans, mantras, and catchphrases that speak directly to the local client. For instance, the translator may introduce slang words specific to a certain region, holidays, celebrations, calendar events, etc.

At Wordsburg, we use a hybrid translation approach combining technology with human translators to save you time and money while giving you quality results. After completing the translation, we run the work through Quality checks from linguistic and non-linguistic perspectives. Call us today for a free consultation.

Important Factors to Keep in Mind When Translating Your Website

In other types of translations, such as media, legal, and marketing, you simply send the documents to the translator and leave all the work to them. Things are different in web translation. By now, you know it will take more than sending links to your website and saying, ‘I want these pages translated.’

The following are three things you should keep in mind when seeking website translation services:

1) SEO Still Counts in the Translated Site

Suppose you run an English website and want to translate it to Russian. The keywords that rank your blogs on search engines should remain even in the target language. Maintaining search engine optimization strategies is essential to stay relevant in the target market. Therefore, choose a web translator with SEO, copywriting, and marketing skills.

2) Site Appearance Should Reflect Your Brand

As much as glocalisation demands translation and creating a site that resonates with the target market, don’t forget your brand, values, and what makes your site stand out. Whether a logo or a slogan, you need to work with a skilled web translator who can maintain the brand image.

Similarly, the translated site should meet the same standards met by the original site. This includes spacing, web appearance, desktop, tablet, and mobile version. This adds to another reason why you should only hire a web translation service with prior experience and a portfolio to show.

At Wordsburg, we understand the challenges of web translation and have perfected the art through working on several projects and learning in the process. Our previous clients include WordPress, GitHub, Magento, Drupal, and Joomla.

3) Web Translation is More than Translating the Words

Web translation involves the translation of texts, media, codes, metadata, and so much more stuff integrated into your website. Whether you have podcasts, images, videos, PDFs, eBooks, or GIFs on your site, the translator needs to work on all of them. This makes website translation prices highly personalised because each website has unique content.

Moreover, the technicality of web translations requires translators to use application programming interfaces (APIs).

At Wordsburg, we deliver excellent software and website translation with our TMS & CMS connectors. Contact us today for web and other types of translations.

Wrap Up

Web translation is technical because you need to translate everything on the website, including texts, media, codes, and off-page metadata. A certified web translator will combine their expertise and APIs to deliver excellent translation services despite the technicality. After translation, the target language website should retain SEO, appearance, and brand identity.

Voice-over services help businesses, creatives and institutions entertain, inform and educate their target audience. However, when you search for voice-over service prices on the internet today, you will be shocked at what you see. Their prices can go as low as $10 per minute and as high as $7,000 per project.

How do you choose the right voice-over talent to work with so that you can get value for your money?

This article will unearth how agencies and voice talents price their services, the factors that influence how much you pay, and the prices for the top five voice-over agencies in the UK.

Factors that influence the voice over service prices

Voice-over service prices vary from one voice talent to another depending on several factors. These include:

Competency of voice talent

The voice-over industry has all sorts of talents, from amateur freelancers looking to make extra money to trained, certified, and experienced voice actors. The latter will charge more, and you will get real value for your money in return.

You may get high-quality services from some freelancers, but finding suitable talent for your project takes time. Wordsburg voice-over artists are trained, certified, and experienced in handling voice-over projects such as commercials, eLearning, and games.

Project type

Voice-over service prices largely depend on the type of content you want to be produced and the usage. Project types include eLearning videos, gaming and animation, commercials, corporate videos, telephone IVR, and audiobooks.

E-learning projects

Universities, course creators, and organizations produce learning materials in the form of videos. Voice overs for such videos are priced on a per-word basis. Other factors that influence the price of such projects include whether they are monolingual or multilingual and the volume of work.

Commercials

Commercials promote services and products through TV and radio spots. The voice-over services for commercials depend on the project’s complexity, the production fees, the target audience, and content duration.

Telephone IVR

A telephone interactive voice response (IVR) helps you interact with callers in the absence of a customer representative. IVR voice-over service prices depend on the lengths of the message, whether there are technical terms, company jargon, and the number of prompts. Most agencies will price IVRs based on the rate per prompt.

Audiobooks

Due to the current busy schedules, most fans have embraced audiobooks and listen to the content while driving, shopping, or doing house chores.

Voice-over service prices for audiobooks are based on per finished hour. Per finished hour entails the recording and editing of the voice recording.

Video games

Video games are a million-dollar sector, and they require voice-over talent to voice the different characters. Basically, video games and animation voice-over prices will be based on the time taken to record, the complexity of the character in question, and whether the voice-over is wild, time-synced, or lip-synced.

Duration of content

Long content takes time to record and will cost you more money. When it comes to the duration of your project, the following factors will affect voice over service prices:

• The number of words
• The audio format required
• The script’s complexity- does it have technical terms, intonations, emotions, etc.

Time taken to record the audio

Voice-over services fall under three categories based on the complexity of the recording and time constraints. These are:

Wild voice over

A wild voice-over is the simplest voice-over because the voice actor reads the script naturally. It only requires recording and editing; this is the cheapest.

Time sync voice over

This voice-over requires the talent to sync their voice to a set pace. Sometimes the artist has to match their voice to an onscreen speaker, such as an instructor on an explainer video. It is pricier than the wild type because it takes twice the time to record.

Lip sync voice over

A lip sync voice-over is the most complex of the three types because the voice talent has to match an onscreen speaker’s pace and lip movement. This voice-over type is common in animation, video games, and feature films such as musicals. It is the most expensive type of voice over.

At Wordsburg, our voice over artists can deliver all three types with a quick turnaround.

Voice over service prices definition

As you search for voice over service prices on the internet, you will come across the following terms:

• Per-minute- charging a rate per minute spent recording the audio
• Per finished minute- charging a rate per minute spent recording and editing the audio
• Per hour- voice talent rate per hour of recording the audio.
• Per project- a flat rate agreement between the client and voice talent based on the whole project
• Per session- some voice talents will charge you for every time spent at the studio recording your script
• Per spot- pricing based on how many times a voice-over is played on a commercial spot
• Per usage – the primary determining factor for voice-over service prices because it is based on how the client intends to use the content. i.e., commercial, advertisement, video games, eLearning, corporate use, etc.
• Buy out fee- an amount of money you pay the voice talent any time their work is used on a platform, e.g., TV spot, radio spot, and social media.

Voice over service prices for the top five agencies globally

#1 Wordsburg

Wordsburg is an industry leader in voice-over services, offering quality at affordable prices. With a pool of well-trained female and male voice-over artists, you will get value for your money. The firm provides voice-over services for eLearning, corporate projects, audiobooks, explainer videos, promotional videos, commercials, telephone IVR, and videogames.

The firm also provides other related services such as translations, transcription, subtitling and captioning, legalization, and interpretation.

Wordsburg charges start at $55.5 per minute.

#2 Voquent

Voquent is a language services provider based in the UK. The agency provides several services, including voice-over, translation, subtitling, and captioning. However, its voice-over services are relatively expensive.

Voquent charges $100- $170 per minute

#3 Voices.com

Voices.com is a global voice-over services provider with a worldwide clientele. The agency uses offshore and local talent, so it may not be suitable if you are looking for localized talent.

Voices.com voice-over prices range between $10 and $125 per minute.

#4 Bunny Studio

Bunny Studio is one of the most sought-after voice-over services globally, with over 13,000 freelance voice-over artists. The online platform offers businesses worldwide excellent services, and clients have a pool of talents to choose from. However, Bunny Studio is a freelancing platform, and finding the perfect fit for your project can be a daunting task.

Bunny Studio rates range between $60 and $123 per minute, but the pricing depends on the project type and the freelancer’s experience.

#5 VoiceCrafters

VoiceCrafters is a global agency that offers professional voice-over services to businesses. They specialize in e-learning, commercials, IVR, explainer, video games, pram, promotional, and music voice-overs. They are an in-house agency and accept freelancer talents with over five years’ experience. However, their rates are pretty high for small businesses.

VoiceCrafters’ pricing model depends on the type of project, but on average, the rates start at $350 per minute.

Wrap up

Voice-over service prices vary from one provider to another. The difference depends on the competency of the voice talent, the type of project, intended usage, complexity in recording, and content duration.