As the world gets smaller, people are finding ways to use materials from other countries. However, this requires some kind of translation to work well. Audio translation has a number of inherent issues that need to be addressed on every track.

Unlike a normal translation, the audio version has a number of limitations based on the format of the source material. The biggest limitation is that the translated track must match the original in length. This can be a problem as some languages ​​simply use more words to describe the same concept; for example, French uses about 25% more words to describe the same thing as the English version. This can lead to some interesting problems when converting from one language to another and the length must be the same.

To complicate the problem, the audio must be synchronized with a video track. An obvious problem is when the audio needs to match what is seen on the screen, but that is usually the simplest problem. A more interesting problem is when there are clues in the video that need to be matched to the audio, such as when the number “3” appears in an instructional video. The same number must appear in the same place in the audio translation, which means that the translator must have the same length before and after the number.

If there are 10 seconds of audio before the number and 5 seconds after it, the translation should match that time; this can lead to some interesting timing problems when the two languages ​​have different structures, such as the loose structure of English versus the rather strict structure of French.

Another way to deal with the timing problem is to adjust the speed of the track, making some languages ​​sound a little faster and other languages ​​a little slower. Although there are more precise ways to do this, sometimes it is necessary to resort to some basic tricks to get the job done. However, rarely is a translation problem too difficult for techies to solve with a few tricks in their bag. Usually it’s just a matter of looking for a slightly different translation, but given the potential problems that an incorrect translation can cause, sometimes it’s better to use a technical trick.

There are other applications for an audio translation, as some translation jobs require a transcription to be made for the client. Since transcription is done as part of the translation process, this is usually not a problem. This alone allows for several different ways for one group to communicate with another group in a different country, creating a smaller, more intimate world.