Video Translation
Video translation services are essential for any organization to expand its reach. Manual video transcription and translation can yield high-quality results but are expensive and time-consuming – and don’t always deliver an equivalent experience. That’s why companies today are turning to a new generation of AI video translation technologies, finally providing a low-cost, automated alternative.
What Is Video Translation?
The purpose of video translation is to convert the original language of a video into one that is more easily understood by the audience. Content creators who want their material widely distributed must deal with the translation problem.
Why is video translation important?
- Videos have become an essential part of content marketing on social media, websites, and emails, and making them accessible is vital to increase their appeal.
- English may be the international language of business, but competency varies according to country and individual.
- For entertainment and e-learning applications, delivering content in the local language is far more convenient.
- It’s a sign of a customer-friendly organization when the material is already translated for a range of viewer types.
- An adequately translated video avoids misunderstandings that can interfere with value proposition, product details, understanding processes, and more.
The Challenges of Traditional Video Translation Methods
Many types of video translation services and methods have been used for decades. The three most common are:
- Dubbing involves muting the original parts of a video and replacing it with somebody speaking in another language. These are often professional voice actors who are reading from a translated copy of the script. This is a labor intensive and time-consuming method, but produces the best manual results for a seamless experience.
- Subtitles – This method displays the translated script on-screen whenever the actor delivers dialogue. It is the least expensive method because text overlays are technically easy to integrate into a video. However, it requires the viewer to look rapidly between visuals and text, which is often a nuisance.
- Voice-over – This is similar to dubbing in that it requires a voice actor, but the video’s original audio is not edited. In essence, a voice-over requires speaking over the existing dialogue. The cost of a voice-over falls somewhere between dubbing and subtitles.
Automatic Video Translation Software
The more modern approach for translating videos is to use artificial intelligence. This turns the steps of video translation into a technological function rather than a manual process. As opposed to traditional methods, AI enables:
Virtually Instantaneous Output
Modern processing speeds and internet bandwidth allow input, processing, and output to occur without noticeable lag (depending on the user’s systems and infrastructure). This is essential for any business communication where, for example, video call translation is really only viable if it is immediate.
Fine-Tuning
Technologies such as machine learning and large language models provide AI translators with the ability to constantly improve their output. When directed towards quality data sources for translation, AI produces minimal errors.
Language Scalability
Adding new languages to a video translator’s capabilities is simple when there is an existing model. Many models are publicly available, such as the Microsoft Azure AI Translator and Google Cloud Translation. When combined with AI’s ability to learn, AI video translators can handle dozens of languages that are processed accurately and seamlessly.
Integration with other Video Technologies
Artificial intelligence is being applied to many aspects of video production. The concept of digital humans appearing in a synthetic video in the form of AI agents or personal avatars means that users can create videos without a single second of filming or production. The user can turn to automatic video translation software to expand appeal for wider audiences. Avatars from the leading AI video platforms will also instantly lip-sync the translated script so that pronunciation appears natural.
Use Cases for Video Translation
Any media that requires a scalable translation function can benefit from automatic video translation technology. Here are just a few applications:
E-Learning
The use of video in both academic and corporate learning environments provides an effective method of practical and engaging training. Companies and educational institutions that need multilingual material use video translation to expand the reach of their lessons.
Marketing
Video sales letters, presentations, and explainer videos are just some marketing media that can be adjusted according to the target audience’s language. With automatic video translation, marketers can customize existing collateral in minutes.
Entertainment
Dubbing, subtitles, and voice-overs tend to make the experience of watching videos less enjoyable. Automatic translation enables artists to access a wider audience for their creations.
The Technology Behind AI Video Translation Tools
Supporting these high-quality AI video translators is a set of complex technologies, each with its own role in processing audio quickly and accurately.
Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR)
Also known as speech-to-text, ASR converts speech from a verbal form to text that computers can understand. ASR performs functions such as recognizing keywords in a conversation, identifying different speakers, and filtering background noise.
Real-time Translation (RTT)
RTT is the basis of well-known translators, such as the Google Translate mobile app. The purpose of RTT is to translate both text and audio instantly. This function is necessary when live events require translation with minimum lag.
Multilingual Voice Synthesis
Whereas ASR is the input for a translation system, voice synthesis (or text-to-speech) is the output. This differs from the original text-to-speech output forms where the voice was monotonous. Instead, voice synthesis includes the ability to mimic all the dimensions of a human voice, such as pitch, intonation, loudness, and pronunciation. This is essential for creating more lifelike audio output and accurately reproducing the accents that make different languages understandable. Multilingual voice synthesis can also reproduce how specific people talk by manipulating the dimensions of speech.
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