Subtitle Production
in the Cloud
How cloud computing is enabling
efficient media localization for film
Contents
02 Executive Summary 03 A fresh approach
03 The traditional approach to subtitling 05 Subtitling in the cloud
08 Selecting a Subtitling Vendor 09 Find out more
09 North America 09 Europe
Executive Summary
Localization of media is essential for content owners today to
maximize the return on investment of film and TV programs, with
subtitling being the most common approach.
Subtitling service companies are to be found all around the world, but for leading content owners there are relatively few that have the scalability and language coverage for the current market. The incumbent, large providers are ‘old school’ in their approach, relying on large teams of production
managers, project managers and others to keep on top of assignments across multiple clients.
This staffing structure leads to a very human capital-intensive organization with a corresponding sizeable fixed cost base. With almost every aspect of work being performed by manual labor, human error is a significant vulnerability and must be countered by far-reaching quality control efforts, leading to higher costs. In addition, scalability can only be achieved through the addition of further management roles.
Business models that rely so heavily on human capital, such as these, are inevitably slow and cumbersome.
Progressive localization service providers are increasingly adopting a new generation approach to subtitling by building on the power and advantages of cloud computing to support more efficient and collaborative production. This approach enables more agile organizations with lower fixed costs that offer significant client benefits, including transparency, better client visibility, wider language coverage, greater capacity, client
self-service, lower cost and shorter time to market.
Cloud-based localization platforms provide clients with full visibility of their production schedules through up-to-the-minute status reports, centralized repositories of localized media and self-service interfaces for access to materials and deliverables. Encryption and watermarking technologies provide high levels of security.
At a time when quality and speed to market have become all important, content owners are increasingly turning to vendors that employ scalable, efficient and reliable technologies that deliver superior services to fulfill their current and future localization requirements.
A fresh approach
Subtitling first emerged as a cost-effective way to localize film content
following the advent of ‘talkies’ in 1927, and since that time the market
has grown and undergone some significant consolidation. However,
until very recently there has been surprisingly little innovation within
the sector, with most leading providers of subtitling services relying
predominantly on human operators for scale and growth.
Despite the sophistication of translation methodologies employed today for premium film and TV content, the process for
subtitling continues to be operated mainly by production managers with little more than rudimentary administration tools at their disposal.
Subtitling service companies, both large and small, are to be found all around the world. Traditionally these have typically relied on large teams of production managers, project managers and others to keep on top of assignments across multiple clients. Business models that rely so heavily on human capital, such as these, are inevitably slow and
cumbersome. Given the pace at which new content is produced and distributed and the number of countries that now support viable and growing audiences, content owners require more agility and flexibility from their chosen service vendors.
We are seeing the emergence of a new generation of localization service providers where innovative cloud-based software systems are being used to deliver significant client benefits. These benefits take the form of transparency, better client visibility, wider language coverage, greater capacity, client self-service, lower cost and shorter time to market.
The traditional approach to subtitling
Many aspects of media production amongst ‘old school’ providers have an excessive reliance on human labor, and subtitling is no exception. The following diagram illustrates the operational roles performed within such organizations and their inter-relationships seen from a workflow standpoint. The job titles vary between organizations, and in some cases certain individuals may deliver the responsibilities of more than one of the functions shown, but the key characteristics indicated are common across all of the traditional providers.
While an account manager deals with communications with one or more clients, the combination of managers in the areas of production, translation, technical delivery and QC work together to track projects, source materials and deliverables, and allocate work to staff and freelancers as required.
Client Translation Manager Translator Account Manager Production Manager Technical Manager Subtitle Operator Finance Manager Archive Manager QC Manager QC
Traditional subtitling organization
Role Responsibility Account Manager Client relationship.
Production Manager Tracking progress of multiple projects.
Translation Manager Selecting and engaging translators to prepare localized text. Technical Manager Manage resources to output for all technical delivery formats. QC Manager Manage QC resources.
Translator Translate from original language to a target language. Subtitle Operator Create technical delivery formats.
QC Check technical compliance of deliverables. Finance Manager Billing and third party payments.
Archive Manager Transfer project materials to and from archive. A key observation to draw from this staffing
structure is that it leads to a very human capital-intensive organization with a
corresponding sizeable fixed cost base. With almost every aspect of work being performed by manual labor, human error is a significant vulnerability and must be countered by far-reaching quality control efforts, leading to
higher costs. In addition, scalability can only be achieved through the addition of further management roles. Conversely, cutting operational costs inevitably results in less QC coverage, leading to greater incidents of errors in delivery materials.
Traditional subtitling organizations make limited use of process management systems to drive productivity and quality, instead resorting to the time-honored approaches favored by the industrial production line – more output requires more operators.
Due in part to the multitude of video delivery platforms in the market today (DVD, Blu-ray, iTunes, …) traditional vendors often treat subtitling tasks as distinct from translation tasks, and employ specialists to perform these two functions. Thus, in these organizations the creation of subtitle delivery packages is a technical undertaking that requires specialist operators to perform predominantly manual processes. Again, this adversely impacts organizational scalability and agility.
A further feature is the way in which projects are divided amongst those that are current/live and those that are archived. Whilst it is not uncommon for content owners to order new language
translations or new delivery files for catalog titles, these will normally involve recovery of materials from the vendor’s archive, which incurs delay and, usually, an additional fee.
Subtitling in the cloud
More progressive providers of media localization services are turning to the cloud as a means to deliver a more efficient and scalable solution for their clients. In this regard cloud computing is beneficial in two important ways:
1. Process management: It provides a
centralized collaboration framework within which client-specific processes and workflows can operate to perform administrative tasks proactively and automatically. This allows information to be centralized and enables work teams to collaborate and manage their time with minimal intervention from operational managers. In some cases the systems double up as a client portal, enabling the placing of work orders, fulfillment of deliverables and providing visibility of the entire work program for clients.
2. Automation: It enables the process of
subtitle production to be streamlined, for example, through automation of the output of materials into the many different technical delivery formats. These benefits mean that new freelance translators located all around the world can be recruited and trained in order to provide capacity to service fluctuating client requirements very quickly.
Client Translator Account Manager Finance Manager Translation Manager Production Manager QC
Subtitling in the cloud
05 A fresh approach
With the cloud-based approach all production management is centralized through the use of a collaborative system which acts as a ‘hub’ for all project activity. A new assignment is typically initiated by the client placing an order directly into the system, which includes supply of any required reference materials (video proxy, spotting list, etc.)
While there is still a need for roles such as account managers, production managers and translation managers, these individuals perform largely overseeing functions,
becoming active on projects only where there is a need for their involvement to resolve an issue, for example. Work is automatically assigned to operators based on business rules, and projects that progress through the process normally and on schedule will not usually require any intervention on the part of operational managers.
The approach enables the traditional roles of translator and subtitler to be merged into one – the cloud-based systems will process the supplied translations automatically and perform automated checking to alert the operator to problematic areas.
The client is provided with full visibility of their production schedule through an up-to-the-minute status report that may be
consulted at any time. As subtitles become available they may be accessed immediately through a self-service interface. If there is a requirement for client review and sign-off of subtitles prior to delivery then this can be accommodated, requiring use of only a modern web browser.
Cloud-based systems will often use latest encryption technology to transfer and store information, giving high levels of security over client materials. In addition, watermarking of video may be applied automatically to stream individualized copies of materials to each operator involved. This affords a much higher degree of security than is common with traditional approaches. An important characteristic of cloud-based services is that usually no distinction is made between current/live and archive projects – all of a client’s historic data is normally available securely online at all times. This means that the systems can operate as
definitive repositories for all localization data, supporting client self-service and instant access to subtitle delivery files. Therefore, technical delivery files for subtitles can be created for catalog titles quickly and easily. An example workflow employed by cloud-based subtitling providers is illustrated in the following diagram.
Client logs in to bespoke
system and places order
account handler
validates order
System automatically
notifies translators
Translators access system
to perform work and are
alerted automatically to
any compliance issues
System automatically
notifies QC operators who
perform checks to confirm
quality of output
System notifies client
of job completion
Subtitles in all formats
can be downloaded via
self-service interface
Example Workflow for Subtitling in the Cloud
The benefits take the form
of transparency, greater client
visibility, client self-service,
lower cost and shorter time
to market.
• A client base that includes major film and TV studious and publishers
• Wide language coverage of at least 50 languages
• Comprehensive language and media localization services, including subtitling, dubbing, access and global media services • A tailored online client interface for placing
of orders
• Real time project tracker providing status and expected delivery dates
• Use of process automation to simplify operations and drive down fixed costs • Automated tracking of projects
• Online review and approval of deliverables • Self-service access to subtitle files
• Always-on repository for localization data
• Use of advanced encryption standards • Use of watermarking of media assets, with
materials marked uniquely for each operator • Use of industrial strength elastic cloud
computing infrastructure, such as Amazon Web Services
08 Selecting a Subtitle Vendor
Selecting a Subtitling Vendor
Subtitling vendors that have embraced the power of cloud
computing are able to pass on significant benefits to clients.
Below is a checklist of desirable attributes that should be
consulted when selecting new media localization vendors:
Attribute
Benefits
• Vendors that service such clients set a high bar for quality and consistency of service and are unlikely to underperform
• A long-term partner to enable exploitation of content worldwide
• Providing an integrated solution for all language and localization requirements • Enables new work orders to be placed
quickly and easily
• Gives full visibility of project progress and completion, client control and confidence of release dates
• Enables reliability and competitive pricing for localization services
• Projects are completed more quickly and reliably, generally requiring minimal client intervention – reduces administrative burden on client staff
• Provides efficient and fast turn-around of work where client review is necessary
• Enables immediate and cost effective access to subtitles in all technical formats
• Provides clients with a definitive, one-stop media asset management system for localization materials
• Ensures security of confidential materials • All materials are traceable to individual
operators, acting as a significant deterrent to copyright infringement
• Maintains scalable, high quality service even in peak periods
March 4, 2014
Software-powered services
for creative organizations
ZOO is a new generation provider of services that works with leading content owners and creative organizations to enable the delivery of media content globally, faster, and for less investment.
We offer highly efficient approaches to creative media production through the use of Cloud computing combined with talented people. This means that our customers can select the combinations of services and technology that best enable them to respond and react to ever-changing market dynamics.
We tailor our offering for each client to deliver quality and efficiency resulting in greater productivity and shorter time to market at lower cost.
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Find out more
To find out how your organization can localize content more efficiently, contact our ZOOsubs team.
North America
+1 (310) 220-3939
Europe
