As the world gets smaller, people find 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 approximately 25% more words to describe the same thing than the English version. This can cause 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 you see on the screen, but that’s usually the simplest problem. A more interesting problem is when there are cues in the video that must match 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 is 10 seconds of audio before the number and 5 seconds after, the translation must match that time; this can lead to some interesting synchronization issues when the two languages ​​have different structures, such as the loose structure of English versus the fairly 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 it, sometimes it is necessary to resort to some basic tricks to get the job done. However, there is rarely a translation problem too difficult for technicians with a trick in their bag to solve. Usually it’s just a matter of looking for a slightly different translation, but given the potential problems 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 transcript to be done for the client. As the transcription is done as part of the translation process, this is usually not a problem. This just allows for several different ways for one group to communicate with another group in a different country, creating a smaller, more intimate world.