Video translation
Video translation is the process of converting a video's spoken words and on-screen text from one language into another so new audiences can understand it. It can produce translated subtitles, a dubbed audio track or both. Modern workflows usually transcribe the original speech, translate the text with machine translation and then either display it as subtitles or generate new speech.
Why it matters
Most of the world does not speak the language a video was made in. Translation turns one asset into many, which lowers the cost of entering new markets and serving global customers. Poor translation, though, can confuse viewers or misstate product details.
How it works
- Speech-to-text transcribes the spoken words in the original language.
- On-screen text can be read with OCR so slides and graphics get translated too.
- Machine translation converts the text, sometimes followed by a human review.
- The translation is delivered as subtitle tracks, a dubbed audio track or both.
How do I translate a video into another language?
Transcribe the video, translate the transcript and publish it as a subtitle track in the new language. Many tools do all three steps automatically. For a spoken version, use AI dubbing to generate a new audio track. Have a fluent speaker review product names, numbers and idioms before publishing to a new market.
Subtitles vs. dubbing: which should I use for translation?
Start with subtitles in most cases, because they are cheaper, faster and keep the original voice. Add dubbing for audiences that prefer listening, for children or for content watched while multitasking, such as training. A practical approach is subtitles for the whole library and dubbing for the most watched videos in each key market.
Where it's used
SaaS companies translate onboarding videos so customers in new markets can learn the product without a reshoot, and news publishers add translated subtitles so regional audiences can follow their reports.
