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Subtitling is an essential part of the broadcast newsroom process, enabling viewers to read a translation of what’s being spoken in a foreign language or providing a transcript of what’s being said for those who are deaf or hard of hearing. In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at the subtitling process in a newsroom, including its importance, the different types of subtitling, and the steps involved in creating high-quality subtitles.
A newsroom is a bustling workplace where journalists and editors work together to gather and produce news content for broadcast. It’s a fast-paced environment where journalists are constantly on the lookout for news stories, conducting research, and gathering information through interviews and other sources. Once the journalists have gathered the necessary information, they work closely with editors to craft news stories that are accurate, informative, and engaging for viewers. The editorial process involves several stages, including story selection, research and fact-checking, scriptwriting, editing, and post-production tasks such as subtitling. The newsroom’s ultimate goal is to produce high-quality news content that informs and educates viewers about important events happening in the world around them.
There are two primary types of subtitling for broadcast newsrooms:
Interlingual subtitling
It involves the translation of spoken words from one language to another. This type of subtitling is particularly useful for newsrooms that broadcast news stories in multiple languages. It enables viewers who don’t speak the language in which the news story was reported to understand the content. Interlingual subtitling requires skilled translators who can accurately translate the spoken words while taking into account cultural nuances and idiomatic expressions. It’s a time-consuming process that requires accuracy and attention to detail. However, interlingual subtitling is an essential part of the newsroom process that ensures that news content is accessible to a wider audience.
Intralingual subtitling
Also known as closed captioning, provides a transcript of what’s being said in the same language. This type of subtitling is particularly useful for viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing and need the spoken words to be transcribed. Intralingual subtitling is also useful for language learners, viewers who prefer to read the content, and those who may be watching in a noisy environment. Intralingual subtitling requires skilled subtitlers who can accurately transcribe the spoken words while ensuring that the subtitles are synchronized with the audio and are easy to read. It’s a time-consuming process that requires accuracy and attention to detail, but it’s an essential part of the newsroom process that ensures that news content is accessible to a wider audience.
The subtitling process involves several stages, including pre-production, production, and post-production tasks. During pre-production, the subtitler prepares the necessary materials, including transcription and translation of the spoken words. In the production stage, the subtitler creates the subtitles using specialized software and tools, ensuring that the subtitles match the spoken words and convey the same meaning. Finally, during post-production, the subtitler encodes the subtitles into the video and ensures that the final product is compatible with broadcast standards.
The pre-production phase is a critical stage in the subtitling process, as it lays the foundation for the rest of the workflow. This phase involves several essential tasks that ensure the accuracy and quality of the subtitles. These tasks include:
During this stage, the journalists create the script for the news story. The scriptwriters ensure that the language used is clear, concise, and easy to understand, making it easier for the subtitler to translate or transcribe the content. The scriptwriter also takes into account any idiomatic expressions, cultural nuances, or technical terms that may require special attention during the subtitling process.
Once the script is complete, the news editor reviews it for accuracy and clarity. The editor checks for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors and ensures that the script is well-structured and easy to follow. The editor also verifies that the script accurately reflects the content of the news story, fact-checking any details that may be in question.
During this stage, the news team captures video footage from live events or interviews. The video footage serves as the basis for the news story and provides the visual context for the subtitles. The video footage is typically captured using high-quality cameras and microphones to ensure that the audio and video quality are clear and of high quality. Read more on how to improve your audio quality.
After the video footage is captured and the script is reviewed, the subtitler uses specialized tools to create the subtitles. These tools may include captioning software, time code equipment, and quality control tools. Captioning software enables the subtitler to create subtitles and synchronize them with the audio content. Time code equipment helps the subtitler ensure that the subtitles are synchronized with the video and that they appear at the right time. Quality control tools enable the subtitler to check the accuracy and technical compatibility of the subtitles with broadcast standards.
The pre-production phase is a crucial stage in the subtitling process that ensures the accuracy and quality of the subtitles. This phase involves several essential tasks, including scripting content, editing and review, capturing video footage from live events, and using specialized tools to create the subtitles. By following best practices during the pre-production phase, newsrooms can create high-quality subtitles that enhance the viewing experience for their audience.
During the production stage, the subtitler creates the subtitles using specialized software and tools. This stage involves several essential tasks, including:
The subtitler must time the subtitles correctly to ensure that they match the spoken words and appear on the screen at the right time. The subtitler must ensure that the subtitles are synchronized with the audio and video content, ensuring that they appear on the screen at the right time and for the appropriate duration.
The subtitler must also select a font and style that is easy to read and complements the video content. You must choose a font size and style that are easy to read on different devices, taking into account the resolution and screen size of the viewing device. The subtitler also selects a color that provides sufficient contrast with the background to ensure that the subtitles are easy to read.
Quality control is a critical part of the production stage, ensuring that the subtitles are accurate and meet technical requirements for broadcast. The subtitler checks the subtitles for accuracy, readability, and consistency, ensuring that they match the spoken words and convey the same meaning. The subtitler also checks for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors and ensures that the subtitles are well-structured and easy to follow.
The production stage is a critical part of the subtitling process that ensures the accuracy and quality of the subtitles. This stage involves several essential tasks, including subtitle timing, font and style selection, and quality control. By following best practices during the production stage, newsrooms can create high-quality subtitles that enhance the viewing experience for their audience.
The post-production phase is the final stage in the subtitling process and involves several essential tasks that ensure the accuracy and quality of the subtitles. These tasks include:
During this phase, the subtitler checks the subtitles for accuracy, readability, and consistency. The subtitler ensures that the subtitles match the spoken words and convey the same meaning. The subtitler checks for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors and ensures that the subtitles are well-structured and easy to follow. The subtitler also reviews the subtitles for readability, checking the font size, style, and color to ensure that they are easy to read on different devices.
The subtitler must test the subtitles to ensure they meet the technical requirements for broadcast. The subtitler checks the format, resolution, and frame rate to ensure that the subtitles are compatible with the broadcast standard. The subtitler also checks the subtitles’ synchronization with the audio and video content, ensuring that they appear on the screen at the right time and for the appropriate duration.
Once the subtitles have been tested and reviewed, the subtitler encodes them into the video. The subtitler ensures that the subtitles are synchronized with the audio and video content and that they appear on the screen at the right time. The subtitler also ensures that the subtitles meet the technical requirements for broadcast and that they are of high quality.
After encoding the subtitles into the video, the subtitler delivers the final product to the client, whether it’s a broadcaster or a streaming service. The subtitler provides the client with the encoded video and subtitle files, ensuring that the client has all the necessary materials to broadcast or stream the news story.
Finally, the subtitler archives the subtitles for future use and reference. The subtitler stores the subtitles in a secure location, ensuring that they are easily accessible and retrievable in case they are needed for future broadcasts or updates.
The post-production phase is a critical stage in the subtitling process that ensures the accuracy and quality of the subtitles. This phase involves several essential tasks, including quality control procedures, testing subtitles for technical compatibility with broadcast standards, encoding, delivery, and archiving. By following best practices during the post-production phase, newsrooms can create high-quality subtitles that enhance the viewing experience for their audience.
Subtitling software is a crucial tool for subtitlers in the newsroom. It allows them to create subtitles efficiently and accurately, synchronizing them with the audio and video content. There are several subtitling software options available, including Aegisub, Subtitle Workshop, Adobe Premiere Pro, and many others. These software options provide a range of features, such as timing adjustments, text formatting, spell-checking, and more, making it easier for subtitlers to create high-quality subtitles. Some software also offers the ability to collaborate on subtitles with other team members and allows for easy integration with other video editing software.
Captioning and subtitling standards are crucial in ensuring that the subtitles are accessible to a wide audience. The most commonly used standards are the Closed Captioning standards (CEA-608 and CEA-708) and the Subtitling standards (EBU-TT and TTML). These standards ensure that the subtitles are displayed correctly on different devices and platforms, providing a consistent viewing experience for the audience. Standards also ensure that subtitles are compatible with accessibility devices, such as screen readers, and meet regulatory requirements.
Subtitling news content presents unique challenges, such as summarizing lengthy text and translating idiomatic expressions. Subtitlers use techniques such as compression and summarization to convey the key points of the news story effectively. Compression involves reducing the length of subtitles by removing redundant words or phrases, while summarization involves condensing longer passages into shorter sentences without losing the meaning. Subtitlers also face challenges such as the translation of culturally-specific terms and expressions and adjusting the reading speed to match the spoken words. For instance, the subtitler may need to adjust the reading speed to match the pace of the speaker, or they may need to consider the context of the story to convey the intended meaning accurately.
Subtitling provides several advantages in a newsroom. First, it allows viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing to understand the news story. This is an essential aspect of accessibility, as it ensures that everyone has access to the news content. Additionally, subtitling expands the viewership demographic by providing content in different languages. This allows broadcasters to reach a broader audience, increasing the newsroom’s overall impact and relevance. Subtitling also enhances the viewing experience by providing an additional layer of information and context to the news story.
While subtitling provides several advantages, it also presents some disadvantages. The subtitling process can be time-consuming, requiring significant effort and resources to create accurate subtitles that match the spoken words and convey the same meaning. Additionally, subtitling requires accuracy and quality control to ensure that the subtitles are error-free and meet the necessary technical requirements for broadcast. This can be challenging, as subtitlers must pay close attention to detail and work within tight deadlines. Finally, subtitling can be costly, requiring specialized software, hardware, and human resources to ensure the quality and accuracy of the subtitles.
By balancing these advantages and disadvantages, newsrooms can make informed decisions about incorporating subtitling into their broadcast content.
Amberscript is a popular subtitling software that uses artificial intelligence to transcribe audio and video content into text, making it easier and faster for subtitlers to create subtitles. The software offers a range of features that make the subtitling process more efficient, such as automated time-coding, formatting options, and collaboration tools. With Amberscript, subtitlers can easily import audio or video files into the platform and receive a transcription within minutes. The software uses machine learning algorithms to improve the accuracy of transcriptions over time, making it a reliable tool for subtitling news content.
Upload your audio file. Our speech recognition software creates a first version of the subtitles for your audio, which you can improve in our online editor for a 10x time-saving.
We connect your audio to the subtitles in our online editor and align them perfectly, which you can see in the subtitle preview window. You can realign, adjust and search through your text with ease.
Quickly export your audio with subtitles, or the subtitles separately in Text, SRT, VTT or EBU-STL and many other formats, with optional timestamps and speaker distinction.
One of the key benefits of Amberscript is its ability to automate the time-coding process. This feature allows subtitlers to synchronize the subtitles with the audio and video content automatically, reducing the time and effort required to create accurate subtitles. The software also offers formatting options, such as font style and size, color, and placement, giving subtitlers greater flexibility to create subtitles that match the tone and style of the news story.
Amberscript also offers collaboration tools that allow subtitlers to work together on a project in real-time. This feature is particularly useful for newsrooms where multiple subtitlers may be working on the same story simultaneously. The collaboration tools enable subtitlers to share feedback, edit subtitles, and ensure consistency across the project, improving the overall quality of the subtitles.
Finally, Amberscript offers an accuracy guarantee, ensuring that the subtitles are error-free and meet the necessary technical requirements for broadcast. This feature gives newsrooms confidence that their subtitles will meet the required standards, reducing the risk of errors or technical issues during broadcast.
If you have exported the transcript as a SRT, EBU-STL or VTT file, you can easily burn them onto your video using video-editing software.
That needs to be done using a video editor like VLC. Go to Tools > Preferences [CTRL + P]. Under Show settings, select the option that says All to switch to the advanced preferences. Navigate to Input/Codecs > Subtitle codecs > Subtitles. Under Text subtitle decoder set, the Subtitle justification to left, right or center.
To add subtitles to your Youtube video, simply add the file you have created using Amberscript to your video in the Youtube Studio. Click on “subtitles”, then “add” and finally “upload file” and select the SRT file.
To add subtitles to your Vimeo video, simply add the file you have created using Amberscript to your video in the editing window on Vimeo. Click on “distribution”, then “subtitles” and finally click on the + symbol to upload the SRT file.
To order translated subtitles, you can upload your file like you would normally do. You can then select manual subtitling. Once you have selected this, an option will appear where you will be able to select the language the subtitles need to be translated to. If the language that you want is not one of the options you can contact us through our contact form.
For our human-made subtitling services we work with a network of language experts in 15 different languages. Find out which here. If the language you want is not on the list, please contact us through our contact form.
Our software allows you to export the transcript from the video or audio file as an SRT, EBU-STL or VTT file.
