In the world of content localization, efficiency is key. MediaCAT's auto transcription feature, Sync, offers a powerful set of options that can significantly reduce post-editing time for machine-generated subtitles. By setting the right parameters, you can ensure that the initial output closely matches your required subtitle guidelines. Let's explore how to make the most of these Sync Options.
Key Parameters for Efficient Subtitling
- Maximum Number of Lines per Subtitle
- Maximum Characters per Line
- Minimum and Maximum Subtitle Duration
- Maximum Mergeable Gap
- Maximum Number of Sentences per Subtitle
- Single or Multi-Speaker Subtitles
The Foundation: Basic Parameters
The first three parameters form the foundation of most subtitle guidelines:
- Maximum number of lines per subtitle
- Maximum characters per line
- Minimum and maximum subtitle duration
Setting these correctly can dramatically reduce the need for manual adjustments. For example, if your guideline specifies a maximum of 42 characters per line, Sync will automatically break longer lines or create multiple subtitle segments to adhere to this limit. The engine follows standard practices, such as avoiding breaks between adjectives and nouns, to ensure readability.
Fine-Tuning with Advanced Options
The "Maximum Mergeable Gap" option offers unique control over subtitle fragmentation. While not commonly found in standard guidelines, this parameter can significantly impact viewer experience. A gap of 1-2 seconds generally provides a good balance, preventing subtitles from appearing too flashy or revealing too much information in advance.
Here's an example:
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Subtitles #2 and #3 are spoken by the same person with a brief pause (just under 2 seconds) between them. If you set the Maximum Mergeable Gap to 1 second, these two subtitles will remain separate, as shown in the screenshot above. However, if you increase the Maximum Mergeable Gap to 2 seconds, you'll see one longer subtitle, as illustrated below.
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For dubbing projects, the "Maximum Number of Sentences per Subtitle" and "Single or Multi-Speaker Subtitles" options are particularly useful. These settings help separate dialogues by speaker, making the dubbing process more straightforward.
Getting Started Without a Specific Guideline
If you're unsure about which parameters to use, MediaCAT provides sensible default settings based on widely-used industry standards. These defaults serve as an excellent starting point for most projects.
By taking advantage of MediaCAT's Sync Options, you can significantly reduce the time spent on post-editing machine-generated subtitles. This approach allows your team to focus on fine-tuning and quality control, rather than making basic formatting adjustments. As you become more familiar with these options, you'll find that your localization workflow becomes more efficient and consistent across projects.
Cut down your post-editing time—get started with MediaCAT now!
