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For films or television programmes to be appreciated by foreign language viewers - as well as the deaf - they must be translated. But producing on-screen translations (known as subtitles) is no easy matter.

A subtitler must be aware of and bring across all the relevant information and linguistic nuances contained in the original dialogue and convey these in his subtitles. That may be fine in a book, but the cinema or television screen only has a limited amount of space in which to place each subtitle. In addition, it takes far longer to read a sentence than to say and hear it.

This means that the subtitler must express the same sentiments as the speaker in the film, but in less time (that is, using fewer words). It's a delicate juggling act, requiring both an in-depth understanding of the languages involved and an ability to produce clear, concise translations.

Many companies employ students or non-trained translators working from home as a way of keeping costs down. Some subtitlers don't even get to see the film they are working on. The outcome is sadly predictable. Subtitles appear almost at random, bear little resemblance to the original text and often miss the point entirely.

The customer is left with a second-rate product that discerning viewers will laugh at, and of which no one can be proud.

Translators-India uses qualified, experienced subtitlers. We calculate our rates per subtitle. We can supply completed subtitles on disk in a variety of software packages or the way you want it !