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Subtitling and Captioning
Subtitles that can actually be read in the time available.
Timed subtitle files for training, marketing, corporate and entertainment video — translated within proper reading-speed limits, delivered in the format your platform expects.
The constraint
Subtitling is translation under a stopwatch
Everything difficult about subtitling comes from one fact: people read more slowly than they speak. A line of dialogue that takes two seconds to say may take four seconds to read, and the viewer has only the two.
So a subtitle is rarely a full translation of what was said. It is the meaning of what was said, compressed to fit — roughly seventeen characters per second, two lines at a time, broken where the sense allows rather than where the line runs out. Doing that well requires deciding what can be lost. That is an editorial judgement, and it is why a literal translation of a script makes poor subtitles.
Timing is the other half. A subtitle that persists across a cut, or appears a beat before the speaker, is quietly uncomfortable to watch even when the viewer cannot say why.
How we work
What proper subtitling involves
- 1
Reading speed respected
Lines sized so they can be read in the time on screen, rather than technically accurate and practically unreadable.
- 2
Sensible line breaks
Broken where the sense allows — not mid-phrase because the character count ran out.
- 3
Timing against the picture
Cues set so subtitles do not straddle cuts or arrive ahead of the speaker.
- 4
Consistent terminology
Product names, character names and recurring phrases identical across an entire series.
- 5
The right deliverable
Subtitles or captions depending on whether the need is translation or accessibility — they are not the same file.
- 6
Platform-correct formats
SRT, VTT, ASS or TTML, with the conventions the destination platform expects.
What we subtitle
Video we work on
Training and e-learning
Course modules, compliance training and onboarding for distributed teams.
Corporate and internal video
Announcements, town halls and leadership communication.
Marketing and product video
Campaigns, demos and explainers where subtitles drive silent-autoplay viewing.
Documentary and entertainment
Long-form content requiring sustained register and character consistency.
Conference and event recordings
Presentations, panels and keynotes.
Accessibility captioning
Where the requirement is a viewer who cannot hear rather than one who cannot understand.
Timing
How long it takes
| Type of project | Typical delivery |
|---|---|
| Short video with supplied timed file Marketing clips, single modules, existing SRT | 2–3 business days |
| Video requiring transcription and spotting No script or timing supplied | Depends on duration and dialogue density |
| Series and multilingual sets Multiple episodes or several target languages | Scoped before quoting |
Larger or more complex projects may require additional review time. Quotation requests are usually reviewed within 30–60 minutes during business hours, Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM Central Time.
Related services
Where to go next
Questions
Subtitle Translation, answered
SRT and VTT most commonly, along with ASS, SBV and TTML where a platform requires them. Tell us where the video will be published — YouTube, Vimeo, an LMS, a broadcast platform — and we will deliver the format it expects with the timing conventions it uses.
Because subtitles are constrained in a way script is not. A viewer reads more slowly than a speaker talks, and a line must be readable in the time it is on screen. Standard practice allows roughly 17 characters per second and two lines at a time. A faithful translation of rapid dialogue will exceed that, so the work involves condensing meaning without losing it — closer to editing than to translation.
Both. If you have an existing timed file we can translate within its cues. If you have only the video, we create the timing — deciding where a subtitle appears and disappears, which is a craft decision as much as a technical one. Cuts, pauses and shot changes all affect where a break belongs.
Subtitles assume the viewer can hear but does not speak the language. Captions assume the viewer cannot hear, and therefore include speaker identification and relevant non-speech audio — [door closes], [ominous music]. If your requirement is accessibility rather than translation, say so, because the deliverable is different.
Yes. Where no script exists we transcribe first, which is often the better route anyway — scripts and finished videos diverge more than people expect once editing is done. The transcript then becomes the basis for both timing and translation.
A single timed master is created first, and each language works within those cues. This keeps subtitle appearance synchronised across versions and makes later revisions far cheaper, since a change to the source propagates cleanly.
It depends on duration, dialogue density and whether timing already exists. A short marketing video with a supplied SRT is quick; a training series requiring transcription and spotting is scoped before quoting so the estimate is realistic.
We deliver subtitle files rather than encoded video, because separate files are more flexible — viewers can toggle them, search engines can read them, and updates do not require re-encoding. If you need burnt-in subtitles for a platform that requires it, tell us and we will discuss it.
Start your subtitling project
Send your video or timed file and tell us where it will be published. A Project Coordinator will scope it and prepare an accurate quotation.
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