How to translate a video to English

Subtitles, dub or lip-sync: which do you need?

The three do different jobs and the price gap between them is wide, so decide before you upload.

A quick test: watch the video with the sound off and notice how long a mouth is clearly on screen. If that's most of the video, lip-sync earns its price. If it's mostly slides, hands and product shots, a plain dub looks the same for a fraction of the cost. In Pleosa, lip-sync on Auto makes that call piece by piece: it re-syncs the lips only where a face is on screen, and the pieces without one cost less.

How to add English subtitles

Use Accessibility Studio when you want subtitle files and no new voice. It takes recordings of up to 2 hours.

1. 1.

   Upload the video

   Open the studio, choose Captions and drop in the video. Only the speech is uploaded, compressed on your device. Leave Spoken language on Detect automatically unless it guesses wrong.

2. 2.

   Make the captions

   Press Make captions. The price is on the button once the file is read.

3. 3.

   Fix the original first

   Read the captions in the original language and correct names, product terms and numbers before you translate. A mistake here gets translated too, and it's harder to spot in English.

4. 4.

   Translate

   Under Translated subtitles, set Translate into to English and press Translate. The timings stay the same, and you can edit the English lines like the original.

5. 5.

   Download

   Take an SRT or WebVTT file for your player or platform. For a platform with no captions upload, make a copy with the captions burned into the video: it's free and made on your device.

SRT and WebVTT hold the same thing, timed lines of text. WebVTT is the format browsers use for text tracks on web video; SRT is the older one that most editing software takes. Keep a file even if you burn the subtitles in, because people can switch a file off and a burned-in line can't be corrected later.

How to dub a video into English

Use the AI Video Translator. It takes an MP4, MOV or WebM of up to 10 minutes, and your video's music and background sound stay under the new voice.

1. 1.

   Upload a clean version

   Under Your video, choose or drop the file, and keep the tab open until the upload finishes. Use a version without burned-in captions: they'd stay in the original language, and lip-sync can smudge text near the mouth.

2. 2.

   Choose English

   Pick English under Translate into. One run can take up to 10 languages, each with its own price.

3. 3.

   Quick or Review script

   Quick transcribes, translates and voices in one step. Review script lets you read and edit every line before anything is voiced. Choose it for anything with names, numbers or claims in it.

4. 4.

   Choose the voice

   Matched voices gives each speaker a natural stock voice close to their own. Their own voices matches each speaker's voice from this video. My voice uses a verified voice from your Voice Vault for the main speaker.

5. 5.

   Set the lip-sync

   Auto re-syncs only where a face is on screen, Always does every piece, Off is voice only. Then pick the quality: Standard for most videos, Premium for sharper lips and teeth on medium shots, or Close-up when the face fills the frame.

6. 6.

   Check the price and start

   Each language's price shows before anything is charged. Confirm whose face and voice it is, then start. Once it's running you can close the tab, and you'll be notified when it's ready.

7. 7.

   Download

   Take the MP4, the SRT or VTT subtitles and the transcript, or make a copy with burned-in subtitles. Subtitle files are included in the price of every language.

What it costs to translate a video to English

Another language from the same upload costs less, about 3 credits a minute for voice only, because the transcript and the voice separation are paid for once. If a piece's lips can't be re-synced, it gets the new voice over the original picture and its lip-sync share is refunded automatically. See plans and credit prices for what a credit costs.

How to check the translation before you publish

A translation can read well and still be wrong. Check it with the picture running, not as a document, because a line that's right on paper can land on the wrong shot.

• Names and numbers first. People, products, prices, dates and units are where errors cost the most. In the translator, the glossary keeps names exact, and your Brand Vault's brand and product names are in it while that switch is on.
• Meaning, not grammar. Jokes and idioms rarely cross over intact, and many languages mark formal and informal speech where English doesn't. Check the tone survived.
• Subtitle speed. Netflix's English style guide allows up to 20 characters a second for adult programmes, 42 characters a line and two lines at most. The BBC recommends 160 to 180 words a minute. Over that, cut words instead of stretching the time.
• Dub timing. In Review script, lines too long for their moment are flagged. Shorten them: a rushed line is the first thing that gives a dub away.
• A fluent reader. For legal, medical, financial or safety content, have someone fluent in both languages sign it off.

Whose voice and face can you use?

The tool asks you to confirm whose face and voice it is before anything is charged. Their own voices is a one-time match made from your video, and the sample is removed after an hour.

If the video lives on YouTube

You have two routes. Upload the English version as a video of its own, or keep one video and add English as a second audio track. YouTube's multi-language audio is open to creators with access to its Advanced features and takes an audio-only file about as long as the video, so you'd export the sound from your translated MP4 first.