How will chat engines help the process of subtitling in the future?

 

Subtitling is an essential aspect of video production, and it is crucial to get it right to ensure that viewers can understand the content fully. However, subtitling can be a time-consuming and often challenging process, especially when dealing with foreign language content or intricate technical jargon. This is where chat engines come in handy.

Chat engines are advanced computer programs that can analyze text and understand the context and nuances of language. They can be used to automatically generate subtitles for videos, making the subtitling process more efficient and accurate.

One of the most significant benefits of using chat engines for subtitling is the speed at which they can produce subtitles. Traditional subtitling methods often require a human to manually transcribe the spoken dialogue, which can take hours or even days. However, chat engines can generate subtitles in real-time, significantly reducing the time and effort required to create subtitles.

Furthermore, chat engines can also help to improve the accuracy of subtitles. As they analyze text and understand the context, chat engines can accurately translate foreign language dialogue, even if it contains idioms or colloquialisms that might be challenging for a human translator to understand.

Another benefit of using chat engines for subtitling is the potential cost savings. Traditional subtitling methods can be expensive, especially if you need to hire professional translators or transcriptionists. Chat engines, on the other hand, are cost-effective and can be integrated into your existing subtitling workflow, saving you time and money.

Of course, chat engines are not without their limitations. They may struggle with complex technical terms or names that are not in their database, and there is always the risk of errors or inaccuracies. However, these limitations can be minimized by using chat engines in combination with human oversight, which can catch any mistakes and ensure that the subtitles are accurate.

In conclusion, chat engines are a powerful tool that can help to streamline the subtitling process, improve accuracy, and reduce costs. As video content becomes more prevalent, the demand for subtitling will continue to grow, and chat engines will undoubtedly play a significant role in meeting this demand.

This opinion was produced by ChatGPT in answer to the question; Write an opinion piece on the question: ‘How will chat engines help the process of subtitling in the future?’ Is it accurate, or is it just regurgitated marketing speak?

The team at Yella Umbrella have been experimenting with real world problems that Chat Engines could help solve for professional subtitlers. The first of these was the task of text summarisation.

You’ve just translated an English template into German and some of the reading speeds are too long due to those pesky longer German words. So now you need to rephrase the German to say the same thing in the time available, as set by the original dialog timing and the reading speed rules you need to meet. Traditionally this was a task for a skilled translator, maybe now chat engines could help out?

We interfaced ChatGPT to Stellar and provided a Rephrase option. When asked to rephrase a subtitle in a set number of characters the Chat Engine responds with a shorter text that should match the timing constraints.   So how well did it work?

 

English

German (Google Translate)

Rephrased German (Chat-GPT)

 

The original German translation was over length by several characters, when asked for a shorter version ChatGPT  came back with a reasonable alternative which roughly translates as ‘Come back next year, audience guaranteed!’

 

While this is still very much an experiment we could see a workflow with alternative, sorter, translations provided when the initial translation is over length.

Would you use these new AI tools to speed up your work, or do you see them as a distraction?

We will be showing these new ideas, along with all of the Nebula and Stellar tools, at NAB in Las Vegas from 15th to 19th April on stand N2562M.

Let us know your thought and ideas on other ways these new AI services could help you.

 

Come and hear them at NAB or Contact Us to arrange an online demonstration.

From Mr. Neb and
everyone at Yella Umbrella.

NAB 2023 – N2562N