The Guide to Translation and Localization: Multimedia Localization

By Lingo Systems,
Portland, OR, U.S.A.

info at lingosys com
www.lingosys.com

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Chapter 7: Multimedia Localization

As communication tools have become more sophisticated, the methods used to localize their output have had to change as well. Not many years ago, localization was most often performed on written materials (e.g. product manuals, user guides, training materials, etc.). As the world became wired, next came online help, websites, and GUI. The new frontier, which is already everywhere, is multimedia. Some of the more common examples of multimedia materials are Flash movies, sound files, video clips, and complex graphics. All can be found in such diverse places as video games, interactive software, web applications, DVDs, kiosks, and CD-ROMs.

Unlike traditional localization, which typically uses professional linguists to translate the materials and desktop publishers to format the output, multimedia localization requires experts with additional skill sets for audio or video text adaptation, script translation, and professional voice talent recording. A healthy dose of software engineering is also needed. This combination of linguistic work and in-studio production services can be used for training, marketing, educational or commercial audio and video applications, as well as entertainment products.

Regardless of the medium, there are some basic rules that should be followed on every project. On the following pages, we will provide a brief overview of multimedia localization and then describe a sample Flash project.

Pick Your Format

When it comes to presenting your multimedia message, the choices of format are seemingly endless. Your production team can choose from a wide variety of applications that use many different formats, including:

1) 3D Studio Max,

2) Alias,

3) Animated GIFs,

4) Direct X,

5) Macromedia Flash,

6) Macromedia Shockwave, and

7) Softimage.

Once you've decided on your format, the next decision is whether to provide your multimedia presentation to a global audience. If your message is intended for multilingual consumers, make every attempt to consider localization from the outset, when the source files are first being developed.

Begin With Localization In Mind

Christophe Vezinet Localization Engineer I was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. My military exploits and my ruthless efficiency.... Whoops... Stop... that's Napoleon's bio. Well, I was also in the French Army for 15 years. I was not Emperor, but I had a lot of fun missions all over the world. Then, I decided to exile myself to the U.S. What's better than retiring to a localization company where my manager is my own younger brother? Napoleon said, "Ambition is never content, even on the summit of greatness." Cedric could have said that, too.

Communicating to a global audience with a multimedia project presents both technical and cultural challenges. If you begin with localization in mind, you can avoid frastrating delays and increased costs down the road.

On the technical side, you may ran into issues such as text expansion. Plan for 25%, minimum. This applies to on-screen as well as spoken text. Make sure you understand the character sets for different languages and how issues such as concatenation and bidirectional scripts (see Chapter 13) are handled. Anticipate how the synchronization of voice files will differ between languages. Can your on-screen buttons accommodate translated text? Make a final linguistic check on all these items.

As with written words, visual messages may inspire very different meanings as they cross from culture to culture. For example, an image that is acceptable in Europe may be unacceptable in Asia. Go with care and guidance here: a misstep might result in some embarrassment, but it could also detract significantly from your message.

How Localization Gets Done

Once you have created your multimedia message in its source language, localization begins with a localization engineer (carefully) dismantling your lovingly constructed source document - keeping an eye on such issues as color specifications, system fonts, text atrributes, navigation and interactive text. On­screen text is then pulled out and sent, along with any script, for localization.

If your schedule permits, it is a good idea to forward the translated on-screen and narrative text for in-country approval prior to entering the studio or starting engineering. At the very least, this helps avoid basic cultural and industry issues. At the very best, it gives your in-country team a valuable stake in your localization project. Additionally, their up-front buy-in avoids downstream delays to the timeline and costly studio and engineering re-work.

Once approved, the localization engineer places the on-screen text into the localized visual files. Then the script goes to an audio/visual team that may include audio engineers, voice talent and, perhaps, a linguistic producer. Working with the specifics of the source files, this team produces the localized voice files that are handed off to the localization engineer for final placement.

A final engineering step to spot script errors and broken links plus one last linguistic review to ensure synchronization and your files are ready for a global launch. By keeping these steps in mind from the outset in your production cycle, you will ensure your multimedia project entertains and illuminates every member of its audience.

Flash Case Study

The Product

Advertisement Flash movie

The Client

An innovative marketing agency that helps businesses promote their messages through short, efficient Flash movies.

The Project

During the estimating process, localization engineers found that the source Flash object contained complex and challenging text effects that required localization. As is typical in these projects, the engineering lab asked for any available information on how the client created the source movie. The lab looked for a list of fonts used to create all objects that reside within the movie. Also, the engineers were hoping to learn more about the software or plug-in that had been used to create the text effects. In this case, the client used a Flash authoring tool with a 230 effects library, a JavaScript-like scripting language, and support for dynamic content and input forms.

The second major engineering challenge for this project was the synchronization of the voice-over. As usual, the agency's source file was well made. Every aspect of the movie, from text effects, to the music track, to the voice-over was precisely placed within the source file. This, of course, is what makes these animations so appealing and the localization engineering of the voice-over needs to closely match the source in order to retain these winning elements.

The Scope

1 Flash Movie, approximately 4:00 minutes (250 on-screen words)

1 Audio Script (750 Words)

Synchronization of the localized voice-over

Testing & QA: As usual for a Flash project, there is a typical QA step.

Timeline: 12 days

The Process

A constant of the localization industry is that any Flash authoring tool that helps the designer will make life equally and proportionally miserable for the localization engineer. The reason for this is simple: these tools almost always create bitmap objects which by their nature are not editable. The only way to localize them is to reverse engineer and reproduce the steps of the creation process with the localized content. Lather, rinse and repeat for EACH LANGUAGE. For this reason, the localization engineer spends significant time up front identifying issues and gathering information.

Shane Polizzano Senior Project Manager To tell the difference between true sports and mere games, it's a simple matter of listening for the use of the word "play" when we talk about them. For example, while I love chess, I PLAY chess and it is therefore a game and not a sport. I also love rock climbing (even more than chess), but wouldn't say that I PLAY rock climbing...I CLIMB, and it is therefore a sport. This argument is particularly useful when needling my dad about PLAYING golf...No, dad, it's not a sport, just a game...kind of like darts or paintball.

All the localizable text in this source file, editable or not, was gathered and sent off for translation along with the voice-over script. Once the on-screen text came back from localization, it was a simple matter of using the same authoring tool and settings to reproduce each object in the movie.

Text expansion is a common issue in documentation localization, but with localization within Flash, it packs a double punch. Not only do you have to deal with the expansion of on-screen text, but you now have the added issue of dealing with the expansion of localized spoken text. The localization engineer must find that delicate balance between the speed and length of the localized voice-over file and the engineering of the localized movie itself.

As a matter of practice, once the voice-over is localized, there is almost no turning back. Because of the logistics involved with getting talent and studio time to re-record, the localization engineer may have no choice but to work with what they have unless there is an obvious linguistic issue. There are not many ways to synchronize a Flash movie other than altering the timeline by moving big chunks of frames manually. Sometimes, this alteration must be done to match the event on scene with the voice-over. Different languages utilize different word orders and this can significantly affect synchronization as well.

Once the linguistic and engineering checks of the published files have been completed, the source and published files, along with any needed supporting files, are delivered to the client.

Choose Your Type

There are two choices for how to use text when creating a source Flash document. Here are some things to think about when it comes to localization:

Regular Text field: This is the easiest to manipulate and localize. Localization software can automatically find this text, pull it out and leverage it against any existing translation memory. The localization engineers still need to gather information about the fonts and attributes used in creating the source file, AND implement the fonts into their system prior to publication. Otherwise, Flash will automatically substitute for missing fonts and undesirable results may be published.

Bitmap Text field: While these text fields cross platforms and versions with ease, they can be a challenge for the localization engineering team. The resulting text is not editable and the only solution is to manually enter each localized string into the same authoring tool using the same settings as were used in the creation of the source. Bitmap text is often found when the source designer has used a third-party authoring tool to apply effects to type.

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