English into Spanish video subtitling for a European news agency
PROFESSIONAL TRANSLATION CASE STUDIES> ENGLISH INTO SPANISH VIDEO SUBTITLING FOR A EUROPEAN NEWS AGENCY
Project context
Translation of video subtitles for a European news agency. The project started in April 2024 and continues in 2026.
The goal is to translate English-language subtitles into Spanish while maintaining the informational accuracy.
Process
- Receipt of original videos plus template with the English subtitles
- Creation of Spanish subtitle templates
- Synchronization check (in/out timecodes of subtitles)
- Linguistic and cultural adaptation of the content
- Subtitle optimization for readability purposes
- Removal of redundancies and less important nuances
- Adaptation to formal or informal register
Subtitling challenges
The main challenge in subtitling is conveying the original message while adapting to timing constraints, available screen space, and reading speed, i.e. the number of characters per second that the human eye can process depending on exposure time and video format.
For example, subtitles in vertical videos cannot be too long, unlike horizontal videos (where there is slightly more space available). Likewise, if the audience consists of children or people with visual impairments, a slower reading speed should be expected.
In many cases, it is also necessary to condense because it is not possible to include every single nuance of the original message without compromising readability.
Example
Original (English):
What we are seeing right now is a situation
with consequences for global economic stability.
Subtitle (Spanish):
La situación podría afectar
a la estabilidad económica global.
In this case, reading speed was prioritized over completeness of the message. The word “actual” was omitted, and “afectar” (“affect”) was used instead of “tener consecuencias” (“have consequences”) due to space limitations and on-screen display time.
Topics
- International politics
- Economy and economic forums
- Interviews with political leaders and business managers
- Environment
- History
- Tourism
- Modern technologies
- Culture and traditions
Results
- Clear, natural, and easy-to-follow subtitles
- Improved viewing experience thanks to smooth readability
- Faithful adaptation of the original content, respecting both message and context
- Content ready for publication on the agency’s website and other channels
Added value for the client
This project combines specialized translation and summarization skills, both of which are essential when working with audiovisual content covering a wide range of topics.