Several caption tracks and languages in Video by Zaweba

One set of captions is enough for many videos. But once a film is going out in more than one language, or to a broadcaster with its own caption requirements, you need several versions kept together and in step with the edit. Video by Zaweba lets a timeline hold several caption tracks, each with its own kind and language.

More than one track

A timeline can carry any number of caption tracks. You might have English captions made from the speech, a French translation, and a Spanish one, all side by side. They all belong to the same timeline, so they stay tied to the same edit.

Only one is open at a time. The open track is the one you edit, the one shown in the preview, and the one burned in if you burn captions into the picture. Switch tracks to work on another language.

Copying a track to translate

When you add a track you can make it a copy of an existing one, ready to translate. The timings come across, so every caption already starts and ends at the right moment, and you only have to replace the words. That's far quicker than timing a translation from scratch, and it keeps all languages in step.

Translating caption by caption has a quirk worth knowing: some languages need more words than others for the same idea. If a translated caption runs long, shorten the wording rather than squeezing it into tiny type. Readers need time to take it in.

Kinds and languages

Each track has a kind and a language. The kinds are subtitles, CEA-608, CEA-708 and teletext. Subtitles are the general purpose kind most people mean. CEA-608 and CEA-708 are closed caption standards used in North American broadcasting, and teletext is the older system long used in Europe, including the UK. If a broadcaster or distributor specifies one of these, set the track's kind to match.

Setting the language tells players and platforms what's in the track, so viewers can pick their language from a menu.

Jobs it handles

A company video for staff in several countries. A short film entered in festivals that ask for English subtitles. A school production with captions in the languages spoken by its families. A programme delivered with closed captions as the broadcaster requires. In each case the tracks live in one project and update together if the edit changes.

Tips for multi-language work

Lock the edit before you translate. Changing the cut after translation means fixing every language, so finish the picture first, then copy and translate.

Get the original right. Fix the first language thoroughly, spelling and timing both, before you copy it. Any mistake copied across has to be fixed in every track.

Name tracks clearly, by language and purpose. "French subtitles" is easy to find; "Track 3" isn't.

Have a fluent speaker read each translation in context, watching the picture. Caption text that's correct on paper can still be badly timed against the speaker's pauses.

Speech recognition in Video by Zaweba understands 27 languages, so if your footage is already in another language, you can make the first track from the speech directly rather than translating into it.