You cannot deny that the world has become increasingly digital, and our content has, too!
Digital advancements have created the opportunity for a far broader working, learning and entertainment environment than ever before. This is especially clear when it comes to audio-visual media, such as television, movies, and video games.
Content creators expand their audience by pairing their work with accessibility and localisation services, such as subtitles, dubbing, and voiceover, to reach people on the other side of the world or include those who are hard of hearing or have visual impairments.
Understanding the differences between various forms of accessibility and localisation services in media is crucial, as it will allow you to seek the most appropriate form when you need it. Let’s illuminate three of the most prominent services and outline their very clear audience and business benefits.
Subtitles
Sometimes, people see subtitles as an addition to content rather than an essential accessibility and localisation service. Subtitles, when compared with dubbing and voiceover, actually have the unique benefit of offering both. They allow you to translate content for a global audience while also ensuring that those with hearing difficulties understand video content. Subtitles are also an especially cheap form of localisation, so when videos are not dubbed, audiences, at the very least, expect subtitles.
Creating subtitles requires high-quality translation. While some businesses make the mistake of accepting the 80% accuracy of AI translation, professional linguists will use their experience and expertise to craft the best version of your content, ensuring that local culture and non-translatable phrases are converted effectively for your audience – Direct word-for-word translation will not do your work justice or appeal to new global viewers.
Just as students sometimes need help from a paper writing service, and authors often require ghostwriting services, there is no need to try and take on subtitles yourself. Professional subtitling services will accurately translate and create the SRT files for you, ensuring a complete understanding of your message and a high engagement rate from your international audience.
Voiceovers
You’ve heard voiceover a million times in your lifetime, and yet people are often surprised to discover how frequent they are. Think David Attenboroug’s classic narration of documentaries, where you get to see the most picturesque landscape of the Atlantic or the lions in Africa. But without audio, namely a voiceover, the pictures would only be able to communicate so much. This is where audio is crucial, as it gives the watcher vital information with which to understand the visuals on-screen. Seeing lions roam is one thing, but seeing and then understanding that they’re actually migrating to another part of the land because of seasonal changes is something you wouldn’t understand without the helpful voiceover.
The great thing about voiceovers is that they benefit not just entertainment-based content but also various other industries. From selling products in advertisements to sharing information on radio shows or even audio tours at global landmarks, voiceovers are important in branding, audience experience, entertainment, advertisement, accessibility, and, ultimately, communicating the message of your choice within media.
Dubbing
But… isn’t dubbing just voiceover?
Well, kind of. Dubbing is the process of translating content and re-recording the audio in a new language before layering it over the original visuals so that worldwide audiences can enjoy it, too.
So, if you watch an episode of anime where the original language is in Japanese, but you’re hearing it in English, this is the act of dubbing. Dubbing is used in many mediums with different standards, such as phrase-sync, lip-sync, and time-sync dubbing, so it can be purchased at different price points.
Dubbing isn’t just for anime fans. Netflix dubs all their content in up to 34 international languages to boost the reach and appeal of its content. Now, even Youtubers are dubbing their content and successfully achieving the same results. You can now find Mr Beast in Japanese, Spanish and Portuguese!
Ultimately, professional dubbing services will help adapt your message for new cultures and untranslatable phrases for new global audiences while retaining the engagement and retention of the original media. It shows audiences that you care and allows them to understand your project in their native language.
Summary
As you can see from the above, communication media is vast and interesting. There are so many different forms of additional communication that can benefit our business and audiences alike. Subtitles are ideal for those who prefer reading along with a show. For example, if someone is hard of hearing, then subtitles are crucial. Voice-overs and dubbing are additional and smart means of verbal communication that can elevate the viewer’s experience. Being able to choose between the three, as a viewer, is the epitome of luxury and, thankfully, something quite common in today’s digital age.
Discover Voiceover Services
Localise Your Content
More from this author
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores such as Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, if you click on a link and make a
purchase, we may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.
