The Professional Development Program of the Audiovisual Division is a career-building opportunity for translators who want to know more about this branch of translation. If you want to build the skills required to enter the audiovisual field, this program is for you. We work to help audiovisual translators broaden their knowledge in the area, discover new career opportunities to pursue, and improve their network. All of this may uncover new job opportunities and set you on a new professional course.
In an industry that is ever-changing, we must grow and evolve to be successful and stay on top. For this reason, we intend to guide translators in understanding and incorporating best practices into their day-to day work.
After our first Annual Meeting during the ATA59 Conference in New Orleans, we identified that most of the Audiovisual Division members were new to the field, and that their most urgent need was to know more about its different areas of expertise. Consequently, we have decided to offer a series of five introductory educational videos, in addition to some more advanced ones, to kick off the learning journey.
Our Basic Series is a work in progress, and all published videos can be enjoyed on our YouTube channel. We intend to give an overview of the most relevant topics such as:
- How to Start Subtitling
Our introductory video to train yourself in subtitling will cover basic concepts like format rules, space and time constraints, free subtitling software you can use, and tricks of the trade. - What is Closed Captioning and SDH?
Closed captioning and SDH are subtitles specially created to help deaf and hard-of-hearing people enjoy audiovisual material. They include the transcription of all spoken dialog, as well as the written indication of sound effects and voice inflections, amongst other audible information. But, technically, CCs and SDH are only similar. They involve different skill sets from the audiovisual translator. In this educational video, we will view examples of both techniques to understand their differences and similarities, and we will discuss the technical aspects and requirements for an AV translator who wants to delve into these processes. - An Overview of Translation / Adaptation for Dubbing
This introductory video of dubbing will cover key notions like lip-sync, adaptation of subtitle files, what happens in a dubbing booth, dubbing scripts, best practices and workflows, and terms used in the field. - Intro to Video Game Localization
During this introductory video, we will dive into the world of video game localization, and we will discuss challenges and specifics that translators and localization specialists will come across. For example, what kinds of challenges do translators from different languages and/or cultures have to take into account when localizing game content? What do they do with variables? Is there a tool for that? How is content kept consistent when game companies are working with different vendors? How do they find the right people for the job? And why is QA so important in game localization? - What is Audio Description?
The audio description introductory video will cover key concepts like the definition of AD and the What, Where, Who and When of this supplemental narration. It will also review technical concepts, like how to describe onscreen text and subtitles, and the tense, pronouns, reading speed and vocabulary that should be used when creating or translating an AD file. Finally, it will cover what not to do and some special circumstances that are taken into consideration in scripts for the recording of audio description.
Regardless of where you’re at—whether you’re a senior translator or an entry-level industry member—you can continue to grow and advance your career and professional goals. We are here to help you take this step. Stay tuned to learn more about this program, and if you want to be part of this, or if you have any suggestions, please get in contact with audiovisualprodev@gmail.com.
Since 2020, we’ve also interviewed many leaders in the audiovisual translation industry as guest speakers. You may watch these interviews from our Instagram Live Series on our YouTube channel. Of course, please follow our social media to attend future live interviews, and don’t forget to visit our Resources and Deep Focus pages for endless reading material! We also have a free bi-monthly networking event on Zoom, which we call AVD Happy Hour, and you may learn about the next one under the AVD Events tab.
