The proliferation of Internet technologies is rapidly changing the way in which audiences across the globe are consuming content. Consequently, advertising spend is shifting from existing markets (namely TV) to online mediums where a huge audience is tapped in one go. For example, a targeted advertisement on Facebook has the potential to reach 1.5 billion accounts which is an unprecedented reach on a global scale. WhatsApp users have already reached 900 million (Sep 2015) and the growth continues strong.
In 2018, global internet video to TV traffic is estimated to surpass 7500 petabytes per month (petabyte is 1 000 000 000 000 000 bytes, fifteen zeros) and it will be consumed by both TV connected sets as well as mobile devices.
As a result, media producers and distributors are rushing to adopt new practices when it comes to media distribution, and reach the huge audience that continues to grow, not only on the number of simultaneous users that consume that content, but also on the number and disparity of devices used to consume that same content (smart phones, tablets, consoles, laptops, PCs, connected TV sets, OTT platforms, just to name a few).
Another hurdle is that global audiences do not speak or understand the same language. Since most of the content is produced in English, that alone is posing an additional obstacle that needs to be overcome in order to distribute content in real-time, online and in multiple language formats.
Today, global release cycles are getting shorter than ever before and viewers across the world expect to see the same content, in their own language, at the same time or at least within a few short hours of original release).
With extremely tight launch windows, content distributors across the world are under constant pressure to localise their media content and release the new language version as fast as possible, and sometimes in as many languages as possible. Therefore, the choice of the subtitling / dubbing partner is paramount in order to achieve speed and quality of service.
There are many aspects to consider when choosing your localisation partner such as speed to market, quality control, accuracy of translation and project transparency; but most important of all is that your most valuable asset, your content, is safe and secure at all times.
For the past two years, we have worked alongside our customers to develop a unique platform that brings new and smarter ways of localising and distributing content. Our investment in research and development means that we are now able to deliver a highly innovative solution that will transform the tools used in the media localisation industry to date.
The Internet of Subtitling (IoS), changes the world of media localisation as we know it:
Increased Security
The Internet of Subtitling (IoS) is a cloud-based framework where no content is stored locally on any computer, but is streamed to the authorised person that works with the video. In fact, we are able to integrate the IoS directly with the content provider’s back-office systems so that the content will never have to leave the provider’s systems. No content is distributed or maintained on local computers, memory sticks, flash drives or any other media that could be copied/distributed without finely defined control. Our private cloud infrastructure streams parts of the content to the pre-authenticated and authorised personnel via secure VPN channels.
Complete Transparency
One unified web interface allows the content provider to check project progress in real-time, at any time and from anywhere, even from a mobile phone, allowing for continuous 24×7 access to project progress and status data. This is crucial when up to the minute deadlines are set, and content has to be launched simultaneously in different parts of the world. Our intuitive platform allows you to track your project from beginning to end, from placing the order to delivery of the final asset. You can monitor costs and workflow, keeps track of the project’s status and schedule, and prioritise. You can even upload and download your files whenever you to need to.
Reduced Time to Market
Our state of the art process and project management platform allows us to streamline our operations, distribute the workload among team members and monitor in real-time the project workflow. Furthermore, our platform allows translators, timers and quality control personnel to work in parallel, ensuring a considerably reduced time to market, without ever compromising on quality.
Captioning & Quality Control
We have developed our own captioning and Quality Control processes, which can be even further enhanced by adding your specific QC parameters. Quality assurance is performed in three different layers. The first layer is the IoS platform that performs automatic checks based on customer rules (through a rule based engine) and marks and/or corrects any potential errors and inconsistencies (in terms of timing issues, duration etc). The second QA layer is performed by individuals other than the actual translators/subtitlers, in order to achieve a “second eye” view on the final result. According to customer needs, a third QA specialist performs statistical cross-checks to the final results before releasing the work to the client.
We continue active development on the IoS platform, and our future goal is to expand the automation on voice-over and dubbing services. IoS is definitely the platform that will allow content providers to localise their content for massive audiences, cutting drastically the delivery cycles.
Would you like to know more about our new platform and how we can assist you in going global? Get in touch with us to see how we can help you deliver your next project to market fast.
