Video localization is more important than ever

In the pre-digital era, translations of video content really only mattered when it came to film, television and a small segment of corporate marketing. There was a practical financial reason for this at the time. Video content was largely bound by physical distribution limitations, as most video content was unlikely to transcend geographical origins. It was only film, television and multi-national companies that had the financial muscle and comprehensive distribution channels to send their physical media to other locations where it could be viewed.

Video and Internet

However, in the 21st century, things have radically changed, creating new opportunities, and giving global reach to almost anyone with an Internet connection, but only if they have the acumen to take advantage of this new age of easy global access. Thanks to Google, YouTube, and numerous other search, sharing and social media applications, a video produced in Prague can be viewed by anyone in the world, and in the same way, a piece of advertising created in New York can reach every major city on the planet, as long as that city has some kind of Internet access.

Simply put, this means that any video—and its message—has the capability to go global. But only if that message can be understood.

Video translation becomes crucial

Video content is easily one of the most popular forms of media consumption today. Imagery in motion is practically a universal language that anyone can understand. Combined with the modern sensibility of “bite sized,” smaller content that be viewed in just a few minutes, more video content is consumed today than in any other decade since the creation of the medium. The ability to put videos online further magnifies accessibility, but few video creators are taking advantage of the growing global audience.

Most videos put online today are still only distributed in the native language of the content creators, severely limiting the audience reach, especially in cases where the language is less common. Even for those videos that are created in English, a language widely regarded as one of the most common, this still means that large demographics in Africa and Asia are unable to understand the content.

Translation of these videos, especially those with marketing potential, can reach a much wider audience with the simple addition of subtitles or audio dubbing to replace the original language with the language of another target market or audience. It may seem like an extra expense, but when a potential Indian, Chinese or English speaking audience numbers in the millions, it becomes clear that there’s a lot to gain by being able to access these markets.

A need that varies with content

The type of translation required will vary with the needs of the individual video content. In some cases, especially with video that has a lot of text, subtitling will be a much more effective way to go. If there’s a lot of dialog, dubbing would probably be better.

Regardless of the individual requirements, video content is currently an important form of media. If you have some a video that you think can speak to a broader audience, ITC Global Translations will be more than happy to make our broad range of video translating services available to meet your needs.