YouTube Enhances Caption Translation For Video Creators
In an effort to accommodate video creators and viewers using YouTube from outside the United States, the Google-owned company today implemented a new set of caption translation tools. These new tools see the Google Translator Toolkit integrated with the YouTube Video Manager, and the process of getting translated captions on your videos seems to be pretty straightforward, if not a little labor-intensive.
While this new set of translation tools supports 300 languages, creators will have to roll up their sleeves and do the dirty work themselves. The first step in the process is getting a caption track for your video. Once you've done that, clicking on the "Request Translation" button that now appears in the YouTube Video Manager will prompt you to select the languages you want your video translated to. Select the languages you want, and YouTube will provide you with caption translation documents that are edited in the Google Translator Toolkit. From here, you can make the translations yourself or invite some friends to give you a helping hand.
To make things go as quickly as possible, YouTube will embed your video on your caption translation pages, so you can translate the dialog as you watch the video. YouTube will also show you a preview of translations in the video, so you can make sure everything matches up correctly. For the 64 languages that Google Translate supports, YouTube will provide a first draft of your translations, allowing you to get the job done even faster. This draft can of course be edited by you or anyone you've invited to apply edits, providing a good springboard for your translation project.
Once you're done, simply click "Publish to YouTube" and your translated captions will be applied to your video. This update has officially gone live, so if you've got some videos you'd like translated, you can get to work as soon as you want. We have to say, this is a pretty nifty feature, especially considering that these days, the majority of YouTube's audience lives outside of the United States. Check out our story timeline below for more posts on YouTube!
[via YouTube Creators Blog]