I need advice regarding a subtitling rate
Thread poster: fairylight
fairylight
fairylight  Identity Verified
Argentina
English to Russian
+ ...
Jan 16, 2017

Hello,

I applied to do subtitling and translation for www.amara.org and I'm having a skype interview with the recruiter tonight. I am not sure what would be an appropriate rate to state to her. I did google search on subtitling rates and they differ much, with many being from a few years ago. Besides, I'm pretty sure the job will involve not only subtitle translation from typed source language subtitle
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Hello,

I applied to do subtitling and translation for www.amara.org and I'm having a skype interview with the recruiter tonight. I am not sure what would be an appropriate rate to state to her. I did google search on subtitling rates and they differ much, with many being from a few years ago. Besides, I'm pretty sure the job will involve not only subtitle translation from typed source language subtitle template, but will be the same as the test I did for them, which was doing the entire captioning process with the difference that you listen to the audio in the source language, pause and type in text for future subtitles but in your target language, without having written template in source language in front of your eyes, and then you need to sync subtitles in the target language that you typed. I really don't know how much I should charge for this kind of work, but when I did the test video it took me more then an hour to translate and sync 1 minute 20 second video, though I am an absolute beginner and it was the first time I tried the kind of work. The company utilizes a lot of volunteer work done by translators and captioners free but also offers professional captioning in different languages for which it hires paid translators, and they (the company) are in the US. I have some experience in translating subtitles and would like to ask 0.07 USD per word of title or 7-8 USD per minute of running time for translating from source language template, and at least 15 USD for translation from audio plus syncing. What are your thoughts? Which of those are reasonable/too low/too high? Thank you
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Olga Koepping
Olga Koepping  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:16
German to English
+ ...
Work out how long it will take you Jan 16, 2017

I've had a quick look at your profile, and you are certainly a qualified translator so you shouldn't be selling yourself short, whoever your interview is with. I haven't had a look at Amara, although personally I find Skype interviews a bit superfluous for this kind of work. Would have thought a sample translation or test (short one!) would be sufficient.
Regarding rates: I looked at what you currently charge, it's quite low but not completely out of the ordinary. When I did subtitling, s
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I've had a quick look at your profile, and you are certainly a qualified translator so you shouldn't be selling yourself short, whoever your interview is with. I haven't had a look at Amara, although personally I find Skype interviews a bit superfluous for this kind of work. Would have thought a sample translation or test (short one!) would be sufficient.
Regarding rates: I looked at what you currently charge, it's quite low but not completely out of the ordinary. When I did subtitling, so translating the line from the script, matching it to the audio and inserting the subtitle at the correct place in the film (called cueing), the minimum time that took was 6 minutes per minute of film running time. That was the minimum. EDIT: Sorry, just saw that you already mentioned that you had done synching audio in your test.

Now, let's say ten minutes per minute of film for a dialogue-heavy film: so for six minutes of film, you will need an hour. So take your rate per hour, divide it by six, and that is your rate per minute of film.

It can be enjoyable work, but it's very labour intensive, and it will only be enjoyable if you don't feel ripped off. I enjoyed subtitling, but I worked out an acceptable rate in advance. I had more of a mixed time with audio transcription/translation, which was partly my own fault.

[Edited at 2017-01-16 16:06 GMT]
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H. Yu (X)
 
Olga Koepping
Olga Koepping  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:16
German to English
+ ...
hope I didn't sound patronising there! Jan 16, 2017

I realise you have already done the subtitling test, and you do have a ballpark figure in mind, so I'm sorry if I sound as I'm teaching a grandmother to suck eggs! Btw I guess you have the free subtitling software as well, which makes it substantially easier -I used Subtitle Edit.

 
fairylight
fairylight  Identity Verified
Argentina
English to Russian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
not patronizing even a bit, thank you :) Jan 16, 2017

Very valuable advice! Thank you very much, Olga; trying to find work online with acceptable rate is a bit challenging, especially from inside of Russia where local translation agency offer rates beyond simply insulting, and what I currently charge would seem heaven in comparison. I would love to gain the experience with Amara though, and yes the pay must be rewarding because this is a really demanding work.

 
C. MASKA
C. MASKA
France
Local time: 23:16
Member
English to French
+ ...
Rate Jan 17, 2017

Ask for $6.00 per video minute

H. Yu (X)
 
fairylight
fairylight  Identity Verified
Argentina
English to Russian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
follow up Jul 24, 2017

Sorry I haven't replied in a long time. I turned out to be not worth the efforts. Their rate was something like a bit over $1 per minute. I did go ahead and sign the agreement because at that time I had no work at all. But their system is such that they send email notifications to a pool of translators when a job is available and jobs are taken so fast I never had a chance. No regrets about that.

H. Yu (X)
 


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