Is $3 per program minute for subtitle translation a fair quote? Thread poster: Alexandra Kudryavtseva
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Hey everyone,
I recently received quotes for subtitle translation from a translation agency: they pay $3 per program minute for translation, and $1 per minute for proofreading. Is this quote fair or too low?
I consider myself a rather experienced translator (3 years in video game localization), but I have never done freelance, so I have no idea what I should normally charge.
If it matters: I live in the States.
Thank you,
Alexandra
<... See more Hey everyone,
I recently received quotes for subtitle translation from a translation agency: they pay $3 per program minute for translation, and $1 per minute for proofreading. Is this quote fair or too low?
I consider myself a rather experienced translator (3 years in video game localization), but I have never done freelance, so I have no idea what I should normally charge.
If it matters: I live in the States.
Thank you,
Alexandra
[Edited at 2019-06-05 17:35 GMT]
[Edited at 2019-06-05 17:37 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 06:33
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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Alexandra Kudryavtseva wrote:
I recently received [offers] for subtitle translation from a translation agency: they pay $3 per program minute for translation, and $1 per minute for proofreading.
It's impossible to know how many words there are in each 1 minute, but: normal talking speed for reading books out loud is about 160 words per minute. This means that they're offering to pay USD 0.019 per word for translation and USD 0.006 per word for proofreading. The ProZ.com community rate (i.e. the average of the rates charged by about 8000 English-Russian translators here) is about USD 0.100 per word for translation. So, they're offering you 1/5 of the average rate.
| | | | Matheus Chaud
Brazil
Local time: 01:33
Member
English to Portuguese
+ ...
MODERATOR | Not fair, but common | Jun 6, 2019 |
I don't think USD 3/minute is fair, but unfortunately it's very common.
Subtitling rates seem to be worse and worse, and that's one of the reasons I've been avoiding jobs in this field (which is a pity, since I really like subtitling).
I tend to refuse anything below USD 5/minute, but my ideal rate is USD 8/minute, for most subtitling projects. Few companies offer that for my language pair (English to Portuguese).
[Edited at 2019-06-06 01:22 GMT]
| | | | | @Samuel and @Matheus | Jun 6, 2019 |
Thank you! I won't take it, then. It's ridiculously low.
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Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 06:33
Member (2009)
English to German
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| This rate can be "topped" | Jun 6, 2019 |
I just received an offer to create an .srt file for $1.90 per audio minute. That is, 380+ minutes in 4 weeks, resulting in a month's income well below the poverty line. In this light, the $3.00 you've been offered are truly generous. (Sorry about the sarcasm.)
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 06:33
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Thayenga wrote:
I just received an offer to create an .srt file for $1.90 per audio minute.
Yes, but that is (presumably) for transcription and subtitle creation, so that's even worse. It takes 8 to 10 actual minutes to transcribe 1 minute of audio, and then you still have to perform the copywriting task of turning the transcription into proper subtitles.
Alexandra's question was about the translation of subtitles. I'm not sure if her client also expected her to turn her translation into subtitles as well (which is also a copywriting task), or perhaps her client believes that if you translate a subtitle, the translation is automatically a subtitle as well.
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 06:33
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Samuel Murray wrote: Thayenga wrote:
I just received an offer to create an .srt file for $1.90 per audio minute. Yes, but that is (presumably) for transcription and subtitle creation, so that's even worse. It takes 8 to 10 actual minutes to transcribe 1 minute of audio, and then you still have to perform the copywriting task of turning the transcription into proper subtitles.
It was a transcription request. Therefore, the requester, a generally bottom-feeder agency that ignores my request to be deleted from their data base unless they offer acceptable rates, expected all this work to be done in that (relatively) short time.
Alexandra's question was about the translation of subtitles. I'm not sure if her client also expected her to turn her translation into subtitles as well (which is also a copywriting task), or perhaps her client believes that if you translate a subtitle, the translation is automatically a subtitle as well.
This is where the educational process needs to set in. Many customers don't really know the difference between actually translating subtitles to be returned in an .srt file only, and the actual subtitling task.
Once I received an offer to "translate subtitles" at a decent, though not high rate. It turned out that this job included the creation of an .srt file, the translation of the subtitles in that format, as well as the actual subtitling work in the video. The provided deadline sufficed only to translate an already existing .srt file.
[Edited at 2019-06-06 08:20 GMT]
| | | | | There are worse offers | Jun 6, 2019 |
A few days ago, I stumbled upon an English to Croatian subtitling offer made by "the award winning worldwide leading European cinema TV channel". They offered 40 USD per one hour of runtime for translation and 20 USD per hour for proofreading. Since the film has 9,700 words and 90 minutes, the rate for one word is generous 0.006 USD per one word (yes, 0.6 USD cents), or 0.67 USD per minute. When I told their PM it was insulting (and he wanted it to be translated in JUST two days - sorry, I am no... See more A few days ago, I stumbled upon an English to Croatian subtitling offer made by "the award winning worldwide leading European cinema TV channel". They offered 40 USD per one hour of runtime for translation and 20 USD per hour for proofreading. Since the film has 9,700 words and 90 minutes, the rate for one word is generous 0.006 USD per one word (yes, 0.6 USD cents), or 0.67 USD per minute. When I told their PM it was insulting (and he wanted it to be translated in JUST two days - sorry, I am not a translation Lucky Luke, who is faster than his own shadow), I got no further response.
[Edited at 2019-06-06 16:06 GMT]
[Edited at 2019-06-06 16:06 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Dietlinde DuPlessis (X)
United States
Local time: 21:33
English to German
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| Price per minute | Nov 4, 2019 |
It makes little sense to calculate the price per word in subtitling. The common unit is minutes of runtime.
And “translation of subtitles” mostly means from an English template. Which means, you often can’t change time codes, but have to adhere to reading speed etc.
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Dietlinde DuPlessis wrote:
It makes little sense to calculate the price per word in subtitling. The common unit is minutes of runtime.
And “translation of subtitles” mostly means from an English template. Which means, you often can’t change time codes, but have to adhere to reading speed etc. Why does it make little sense to calculate price per word? I have thought about the same thing, and I don't really see downsides to it. Some videos have a lot of conversations between fast talkers, and others, like documentaries, have barely any subtitles compared to dialogue-heavy projects. While some parts of videos may have no lines, the rest of the video will easily make up for it.
Why isn't it common to price subtitles according to their word count?
| | | | Dietlinde DuPlessis (X)
United States
Local time: 21:33
English to German
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| Subtitle rates per minute | Jan 14, 2020 |
One reason is probably just because it can be hard to count the words - if it is in a proprietary (online) system, where it cannot be easily exported, and the agency does not want to bother.
You also have to watch all the video, no matter if there are subtitles or not, so you would get punished a bit for stretches with no text.
And if you have to do spotting, that takes just as long for a subtitle with many words as for one with few words.
| | | | TTilch
Local time: 06:33
English to German
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| Stop counting beans altogether... | Sep 1, 2022 |
@Tuomas Hanhivaara
In my opinion it makes neither sense to calculate by audio/program minute nor by word.
Our industry should stop bean counting altogether and insist on being paid the the hours spent on a task. Period.
Ever heard of a software programmer being paid by the number of characters they type in a programming language?
We are not mere typists - we create texts and added value. There's more to translation than just typing.
In the case of s... See more @Tuomas Hanhivaara
In my opinion it makes neither sense to calculate by audio/program minute nor by word.
Our industry should stop bean counting altogether and insist on being paid the the hours spent on a task. Period.
Ever heard of a software programmer being paid by the number of characters they type in a programming language?
We are not mere typists - we create texts and added value. There's more to translation than just typing.
In the case of subtitling/dubbing our task also involves shortening/adapting phrases to that they match what is shown on screen and aren't too long for reading.
Never foget: YOU are the entrepreneur and YOU should be setting your prices/terms - not the customer. If they don't agree to your conditions, move on to the next customer. Personally, I find enough customers out there who pay 70 euros/hour - which corresponds to what I also have to pay for services I buy (craftsmen, mechanics, service providers etc.).
Best,
Tanja ▲ Collapse
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Michael Newton
United States
Local time: 00:33
Japanese to English
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| subtitle translation | Sep 4, 2022 |
Good luck getting even $3.
| | | | Mr. Satan (X)
English to Indonesian
Michael Newton wrote:
Good luck getting even $3.
You can get more than $3/min. Not too long ago, there was this small German business that wanted to penetrate the North American market. They chose to advertise themselves by using videos, and they hired a German to English subtitler for $15 per video minute. The client did require the subtitler to work from scratch all the way to hardcoding, so this rate may not be as exceptional as it seems. But from what I’ve gathered, this is still a better deal than what most agencies are willing to offer these days.
[Edited at 2022-09-04 13:34 GMT]
| | | | Hayley Wakenshaw
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:33
Member (2018)
Dutch to English
| It's an insulting offer... | Sep 14, 2022 |
...but disappointingly common. Clients seem to have no clue how much work is involved in transcribing texts even in your native language, never mind doing a simultaneous translation and then turning them into subtitles, which is another, separate skill. They see it as, say, one hour of video. But you'll end up watching that video many times over as you rewind to listen again, check that the text lines up, watch again to make sure you really did catch everything correctly.
I charge ... See more ...but disappointingly common. Clients seem to have no clue how much work is involved in transcribing texts even in your native language, never mind doing a simultaneous translation and then turning them into subtitles, which is another, separate skill. They see it as, say, one hour of video. But you'll end up watching that video many times over as you rewind to listen again, check that the text lines up, watch again to make sure you really did catch everything correctly.
I charge €10 per audio minute for smart bilingual transcription.
My price reflects the fact that transcription is painstaking and mechanical and I don't enjoy it much. I recently suggested to a client that they have their video transcribed by a non-native speaker and have me tidy up the results. It probably works out cheaper for them, and I'd much rather do that than make my right leg ache from pressing the transcription pedal over and over. I really enjoy revision, and the results are probably even better than if I'd done the transcription myself.
I don't (yet) do subtitling, but I would want to charge more than that for the added work involved in splitting the text into synchronised lines of 39 characters or less. Mind you, I'm currently in a situation where it's better for me to charge a bit less and get lots of work than it is to hold out for my preferred rates. But there's a limit to how low I'd go, and it's definitely much higher than what you're being offered.
[Edited at 2022-09-14 14:11 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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