Info@capitalcaptions.com
+44 (0) 01622 746 525
Capital Captions
  • |
  • COMPANY
    • A Top UK Subtitling Company
    • Video Transcription Company
    • Corporate Testimonials
    • Individual Reviews
    • Video Transcription Layouts
    • Why Choose Us
    • Contact us
  • SUBTITLES
    • ONLINE SUBTITLE SERVICES
      • Broadcast Subtitles
      • YouTube Subtitles
      • Subtitling Services for E-Learning
      • Subtitle Writing Formats
    • SUBTITLING GUIDELINES
      • What are .SRT Subtitles?
      • EBU-TT and EBU-STL Subtitles
      • Subtitle Burning and Formatting
      • Subtitle Placement
      • All Subtitle Services
    • FOREIGN SUBTITLING AND TRANSLATION
      • French Subtitling Services
      • German Subtitling Services
      • Italian Subtitling Services
      • Spanish Subtitling Services
      • Portuguese Subtitling Services
      • Chinese Subtitling Services
  • SERVICES
    • VOICEOVERS AND DUBBING SERVICES
      • Subtitling and Video Translation Processes
      • Foreign Transcription Services
      • BSL Interpreting Services
      • Voiceovers and Dubbing Services
      • Audio Description Services
    • VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION
      • TRANSCRIPTION
      • Conference Transcription
      • Legal Transcription
      • Research Transcription
      • Medical Transcription
      • Transcription Guidelines
      • All Transcription Sectors
    • TRANSLATION SERVICES
      • French Subtitling Services
      • German Subtitling Services
      • Italian Subtitling Services
      • Spanish Subtitling Services
      • Portuguese Subtitling Services
      • Greek Subtitling Services
      • Chinese Subtitling Services
      • Russian Subtitling Services
      • All Translation sectors
    • DOCUMENT SERVICES
      • Proofreading Services
      • Document Formatting Services
      • Copy Typing Services
      • Data Entry Services
      • Promote Your Business
  • CLOSED CAPTIONS
    • BROADCAST CLOSED CAPTIONS
      • Video on Demand Closed Captioning Services
      • Captions for the Deaf
    • AMAZON VIDEO CLOSED CAPTIONING
      • Closed Captions Legal Obligations
      • Closed Captioning Services – FAQs
    • STANDARD CLOSED CAPTIONING GUIDELINES
      • Video Closed Captions Formatting
      • Closed Captioning Service Categories
  • BLOG
  • QUOTE
    • Payment
    • Get a Quote
    • Upload Files
    • Our Service Rates
    • Client Area
  • CONTACT
    • Work with Capital Captions
    • Frequently Asked Questions
Capital Captions
  • COMPANY
    • A Top UK Subtitling Company
    • Video Transcription Company
    • Corporate Testimonials
    • Individual Reviews
    • Video Transcription Layouts
    • Why Choose Us
    • Contact us
  • SUBTITLES
    • ONLINE SUBTITLE SERVICES
      • Broadcast Subtitles
      • YouTube Subtitles
      • Subtitling Services for E-Learning
      • Subtitle Writing Formats
    • SUBTITLING GUIDELINES
      • What are .SRT Subtitles?
      • EBU-TT and EBU-STL Subtitles
      • Subtitle Burning and Formatting
      • Subtitle Placement
      • All Subtitle Services
    • FOREIGN SUBTITLING AND TRANSLATION
      • French Subtitling Services
      • German Subtitling Services
      • Italian Subtitling Services
      • Spanish Subtitling Services
      • Portuguese Subtitling Services
      • Chinese Subtitling Services
  • SERVICES
    • VOICEOVERS AND DUBBING SERVICES
      • Subtitling and Video Translation Processes
      • Foreign Transcription Services
      • BSL Interpreting Services
      • Voiceovers and Dubbing Services
      • Audio Description Services
    • VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION
      • TRANSCRIPTION
      • Conference Transcription
      • Legal Transcription
      • Research Transcription
      • Medical Transcription
      • Transcription Guidelines
      • All Transcription Sectors
    • TRANSLATION SERVICES
      • French Subtitling Services
      • German Subtitling Services
      • Italian Subtitling Services
      • Spanish Subtitling Services
      • Portuguese Subtitling Services
      • Greek Subtitling Services
      • Chinese Subtitling Services
      • Russian Subtitling Services
      • All Translation sectors
    • DOCUMENT SERVICES
      • Proofreading Services
      • Document Formatting Services
      • Copy Typing Services
      • Data Entry Services
      • Promote Your Business
  • CLOSED CAPTIONS
    • BROADCAST CLOSED CAPTIONS
      • Video on Demand Closed Captioning Services
      • Captions for the Deaf
    • AMAZON VIDEO CLOSED CAPTIONING
      • Closed Captions Legal Obligations
      • Closed Captioning Services – FAQs
    • STANDARD CLOSED CAPTIONING GUIDELINES
      • Video Closed Captions Formatting
      • Closed Captioning Service Categories
  • BLOG
  • QUOTE
    • Payment
    • Get a Quote
    • Upload Files
    • Our Service Rates
    • Client Area
  • CONTACT
    • Work with Capital Captions
    • Frequently Asked Questions
Info@capitalcaptions.com
+44 (0) 01622 746 525

Automated Subtitles vs Professional Closed Captioning

Automated Subtitles vs Professional Closed Captioning
by JodeneAntoniou May 4, 2017 in  General posts, Subtitles and captioning automated subtitles, captions for the deaf, subtitle services, UK Subtitles company 0 5

With video sharing sites such as YouTube and Vimeo offering subtitles which use voice recognition software and automated timings, the future might seem bright for audiences looking to access more video content. For those new to the subtitling industry as well as video production, automation might look like the perfect solution, but appearances can be deceiving. At Capital Captions, we work with video transcription and subtitling every day. We know enough about the industry to understand the major differences between automated subtitles vs professional closed captioning – and they’re huge!

So before you go crazy ordering automated subtitle services at rock bottom prices, or adding YouTube subtitles which are unedited and made without proper transcripts, consider some of the reasons why you should always choose professional subtitle services.

Voice Recognition Software for Subtitles

It’s amazing how optimistic society is about voice recognition software, and why not? If you contact a call centre nowadays, you can just say what you need and Bob’s your uncle, you’re through to the right place! Except at least 50% of the time, that’s not the case. Instead, you need to say it twice, annunciate your words, speak louder or just outright give up and keep pressing zero.

It’s common knowledge that voice recognition software struggles in the simplest of situations, where there is no background noise, no over speaking, and only a few simple words need to be recognised. Expecting software to be able to understand and differentiate between accents, identify speakers and know which background noises to exclude is highly unrealistic. Currently, only humans can write high quality subtitles; preferably professional subtitlers with subject knowledge, a good ear and an expert grasp of punctuation and grammar.

Automated Subtitle Line Splitting

When writing professional subtitles, a transcriptionist needs to consider three things:

  1. The reading speed of the target audience (worked out at either characters per second or words per minute).
  2. Natural pauses that occur in speech, or silences which occur in the subtitled video.
  3. Parsing of clauses, which means splitting parts of a sentence into logical components to make subtitles which are neat and easy to read.E.g. starting a new subtitle line following a full stop, comma or semi colon.

It may be possible to programme automation software to do each of these things individually in order to create well structured subtitles. However, the captioning process is not as simple as that. Often dialogue speed, sentence complexity and sound breaks in a video clash. Consequently, this means the subtitler has to make logical decisions on which aspect to prioritise for the best results. A machine can’t weigh pros and cons to make a logical, educated decision, and that’s another reason to favour the human approach.

Consider Closed Captioning

Subtitles and closed captions are not the same thing. Closed captions contain description of relevant sound effects and background noise; description of vocalisations, speaker identification and specific formatting to indicate narrative. Whilst for very clear, simple videos can achieve high quality subtitling through automation, closed captions truly cannot.

Automated software can’t think of the best way to describe a grunt. Or choose which is the best description: a shriek, a scream, or a shout! Professional closed captions are like an art form. They should aspire to tell a story of sound and not just capture speech.

Summary for Automated Subtitles vs Professional Closed Captioning 

So now we’ve looked at the main differences, the two work styles can battle it out and we’ll see who wins the fight. It’s the benefits of automated subtitles vs professional closed captioning…

Benefits of Automated Subtitling

• Automation is typically free, and additional editing may also be low cost
• Videomakers can easily add captions, especially for social media or YouTube subtitles
• Very quick subtitle turnaround – almost instant

Benefits of Professional Closed Captions

• Accurate transcription of speech without incoherent mishears
• Accurate, logical caption timings
• Easy to read subtitles that don’t confuse the viewer with syntactic errors
• Descriptive, well thought out closed captions that improve accessibility for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Though professional subtitling services won’t add captions instantly, fast turnarounds are readily available

Conclusion

Well, there you have it. I doubt any reader could possibly be surprised that professional closed captioning services have won the trophy! For those who don’t create or use subtitles regularly, the impact of poor quality captions is often underestimated.

Don’t get us wrong – it’s not that we dislike automated subtitles. Far from it. Automated subtitles pave the way for subtitling on a massive global scale. Theoretically, some day video content could be available to all for little to no effort. But the industry needs to do a lot more work for that to happen. 

We would actually encourage  using automated YouTube subtitles for anyone who has no budget for subtitle services. However, we’d suggest that those subtitles need to be proofread, edited and in some cases, even completely rewritten to be fit for purpose. In truth, the effort, time and money spent correcting today’s automated subtitles can completely justify forking out a little more for a professional closed captioning company to do it, and minus the hassle!

If you would like to learn more about the subtitle writing process, maybe check out our closed captioning FAQs. Or use our online form for a Subtitle Quote today. 

Get a Quote

Check out our most

Recent Posts

<strong>Subtitling Services Canada</strong>

by JodeneAntoniou560

At Capital Captions, we provide subtitling, captioning, translation and audio description services internationally.

Read more

<strong>The Rise of Video Subtitles </strong>

by JodeneAntoniou710

Captioning for films was invented before sound was. Much like comic books and…

Read more

<strong>Paramount + Closed Caption Provider</strong>

by JodeneAntoniou1340

Whilst Paramount + streaming services have been available in the US since October…

Read more

Video Transcription Rates and Styles

by JodeneAntoniou1540

There are a huge variety of different options around what is available in…

Read more

Video Transcription: Typing and Translating Rushes for Video Production

by JodeneAntoniou1610

There are many types of transcription and translation that can come in useful…

Read more

How to Subtitle Instagram Videos and Other Social Media Content

by JodeneAntoniou3530

Regularly posting videos online via social media has been a primary source of…

Read more
Follow us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Vimeo
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Previous Post

Closed Captioning Services and the Need for Speed

Closed Captioning Services - Timings

General posts, Subtitles and captioning

Next Post

The Importance of Video Subtitles and Closed Captions for Social Media

Video Subtitles and Closed Captions for Social Media

General posts, Subtitles and captioning

Comments are closed.

Latest Posts

Subtitling services in Canada

Subtitling Services Canada

February 8, 2023

The Rise of Video Subtitles 

January 16, 2023

Paramount + Closed Caption Provider

November 7, 2022

Categories

  • General posts
  • Subtitles and captioning
  • Transcription services
  • Translation
  • Voiceover and Dubbing

About Capital Captions

Capital Captions specialise in high quality subtitling, closed captioning, video transcription, translation, and voiceover services. Our flexible approach to working with video content means we can effectively provide a one-stop-shop for clients wanting to turn their audio into text.

Latest Posts

Subtitling services in Canada

Subtitling Services Canada

February 8, 2023

The Rise of Video Subtitles 

January 16, 2023

Company

About Us 

Our Services 

Contact 

Privacy Policy 

Terms and Conditions

Contact Info

01622 746 525
info@capitalcaptions.com
5 Rose Court, Vanity Lane, Linton, Maidstone, Kent ME17 4BP
Monday - Saturday: 8am - 9pm

Sunday 8am-5pm

© Capital Captions Typing Services 2020 | Registered Office: 5 Rose Court, Linton, Maidstone, Kent, ME17 4BP, GBR. | Company Reg No: 1225097437 | VAT reg no: 345 4248 01

About Us

Capital Captions specialise in high quality subtitling, closed captioning, video transcription, translation, and voiceover services. Our flexible approach to working with video content means we can effectively provide a one-stop-shop for clients wanting to turn their audio into text.

Latest Posts

Subtitling services in Canada

Subtitling Services Canada

February 8, 2023

The Rise of Video Subtitles 

January 16, 2023

Paramount + Closed Caption Provider

November 7, 2022

Contact Info

01622 746 525
Info@capitalcaptions.com
Monday - Saturday 8AM - 9PM
We use necessary cookies to enable core functionality including security, network management and accessibility. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. If you decline your information won't be tracked when you visit this website.
Cookie SettingsAccept Reject
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT