Does that sound like science fiction?
Fresh Lobster s.r.o., producer of a Czech feature film, needed English subtitles ready for the international premiere at the Zlín Film Festival. The standard contractor estimated a three-week processing time. There were two days to go until the start of the Festival. At the same time, we had to deal with the transition between frame rates (25 → 24 fps), as the film had been shot in a standard other than that required by the film festival. This meant timing adjustment so that the subtitles remained precisely synchronised with the picture even when using a different projection standard.
A Challenge for Aspena
The professional subtitling project for this feature film involved a number of challenging factors:
- An extremely tight deadline (48 hours)
- More follow-up steps (transcription, translation, proofreading, timing)
- The technical issue involving the frame rate change
- Subsequent editing of the subtitles in accordance with the Netflix standards
Our Approach
1. Re-timing and preparation of source materials
First, we prepared the source materials for further processing. We extracted the audio track and used an AI model to convert it into a text with timestamps. As we used our own infrastructure for the transcription, no sensitive content got out of our environment. At the same time, we had to deal with the transition between frame rates (25 → 24 fps). This meant timing adjustment so that the subtitles remained precisely synchronised with the picture even when using a different projection standard.
2. AI-Assisted Translation and Human Proofreading
The prepared transcript was then machine-translated from Czech into English using the memoQ CAT tool. Consequently, the text was post-edited by an experienced native speaker who checked the language, natural flow and consistency.
3. Timing and Readability
After the linguistic editing, we checked the subtitles against the pictures again:
- We checked their synchronisation after re-timing,
- We adjusted the subtitle lengths,
- We monitored the CPS (characters per second) to ensure the subtitles remained easily readable even after the frame rate change.
Result
We delivered the project, which normally takes three weeks, in 48 hours. The subtitles premiered alongside the film at the Zlín Film Festival:
- In the required quality for a festival staging,
- Whilst maintaining confidentiality (processing by our own infrastructure),
- At a lower cost than in the case of the traditional work-flow.
Phase Two: Subtitles for Netflix
Following its success at the film festival, the client sold the film rights, and the subtitles had to be adapted to meet the Netflix’s strict requirements which include specific formatting, line lengths, timing and stylistic guidelines. We overcame all the obstacles and handled this challenge with finesse, meaning that High School Heist has become one of our completed projects available with subtitles directly from Netflix.