Frequently Asked Questions

Subtitling is the written adaptation of a video, which is made thanks to a dedicated software. It results in a text, in other words subtitles, which appears on screen.

As the name suggests, multilingual subtitling is the written adaptation from a language to another. In this case, the videos are adapted from English.

I subtitle your videos in French from France, which is my mother tongue. It should not be mistaken with Belgian French, Swiss French and Canadian French.

Subtitling is an adaptation, because it « summarizes » the information on screen in order to:

• Get straight to the point of what is being said in the video;
• Make it easy for viewers to understand.

The information is « summarized » thanks to subtitling standards, which are detailed below in this FAQ.

When subtitling, the following standards should be taken into account:

• The number of characters per second (CPS): it is the number of characters (including spaces) a viewer can read per second;
• The number of characters per line (CPL): it is the number of characters (spaces included) a viewer can read per line;
• The number of lines per subtitle, which does not exceed two;
• The minimum duration of a subtitle, which is 0.800 second;
• The maximum duration of a subtitle, which is 6 seconds;
• The number of frames between each subtitle;
• The number of frames before and after a shot change.

Subtitling standards are essential because of two things:

• Readibility: subtitles should convey the idea of the video and, in the meantime, be short enough so the audience can read them;
• Fluidness: they should summarize most of the information and appear logical to the viewers, with a natural, coherent flow.

To know more about my subtitling process, you can read my service page regarding multilingual subtitling.

I especially adapt TV shows, full-length and short movies, documentaries, institutional videos and webinars.

I adapt about one-hour video per week.