Closed Captions for Esperanto
I borrowed a video from youtube and I added Esperanto closed captioning to it. You can see it here.
http://www.overstream.net/view.php?oid=sgtinhlvrleu
(Unfortunately, the site is pretty slow. I recommend just letting it load for a minute before you watch it.)
It's not an easy process as the timing must be exactly right. I'm pretty proud of it. It took about two hours to get the timing of the captions just right.
I'm going to make some videos of myself pretty soon, speaking and reading Esperanto, and I think it's a good idea to add Esperanto closed captioning, since Youtube supports CC. But I wanted to practice first since this wonderful gentleman is so clear when he speaks.
Since it is a video borrowed from Youtube, I can't add the closed captions to the video at Youtube, since I don't own this video. But I will add them to my own videos there when I make them.
I think closed captioning is a good idea for every video, in every language! I believe this is extremely helpful to Esperanto as well. Maybe beginners could follow along, and Esperantists who are hard of hearing can enjoy them as well.
Just for fun, I did the same video with English subtitles.
http://www.overstream.net/view.php?oid=svrlr8rze4t2
This didn't take as long since the times were already set in the file for each caption, and I simply changed them to English. The tricky part is perfectly synchronizing the text and speech.
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Comments
dotsub
La retpaĝaro dotsub subtenas multlingvan subtitoladon kaj eble estas esplorinda.
December 21, 2009 by limako, 2 years 7 weeks ago
Dankon
Yes, I know about Dotsub. I tried Dotsub and I liked the interface better at Overstream.
I put these videos at Overstream for now because I'm just practicing. I will be making some youtube videos of myself soon, speaking and reading Esperanto, and I will simply make .srt files, in both English and Esperanto, at Overstream, save them to my computer, and then add both of them to my videos at youtube. Youtube supports multiple languages. You tube has supported CC in multiple languages now for probably just a year or so. I think it's an excellent feature, and all videos would benefit from CC!
I don't like Dotsub because, for example, I can write an entire line of text, but I don't see a way to make it hard return at will. I can do that at Overstream. So at Dotsub, if your sentence is 10 words long, often you'll get eight words on the first line and two on the next. However, I can hard return in Overstream, and now there will be five words on one line and five on the next. It looks very neat and balanced.
Check out this test video I made at youtube.
Read the video description on how to enable the CC (subtitles) in both languages.
You'll see that the English text is very long, and your eyes must scan from left to right. The Esperanto version is closer to the center of the screen, so your eyes don't have to scan so much. I prefer the way the Esperanto version looks. It seems quicker and easier to read.
The Esperanto version has the "hard return" I was talking about, while the English version is how Dotsub does it. And if your sentence is just a few words longer, then those extra couple of words show up all by themselves on the next line, and it looks pretty sloppy. For me, neatness counts.
December 21, 2009 by pauswa, 2 years 7 weeks ago
Dankon!
Mi dankas vin pro la klarigo -- mi ne esploris subtitoladon dum la pasintaj unudu jaroj sed interesiĝas pri tiaj aferoj.
December 22, 2009 by limako, 2 years 7 weeks ago
Bone!
Bone farita subtekstigado! Ja postulas tempon kaj penon por ĝustigi la tempojn en tia projekto!
Krom tio, la teksto mem aperis bona - mi ne vidis iujn ajn erarojn. Gratulon!
December 21, 2009 by russ, 2 years 7 weeks ago
Amazing!
Yes, it is amazing to me that I understood every single word that gentleman said, and I didn't need a dictionary either. I was able to add the subtitles in Esperanto as if I was listening to my native language of English. I've only known Esperanto since August. The tricky part was putting it back into meaningful English! I had to do lots of interpreting and paraphrasing there to make it sound like native English and not a foreigner's "odd" version version of English.
I'm amazed that I'm able to pick this stuff seemingly quickly and for me quite easily. I think it's because I love Esperanto so much.
December 23, 2009 by pauswa, 2 years 6 weeks ago
Re: Closed Captions for Esperanto
Mi ŝatas tion.
December 21, 2009 by saasmath, 2 years 7 weeks ago