Language Dubbing

Language dubbing for movies, series and corporate communications has come a long way since the days of badly synced Kung Fu movies. Today we work with advanced software and hardware specifically developed & designed for the language dubbing field.

At IMS, we also bring a team of seasoned professional script translators & adapters, in-country directors, audio & video engineers and a pool of professional native speaking voice talent who have been specially trained for the lip sync dubbing process.

At IMS we bring to bear our dubbing experience of some twenty five years.  Even longer if you consider the dubbing histories of some our in-country dubbing studio partners.

With our base of operation and corporate offices in Miami, we have long term studio partnerships in Mexico City, Sao Paolo, Miami, Los Angeles, New York Lisbon, Barcelona, Beirut and Shanghai.

At IMS, we have dubbed television programming and corporate training videos into just about any language you can think of … including Azeri for Azerbijan and Tok Pisin for Papua, New Guinea.  But our main areas of focus and expertise are Spanish dubbing, Brazilian Portuguese dubbing, European French dubbing and English dubbing for the US market.

The Nuance of Language: Something important to keep in mind when faced with the requirement of dubbing a movie or video program of any kind into another language … and this is the reality of “in-country” authenticity.  We can say from experience that it is certainly possible to dub a program into another language from just about any place in the world.  And with the ever increasing rapidity of changes and evolutionary shifts in the digital world, this likelihood will only increase.  But there is no replacing the use of true native speaking voice talent and dubbing directors who live and work in your target country.  Language like technology is evolutionary and always changing, expanding, adapting to time and place.  So the point here is to always play it safe when it comes to dubbing an entertainment or corporate program into another language – do it in the country where it will be viewed.

The essence of a good subtitling project is a good translation to start with. And translations for subtitles are quite different than just any straight-forward translation.  A translation for subtitles must be succinct, economic in its choice of words and timed in such a way as to provide the reader with a sense of the pacing and emotion inherent in the dialogue or instructional wording.

And the subtitling industry is another that has seen a great deal of change and advancement over the last several years, especially when considering the changes of the digital revolution.  Subtitles are now seen in movie theaters, on television, on-line, on tablets & smartphones and all kinds of streaming video.

Subtitles are an old but very practical form of communication.  And they also happen to be one of the least expensive ways to prep a video for another market.  But again … it all starts with a good translation.

At IMS, we’ve been at the subtitling game for a long time.  Our savvy engineers know the in’s and out’s of every type of subtitling software and how they interface with network operator servers and playout equipment.  We’re able to deliver your perfectly timed and edited subtitle files in any number of different file formats and font/size specifications.

And all of this at extremely competitive rates and with outstanding customer service.  As was mentioned before, the mainstay of our business are international cable and satellite networks, for whom we often have to work under strenuous and very time sensitive conditions.  But the network business has taught us how to always deliver on time and on budget. we bring this same attitude to all our clients whether networks or individual producers and distributors.   On Time … On Budget… And always right!

IMS is also a leading provider of closed captioning services in English and Spanish.

Closed Captions are very much like subtitles in many ways, the main difference being that closed captions are an exact, verbatim transcript of what is being said on-screen.  Where subtitles generally require the somewhat subjective process of translating and economizing on word choice, closed captions require a capturing of the exact words being uttered on screen.  Closed captions are also generally positioned within a opaque black box and either “pop on” or “roll up” in exact synchronization with the dialogue on screen.

At IMS we follow FCC Guidelines for Closed Captioning here in the US and can accommodate most specifications of governing authorities for captioning outside of the US.

IMS is also proud to provide professional Spanish language transcription services which can work in conjunction with our captioning services or as stand-alone transcription services.  Our Spanish transcribers can work from either video or audio source material.

Through our long term relationships with international network programmers, IMS has evolved into an active and experienced distributor of all categories of programming to cable and satellite channels around the world.

PROGRAM CUSTOMIZATION

At IMS, we often work with both network programmers and program distributors in creating a fully new & language customized version of their series or documentary programs.  This can include everything from 100% new production & post services; shooting with native speaking on-camera talent – to adapting a live action kids series with lip sync dubbing, special in-language on-screen graphics and new in-language show opens and breaks.

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Jeff Johnson has over 20 years experience in the Spanish language television business where he has focused on providing network origination services to some of the leading broadcast, cable and satellite television programmers in the US Hispanic and Latin American markets. These services include network master control and play-out, network branding, on-air promotions and language dubbing and subtitling services.  As VP Sales for Broadcast Video Group from 1997 through 2004,  Jeff worked closely with companies that included Showtime Networks, Starz Entertainment, Rainbow Programming, MTV Latin America, Hallmark Entertainment Networks and MGM Networks Latin America in the development and launch of their Spanish language channels in the US and Latin America.  In 1994, Jeff opened Independent Media Services (IMS) which today provides these same types of network services to many of these same broadcast, cable and satellite network clients.  Only we’ve added a few more networks to our list of clients including SUNDANCE Channel Latin America & Brazil, AMC Networks Latin America & Brazil as well as Univision Networks, UNIMAS Network and Telemundo network here in the US.  Today IMS is also well positioned as a leading provider of international language dubbing & subtitling services to a wide range program distributors, digital entertainment & educational producers and multi-national corporations.