Software Localization

Software Localization

The Four Steps To World Domination A Programmer's Guide to Foreign Languages "T" Time: Text and Translation Visuals Talkin' The Talk Wrapping It Up

Even though recording may be one of the more time-consuming steps, it's usually best left until late in the localization schedule. The reason for this is simple: you want to do all your recording at once. Studio time isn't cheap, and the last thing you want is to have to go back and re-record a voice-over because the testers have found that several important clues are missing, or worse, misleading. Check the script, check it again, and before you check it, make sure you check it.

You really do want to use local talent for voiceovers; using someone who lives nearby and happened to live abroad for a few years might save you the cost of recording overseas, but it will cost you the game's atmosphere. Using a recognized personality as a voice-over actor can boost sales in your home country -- why not do the same abroad? You may not be able to have Harrison Ford record the German voiceovers -- or the original for that matter -- but you can have the next best thing: his voice. How? Almost all famous actors have one actor who does all foreign-language synchronization for all their movies. In the eyes -- I mean ears -- of the foreign audience, that is the actor's voice. And while they may be more expensive than the normal voice talent, they are still cheaper than trying to hire the original. Imagine having your main character speak in the voice of Brad Pitt, and your heroine sound like Whoopi Goldberg. At the very least, it gives your marketing people something to brag about, the magazines something to write about, and may well give your game some additional publicity.

The basic rules apply here as well: keep the raw materials. Most audio and video software these days lets you put different elements onto different tracks in much the same way that you can layer images in paint programs. You also should have decided in advance who will be doing the editing. While your in-house audio whiz may have the time to edit the entire script, he does have a slight handicap: he (probably) can't understand what it is that he's editing. If you have the script prepared correctly in advance, most studios with some experience in the business will actually record right into the correct files. They'll even add the required sound effects and supply you with a complete set of files that you can use to replace the original files.

With a complete script, you might not even need someone in the studio who knows the game. I would still recommend it, however, to make sure that text is emphasized correctly and doesn't seem out of place, and that the pronunciation is correct.

Finally, don't forget to state the format requirements in advance. High-quality betacam tapes might be great, but if they're in NTSC format, someone in Europe who only has PAL playback won't see much color, if they can actually see anything at all. Format requirements represent only minor hurdles these days, but people experienced in directly dubbing AVI or QuickTime are still few and far between. And trying to organize an overnight videotape conversion isn't something anyone wants to do twice...