Localizing multimedia (Flash, QuickTime) - Part 1

Localizing multimedia such as Flash files and QuickTime movies is a different pond of koi from localizing documentation, HTML and even software. Advertisements, videos and clips abound on the Web, mostly because they tell a story in a much more compelling way than does mere text. Also, it's becoming easier for content owners to record footage and to host it on their Web site.

It's a brave, new content world. And they want to localize it.

The first hurdle is that the media is not very well internationalized. The movie file on the Web is usually greatly compressed, with several layers crunched into one or two, and billions of bits discarded. Nobody needs all of that detail to see the clip, but you need it to localize it properly.

The second issue is that site owners rarely understand how the original was put together, let alone what it will take to localize it. They may know about superless splits, B-rolls, dub houses, producers and BetaSP, but you trying to get files - extremely large ones - from them, with all of the video, audio, graphics and effects to localize.

Finally, in the same way that most companies regard a software project in its original language, the content owners view the multimedia as core work product that is already behind them, and wonder why there's so much work/time/money involved in preparing it for an overseas audience.

Despite these hurdles, content owners do indeed want to go down this path. In Part 2, we'll explore a typical project in more detail.