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VLC tops 6B downloads, previews AI-generated subtitles

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Re: VLC tops 6B downloads, previews AI-generated subtitles

#121

Post by diggan »

close04 wrote: post #112
diggan wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sometimes it's better to paraphrase dialog to reduce the amount of text that needs to be read Please no. Some subtitle companies do think like this, and it's really weird, like when they try to "convert" cultural jokes, and then add in a bunch of more assumptions regarding what cultures you're aware of depending on the subtitle language, making it even harder to understand... Just because I want my subtitles in Eng…

> Spanish food names to be replaced by "kind of the same" British names The purpose of a translation is after all to convey the meaning of what was said. So for example you'd want the English "so so" to be translated in Spanish as "más o menos" instead of repeating the translation of "so" twice. You don't want to just translate word for word, venir infierno o alta agua. A lot of dialog needs language specific context…

> But for example you'd want the English "so so" to be translated in Spanish as "más o menos" instead of doubling down on whatever literal translation for "so" they choose.

Agree, but I don't think those are "cultural translations" but more like "idioms translations", which mostly makes sense to do.

What I originally wrote about are things like Family Guy original voice-overs + subtitles making a joke about some typical father figure in Hollywood for example. Then the Latin Spanish subtitles will have translated that joke but replaced the specific actor with some typical father figure from the Mexican movie industry, while the Castilian subtitles would have replaced it with someone from the Spanish movie industry.

Re: VLC tops 6B downloads, previews AI-generated subtitles

#122

Post by MindSpunk »

eviks wrote: post #66
jl6 wrote: post #52

There's an art to subtitling that goes beyond mere speech-to-text processing. Sometimes it's better to paraphrase dialog to reduce the amount of text that needs to be read. Sometimes you need to name a voice as unknown, to avoid spoilers. Sometimes the positioning on the screen matters. I hope the model can be made to understand all this.

> better to paraphrase dialog to reduce the amount of text that needs to be read. That's just bad destructive art, especially for a foreign language that you partially know. > Sometimes you need to name a voice as unknown, to avoid spoilers. Don't name any, that's what your own eye-ear voice recognition/matching and positioning are for (also reduces the amount of text) > Sometimes the positioning on the screen matter…

Subtitles aren't just for foreign viewers though, they're also for native speakers who are now hearing impaired.

Re: VLC tops 6B downloads, previews AI-generated subtitles

#123

Post by huijzer »

simgt wrote: post #104
huijzer wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are we still talking about this? Computers are INCREDIBLY efficient and still become orders of magnitude more efficient. Computation is really negligible in the grand scheme of things. In the 80s some people also said that our whole world energy would go to computations in the future. And look today. It’s less than 1%. We do orders of magnitude more computations, but the computers have become orders of magnitude…

> In the 80s some people also said that our whole world energy would go to computations in the future. And look today. Today we consume twice as much energy as we did in the 80s (and that's mostly coming from an increase in fossil fuels consumption). Datacenters alone consume more than 1% of global energy production, that doesn't include the network, the terminals, and the energy necessary to produce all of the hardw…

> Datacenters alone consume more than 1% of global energy production

Energy-use or electricity-use? Only about 20% of total energy use is electricity [1]. I went through the math for EUV machines in more detail at https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=huijzer#42600790.

[1]: https://ourworldindata.org/energy/country/united-states

Re: VLC tops 6B downloads, previews AI-generated subtitles

#124

Post by mouse_ »

jl6 wrote: post #52

There's an art to subtitling that goes beyond mere speech-to-text processing. Sometimes it's better to paraphrase dialog to reduce the amount of text that needs to be read. Sometimes you need to name a voice as unknown, to avoid spoilers. Sometimes the positioning on the screen matters. I hope the model can be made to understand all this.

> Sometimes it's better to paraphrase dialog to reduce the amount of text that needs to be read.

Pretty sure this is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, so illegal in the U.S. at least. Being Deaf doesn't mean you need "reduced" dialogue.

Re: VLC tops 6B downloads, previews AI-generated subtitles

#125

Post by magic_smoke_ee »

jodrellblank wrote: post #114
magic_smoke_ee wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> don't cross-examine https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

> That's what a software engineer would say who views resources as unlimited and free. from the same guidelines: don't be snarky; don't post thoughtless insubstantive comments; reply to the argument instead of calling names; don't sneer; respond to the strongest interpretation - assume good faith; eschew flamebait; don't trample curiosity.

> from the same guidelines: don't be snarky; don't post thoughtless insubstantive comments; reply to the argument instead of calling names; don't sneer; respond to the strongest interpretation - assume good faith; eschew flamebait; don't trample curiosity.

You're making a litany of unsolicited accusations while subtracting value in a conversation you're not a part of. Please stop with the self-appointed fixation on microaggression policing because it just creates pointless drama. Thanks.

Re: VLC tops 6B downloads, previews AI-generated subtitles

#127

Post by the_clarence »

jl6 wrote: post #52

There's an art to subtitling that goes beyond mere speech-to-text processing. Sometimes it's better to paraphrase dialog to reduce the amount of text that needs to be read. Sometimes you need to name a voice as unknown, to avoid spoilers. Sometimes the positioning on the screen matters. I hope the model can be made to understand all this.

The best subtitles I've had were fantrads

Re: VLC tops 6B downloads, previews AI-generated subtitles

#129

Post by techjamie »

close04 wrote: post #112
diggan wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sometimes it's better to paraphrase dialog to reduce the amount of text that needs to be read Please no. Some subtitle companies do think like this, and it's really weird, like when they try to "convert" cultural jokes, and then add in a bunch of more assumptions regarding what cultures you're aware of depending on the subtitle language, making it even harder to understand... Just because I want my subtitles in Eng…

> Spanish food names to be replaced by "kind of the same" British names The purpose of a translation is after all to convey the meaning of what was said. So for example you'd want the English "so so" to be translated in Spanish as "más o menos" instead of repeating the translation of "so" twice. You don't want to just translate word for word, venir infierno o alta agua. A lot of dialog needs language specific context…

That's a good example of translation where there's only really so many ways to do it. A bad example like people are talking about is the original 4Kids Pokemon where every time someone brought out an Onigiri (rice ball), they would call them jelly donuts.

Re: VLC tops 6B downloads, previews AI-generated subtitles

#130

Post by bdndndndbve »

diggan wrote: post #67
jl6 wrote: post #52

There's an art to subtitling that goes beyond mere speech-to-text processing. Sometimes it's better to paraphrase dialog to reduce the amount of text that needs to be read. Sometimes you need to name a voice as unknown, to avoid spoilers. Sometimes the positioning on the screen matters. I hope the model can be made to understand all this.

> Sometimes it's better to paraphrase dialog to reduce the amount of text that needs to be read Please no. Some subtitle companies do think like this, and it's really weird, like when they try to "convert" cultural jokes, and then add in a bunch of more assumptions regarding what cultures you're aware of depending on the subtitle language, making it even harder to understand... Just because I want my subtitles in Eng…

It depends on the context! Trying to Americanize Godzilla, for instance, has largely failed because Godzilla is an allegory for the unique horror of nuclear bombing which Japan experienced. Making him just a lizard that walks through New York is kind of stupid.

Jokes are an example of something translators can do really well - things like puns don't work 1:1 across languages. A good translator will find a corresponding, appropriate line of dialogue and basically keep the intent without literally translating the words.

Food is kind of silly because it's tied to place - if a setting is clearly Spanish, or a character is Spanish, why wouldn't they talk about Spanish food? Their nationality ostensibly informs something about their character (like Godzilla) and can't just be fine/replaced.

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