How to Translate a Video Into Another Language
Pick the languages, choose subtitles, narration or both narration and on-screen text, then preview and export each one.
- You need
- A finished video in Interlace
- Time
- 3 minutes, plus a minute or two per language
- You end with
- Captions or narration in another language
One video can reach every team you train. Interlace translates a finished video into any of 28 languages, and you choose how far the translation goes: captions only, a new voice-over, or the voice-over plus the words drawn inside each scene.
Before you start, you need a finished video in the language you wrote it in. If you do not have one yet, make your first video. Our example adds Spanish captions to a safety video, "Hazard communication policy".
Step 1
Open the language menu
Click the language button next to the video's title at the top of the editor; it shows the current language, here EN-US. The menu lists every Language version of the video. Click Add language….
Step 2
Choose the languages
The Translate this video window opens. Click the Languages box and type to search, for example "Spanish". Each language shows its own name and its English name, so Español de España is European Spanish and Español latinoamericano is Latin American Spanish. Tick as many as you need. A language the video already has is marked Added.
Step 3
Choose what to translate
Under What to translate, pick one:
- Subtitles only adds translated captions to the original video. The narration and the artwork stay as they are.
- Translated narration records a new voice-over in the chosen language, in the same voice. The artwork is untouched.
- Narration and on-screen text does the voice-over and redraws the words inside each scene in the new language.
We picked Subtitles only.
Step 4
Translate
The line at the bottom counts the languages you picked. Press Translate. Interlace confirms, for example Translating captions into 1 language…, and you can keep working while it runs.
Step 5
See the languages under the video
Once a video has more than one language, the canvas shows each of them. Captions appear as a row under the video, here Spanish (Spain), with a menu of options beside it. Add language under the scenes opens the same window as in step 1.
A translated narration becomes its own version of the video. Open it from the language menu in step 1, and edit and share it like any other video.
Step 6
Preview the captions in another language
In the timeline, next to the captions button, the Caption language button switches the captions on the canvas. Choose Spanish (Spain) to check the translation against the picture.
Step 7
Export with translated captions
Open Export, set Captions to Burn in, and pick the language in the box under it. Every caption language of the video is listed there.
Step 8
Download the translated file
With Spanish (Spain) chosen, the canvas shows the Spanish captions as they will be burned in. Press Download for the MP4, or switch the format to SCORM 1.2 for your LMS. Repeat for each language.
When you change the original later
Translations follow the version they were made from. If you edit the original afterwards, a bar at the bottom of the editor says Some languages are behind this video. with a button to bring them up to date.
What to do next
- Export every option. Export an MP4 or a SCORM 1.2 package, including subtitle files.
- Send it out. Share the video with a link or an embed.
- Start from a document. Most translated training starts as a policy. Turn a document into a video.
Ready to build yours?
Bring a document or a script and ship a finished video.