On 17 and 18 September AVTE, represented by Henrik W. Johnsen, Tina Shortland and Marielle Steinpatz, was present at IBC (International Broadcasting Conference) in the Rai in Amsterdam. Since this annual media conference attracts many companies involved in dubbing and/or subtitling software it was a good place to do some networking and to introduce AVTE as a strong international federation of audiovisual translators.
We talked a good deal about quality with number of media companies and subtitling/dubbing companies (including Take 1, Ericsson, Deluxe and Zoo Digital). Just like in 2016, we repeatedly raised our concerns about the quality of audiovisual translation which is linked with low rates and stressful working conditions.
When it came to the software developers, they were happy with our input since they don’t often get feedback from subtitlers. A lot of companies are building their own online software now so it is a good idea for us to explain our needs with regards to, for instance, hot keys. One of the companies we spoke to has developed online software for dubbing. It is not entirely clear how this might influence the dubbing process and dubbing rates, so this is worth keeping an eye on.
There is an important role to play for AVTE at conferences like these as it is a good place to make ourselves heard, make new contacts and stay on top of new development.