Rates of audio description
Thread poster: Héctor Pardo Álvarez
Héctor Pardo Álvarez
Héctor Pardo Álvarez
Spain
Local time: 11:20
English to Spanish
+ ...
Mar 19, 2018

Hello everybody,

I hold a degree in translation but I'm still beginning to do some jobs. Now I have the chance to do a test for an audio description project in Spanish. Although I've never worked on audio description I think I have the knowledge to undertake the project successfully, but the truth is I I don't have any idea about the rates. Could anybody tell me which rate would be considered a reasonable one per minute, including the timing, or per word, for someone like me without
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Hello everybody,

I hold a degree in translation but I'm still beginning to do some jobs. Now I have the chance to do a test for an audio description project in Spanish. Although I've never worked on audio description I think I have the knowledge to undertake the project successfully, but the truth is I I don't have any idea about the rates. Could anybody tell me which rate would be considered a reasonable one per minute, including the timing, or per word, for someone like me without experience in this field?

Thank you very much
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Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 10:20
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
It all boils down to being paid for our time Mar 21, 2018

Héctor Pardo Álvarez wrote:
Could anybody tell me which rate would be considered a reasonable one per minute, including the timing, or per word

Let me start by saying that you usually have to be very firm with clients when quoting for this type of job. They often visualise us sitting typing at full speed in one language while listening to audio in another.

I assume your client wants the transcript to be in a different language? If so, that's normally a two-stage job. You transcribe first, then you translate. Transcription is charged per minute and translation per word, more often than not. You can give them the cost in terms of anything they like, but the bottom line is earning a sensible rate per hour of your time.

As you're new to the job, I would suggest transcribing a set number of audio minutes, or transcribing for a set length of time as a test, and then calculating the expected time spend and the extent of the translation side. Remember proofreading and inserting timing codes takes time too.

Tip: refuse to give a firm price until you've listened to random samples of the entire audio file. You need to know if they suddenly started digging up the road just outside the window..


 
Héctor Pardo Álvarez
Héctor Pardo Álvarez
Spain
Local time: 11:20
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Audio description Mar 26, 2018

Hello Sheila,

Thank you very much for your thoughtful reply, but I think you thought I was talking about audio transcription. The project I was offered to work on is an audio description project (narration track intended for blind and visually impaired people), in this case, just to write the script. Anyway, thank you again for your attention.


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 10:20
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Ah, not audio transcription Mar 26, 2018

Héctor Pardo Álvarez wrote:
I think you thought I was talking about audio transcription. The project I was offered to work on is an audio description project (narration track intended for blind and visually impaired people), in this case, just to write the script.

So you're describing what you're seeing. I hadn't thought of that possibility -- sorry. However, what I said in the title of my post certainly still applies; in fact there's really no other way of charging that would make any sense, as far as I can see. An hourly rate to cover your time would be the way to go.


 


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Rates of audio description







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