The translation feature in Descript allows you to easily translate your transcript into different languages. You can also dub your original speech into another language using AI Speakers. The translate feature also lets you generate translated closed captions (.srt) and transcripts, enhancing the reach and impact of your videos.
| Supported languages for translated captions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| English (US) | Latvian | Romanian | Greek (Beta) |
| Hindi (Beta) | |||
| Catalan | Finnish | Lithuanian | Slovak |
| Croatian | French (FR) | Malay | Slovenian |
| Czech | German | Norwegian | Spanish (US) |
| Danish | Hungarian | Polish | Swedish |
| Dutch | Italian | Portuguese (BR) | Turkish |
Getting started
If you also want burned-in captions translated, we recommend adding a captions layer first. Otherwise, your translation will only generate a translated transcript with closed captions (.srt).
- Navigate to the Underlord panel.
- Under the Repurpose section, choose Translate.
- Select the desired language for your translation. For example, if you want to translate to German, choose "German".
- You can also dub speech using AI Speakers. This feature allows you to select AI voices for each speaker in your transcript. The AI will then generate speech in the selected language using the selected AI Speaker.
Currently, dubbing is only supported in the following languages: English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. This also means you can dub audio from another language to one of the languages above.
You can dub into any Legacy v2 stock AI Speaker or authorized custom AI speaker. If a custom speaker in your project is not authorized for AI speech generation, you will not be able to select it.
- Once the translation is complete, you will be shown the translation, and if your plan allows, you can make adjustments to your translation.
If you already have an existing translation, you will be notified that if you choose to translate into that language again, it will replace the old one and overwrite any manual corrections.
Previewing translations
Once the translation is complete, you can playback the translated script and preview each section.
If you have selected to dub any translation, you may need to wait for the AI speech to generate before being able to playback the dubbed media. The text "Generating speech " will note this," where the playback button is.
Note that translated captions layers will appear in the video preview at the bottom of the modal. However, if you don't have a captions layer applied to some part of the video, you won't see any newly translated captions in the video preview either.
Important Tips
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Accessing Translations - Click on the language menu and then the language to open the translation. You can also select New translation to open the Underlord panel and start a new translation.
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Additional Options - If you open the menu next to the language name, you will find a few options to help manage your translations. Re-translate the composition, copy a direct link to the translation, export the translated content, or delete the translation if needed.
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Manual Syncing - Translations do not automatically sync with edits to the original composition. If you make changes to the original transcript, you must re-translate. Note that this will overwrite any manual corrections you've made since you last translated into this language.
Making adjustments (Business and Enterprise plans only)
You may need to make minor adjustments to ensure accuracy or timing. You can playback the translated script and preview each section to make the necessary corrections or timing adjustments by moving words or sections of text around.
Also, remember that if you make any corrections to dubbed content, you will be prompted to regenerate the audio before playback is available.
Publishing Your Translated Content
After finalizing the translated script, on your original composition, click Publish in the top right. Here, you can export or publish your translation.
- Under Publish or Export, choose one of the languages you have generated (e.g., German) to ensure your video is published in the appropriate language.
- If you would like to export a translated transcript or a .srt file, you can do so in the export menu by choosing Transcript or Subtitles.