Malagasy Subtitling Services

Yes. Subtitling in Malagasy - a language of Madagascar, where it is the national language alongside French - is routine here, not something arranged specially when it comes up. The text is delivered in Latin script, using 21 letters without c, q, u, w or x, produced by a native speaker and checked by a second one before it reaches you.

Yes. Here is what catches non-specialists out in Malagasy: an Austronesian language in Africa; the official Merina standard differs from coastal dialects, and French runs through educated speech. Files go to someone from the matching region instead of whoever is free, because a specialist hears words a general speaker guesses at. Tell us where the speakers are from when you send the material and it is routed accordingly.

In Latin script, using 21 letters without c, q, u, w or x, as a reader of Malagasy would expect to see it. The finished file is real text, not an image or a phonetic approximation, so your team can search it, paste from it and quote it. A translated caption track is timed separately, because reading speed differs between languages.

Yes. The Malagasy subtitling is produced first, then a professional translator works from it, so you receive both files and can check one against the other. Audio and video translation is $7 per minute. Where a certified transcript has to accompany the caption file, that is priced per page.

Usually, but it is confirmed and not assumed. Malagasy has fewer qualified subtitlers than the major languages, so the quote goes out only once someone is actually free to take it. If the realistic start is two days out, you hear that up front. A single short video is a normal order here, including a trailer or a social cut.

Subtitling starts at $11.20 per minute of runtime. What moves the figure is the runtime, how many target languages you need and whether the file has to be timed from scratch, so the quote is built from your actual files and not from a rate card. Malagasy sits outside the commonly requested languages, so availability is confirmed before the quote is issued and not after you have paid. The rate follows the runtime of the video, not the number of caption lines the finished file contains. You get an exact total in writing before anything starts.

Rush delivery within 2 to 24 hours is available, and the delivery time is confirmed in writing before you pay. Timing is set by hand against the audio, so the schedule follows the real runtime of the video and not an estimate. Malagasy material with heavy code-switching takes longer to work through than clean single-speaker source, and the date you are given reflects that. If a deadline cannot be met you are told at quoting stage, not on the day.

Work is done by human subtitlers and played back against the picture before it is sent, which is how the 99+% accuracy standard is met. The reviewer on each Malagasy file checks names and terms against the source instead of reading the text through, because this material is full of names nobody can guess at. Every file is played back on screen before release, because a caption that reads correctly can still land on the wrong shot. One person working alone would not catch a caption a second out of sync or a line left running across a cut.

Only the people doing the work can open your material, and all of them are under NDA. Malagasy files often carry names, addresses and case references, so access stays with the assigned subtitler and the reviewer. Unreleased video is routine here, so review links are restricted and nothing is held longer than the project needs. Transfer is encrypted in both directions, and deletion on an agreed schedule can be set up where your records require it.

Usually NGO and development field interviews, radio, government meetings and community recordings. The conventions differ by type, so the format is settled at quoting stage, and the first file you receive is the one you can file, quote or publish from. Most of the work here is for teams with an accessibility requirement to meet, not simply a preference.