Phrase Studio

Translating Subtitles (Studio)

After a file has been transcribed, add translations from the Translate step of the editor. Translations are generated by a translation engine, or by a linguist in Phrase TMS, or imported from existing subtitle files.

The translation engine is configurable.

Add a Translation

To add a translation, follow these steps:

  1. In the editor, open the Translate step. This step is available only after Transcribe has been completed.

  2. Click Translate.

    If the source transcription is not fully reviewed, the Source Transcription Not Fully Reviewed warning is displayed. Unreviewed terminology or proper-noun errors carry over into the translation. Click Continue to proceed with the translation.

    The Translate window opens.

  3. In Languages, select the target languages. Multiple languages can be selected.

    Selecting a language that already has a translation displays a warning that proceeding overwrites the existing translation. The action cannot be undone.

  4. Optionally, select Include Previously Translated Languages to add the existing translations to the selection and re-translate all of them.

  5. Select a Subtitle profile to determine subtitle display rules. A subtitle profile is required.

  6. Optionally, select a Style Guide for each language. Style guides are available with the AI Translation Agent only.

  7. Optionally, select Term Base(s). Term bases are available with the AI Translation Agent only. The term base must cover the exact source and target languages.

  8. Optionally, click Upload Subtitles to import existing subtitle files in SRT or VTT format for the selected languages.

    Note

    Uploaded subtitles overwrite any existing translations for the selected languages.

  9. Click Start Translation.

    The window closes. In the Translate step, open the language dropdown to see the translation status for each language.

Note

If the AI Translation Agent is selected and no style guide is set for a language, the No Style Guide Set warning is displayed. Continue to translate without a style guide, or cancel and select one.

Translated versions can be selected for viewing beside the original in the editor and edited if required.

To upload subtitles for a language that is already selected in the editor, click Upload Subtitles in the Translate step toolbar.

Translate with Phrase TMS

Note

For projects shared from another organization, Send to TMS for Translation, Sync to TMS, and Open in TMS are not available.

To manage the translation in Phrase TMS, enable Send to TMS for Translation in the Translate dialog and select a TMS project template. A TMS project template that is accessible to the account is required. If no template is available, click Create a TMS Project Template.

The account must have a Phrase TMS user. If it does not, the translation fails with a message to ask the organization administrator to add the user.

After Start Translation is clicked:

  • A new TMS project with one job for each target language is created.

  • Provider assignment defined in a TMS project template is not applied automatically to jobs created through Send to TMS for Translation. To assign the providers defined in the template, use Tools > Assign providers from template in Phrase TMS, or call the corresponding Phrase TMS API endpoint.

  • In the Translate step, Open in TMS shows the TMS status (NEW, ACCEPTED, COMPLETED) for each language's job, for example Open in TMS (NEW). Click it to open the TMS project. While Studio waits for the translation, the message Waiting for translations from TMS... and the status are displayed.

  • When the latest workflow TMS job status is COMPLETED or DELIVERED, translated subtitles are automatically parsed and displayed in Studio for that language.

    Tip

    If imported subtitles display garbled characters, ensure the TMS export uses UTF-8 encoding.

Sync Studio Changes to TMS

Edits made in Studio after a TMS job is created, such as merging segments or changing capitalization, are not reflected in the TMS job automatically. Use Sync to TMS to send source and translation changes made in Studio back to TMS to override the latest version.

Sync to TMS is displayed for languages that have a TMS job. It is not available while the translation of the language is in progress, which includes the time Studio waits for the translation from TMS. After the TMS job reaches COMPLETED or DELIVERED and Studio imports the translation, the option becomes available.

To send these changes to TMS, follow these steps:

  1. In the Translate step, select the language.

  2. Click Sync to TMS.

    The Sync to TMS window opens.

  3. Click Sync.

The latest version in TMS is overwritten with the source and translation changes made in Studio.

If TMS rejects the request because of too many requests, wait a moment and try again. If the TMS project was deleted, the translation fails with a message that the TMS project was deleted.

Review a Studio Translation in TMS

To review a translation generated in Studio in TMS, follow these steps:

  1. Translate the language in Studio without enabling Send to TMS for Translation.

  2. Click Translate again.

  3. Select Include Previously Translated Languages.

  4. Enable Send to TMS for Translation and select a TMS project template.

  5. Click Start Translation.

The translation is not generated again. The existing source and translation are sent to a new TMS job for review.

Note

Sync to TMS is available only for languages that already have a TMS job. It cannot be used to send a translation that was never sent to TMS.

Re-Translate

To translate a language again, select the language in the Translate step and click Re-translate. In the Re-translate window, confirm the settings and click Start Re-translation. The existing translation is overwritten and cannot be recovered.

Review and Download Translations

Select a language in the Translate step to view the translation beside the original. The text is editable. Segments can be marked as reviewed in each language.

To download translations, follow these steps:

  1. Click Download.

  2. Select the output and the translation language or languages:

    • Transcription: A .docx file of the text in the selected language. Select Split paragraphs on speaker pauses greater than and enter a number of seconds to start a new paragraph after a pause of that length.

    • SRT or VTT: Subtitle files for one or more languages. In Format, select Default for the .SRT or .VTT file, or Docx or Txt for a text version of the subtitles.

    • JSON: Select Translation and the languages.

  3. Click Download.

Downloads with several languages are provided as a ZIP file.

Configure Translation Engines

Translation engines can be configured at the account level or overridden at the project level:

  • Account-level settings define the default translation engine for all projects.

  • Project-level settings, when configured, override account defaults for the selected project.

Available Translation Engines

  • AI Translation Agent

    The AI Translation Agent is the only engine that supports style guides and term bases. It is also possible to specify a translation memory (TM) created in TMS. The integration leverages the TMs for retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).

    Using the AI Translation Agent in Studio consumes AI Units (AIUs) on capacity-based plans, and credits on credit-based plans.

  • Phrase Language AI (PLAI)

    This integration leverages MT profiles with relevant MT glossaries already configured in Phrase TMS.

    When selecting PLAI as the translation engine, it is also possible to specify a translation memory (TM) created in TMS. Studio reuses only 100% and 101% TM matches; fuzzy matches are not applied.

    Using PLAI in Studio consumes machine translation units (MTUs) on capacity-based plans, and credits on credit-based plans.

  • Predefined OpenAI translation models

Account-Level Configuration

To configure the translation engine, follow these steps:

  1. Select Settings from the left-hand navigation menu.

    The Settings page is displayed.

  2. In the Preferences tab, select the Translation engine from the Automated Translation section.

    • If Phrase Language AI is selected, the MT Profile and Translation Memory dropdown menus are displayed.

      • Select one of the available MT profiles and, optionally, a TM.

    • If AI Translation Agent is selected, the Translation Memory dropdown menu is displayed.

      • Select one of the available TMs.

  3. Click Save.

Project-Level Configuration

Project owners can change the translation engine for an existing project in the editor. To update the translation engine for a project, follow these steps:

  1. In the project header, click the three dots More Menu menu.

    The project options menu is displayed.

  2. Select Preferences.

    The Preferences window is displayed.

  3. Select a different Translation engine, if required.

    • If Phrase Language AI is selected, the MT Profile and Translation Memory dropdown menus are displayed.

      • Select one of the available MT profiles and, optionally, a TM.

    • If AI Translation Agent is selected, the Translation Memory dropdown menu is displayed.

      • Select one of the available TMs.

  4. Click Save.

Subtitle Profiles

Subtitle profiles control how subtitles are segmented and styled in video projects. Create custom profiles in the Subtitle Profiles tab of the Settings page. Select a profile for each project language when creating a new project to apply it to the transcription, and when adding a translation in the Translate step.

Subtitle profiles are automatically shared with all users of the same organization in read-only mode.

To create a new subtitle profile, follow these steps:

  1. On the Settings page, open the Subtitle Profiles tab.

  2. Click Create New Subtitle Profile.

    The Create Subtitle Profile window is displayed.

  3. Enter a name and an optional description.

  4. Configure segmentation rules related to duration, pacing, and character constraints.

    These settings control how subtitle segments are constructed and ensure readability, timing accuracy, and a consistent viewer experience.

    • Minimum Duration and Maximum Duration

    • Characters Per Line and Characters Per Second

    • Maximum Gap Between Words

    • Minimum Gap Frames

    • Lines Per Segment

  5. Choose whether to make the profile Active.

  6. Optionally, select Display Speaker Names to show speaker names in the subtitles.

  7. Set the styling options to configure how subtitles appear in the final video: Font, Background Style (Box, None, Outline, or Wrap), and Position.

    • Select Enable vertical positioning for East Asian languages. Subtitles are anchored to the right side of the screen.

    • Use Distance from Bottom and Shift from Center, or select a Safe Zone Preset for TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, or YouTube Landscape.

    • Select the preview format: landscape (16:9), portrait (9:16), or feed (4:5).

    Any changes are reflected in the video preview panel to confirm the formatting before applying it to a project.

  8. Click Save.

    The custom subtitle profile is added to the list.

Existing subtitle profiles can be edited and deleted by selecting Edit in the Subtitle Profiles tab.

The subtitle styling from the active profile for each language is also rendered into the downloaded video.

Instant Quality Assurance (QA)

Instant QA validates subtitles against the rules defined in the active subtitle profile. When subtitles are generated or edited, Studio runs an automatic check and flags any segments that fall outside the configured settings.

Subtitle blocks with detected issues display a red exclamation mark indicator in the editor. Hover over the indicator to see issue details.

The Segment issues counter shows how many segments currently contain QA issues. Click Highlight issues icon next to the counter to quickly spot segments with issues in the editor. Use the arrow controls to move between them. The counter updates in real time as issues are introduced or resolved.

Shorten Segments over the Limit

Phrase Studio can suggest a shorter version of a segment that exceeds the Characters Per Second or Characters Per Line limit of the subtitle profile. In the Dub step, it can also suggest a shorter version of a segment where the audio would play faster because the text is too long for the time range.

To shorten one segment, click Shorten Translation in the segment. To shorten all eligible segments, click Shorten over-limit (N) in the editor toolbar, where N is the number of such segments.

For each segment, Phrase Studio displays the Suggested Shorter Version next to the current text. Select an action:

  • Accept: Replaces the text with the shorter version.

  • Discard: Keeps the current text.

  • Try Again: Requests a new suggestion if the suggestion could not be generated.

After a bulk request, click Accept All or Discard All to apply the action to all suggestions.

Note

If a segment cannot be made shorter, the message Already as short as possible — original text kept is displayed. If the accepted text is still over the limit, the issue indicator displays the message Shortened, but still over the subtitle profile limit. Segments for which a suggestion could not be generated are reported in the message N segment(s) could not be shortened.

 

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