Khmer Script Preparation Service

Working together with our experienced and qualified translators, voiceover artists, interpreters, audiovisual translators, transcribers and subtitlers, we offer a wide range of language services.

Available in over 200 languages within the UK and beyond, our linguists can get you heard in any language of your choice. While we do not offer a walk-in service, we are only one phone call away from discussing your language requirements.

Khmer script preparation for voiceover and subtitle creation

Preparing and editing scripts for distributors such as Amazon and Discovery Channel, our teams of Khmer audiovisual translators are adept at choosing just the right tone and register to match the original material.

Depending on the circumstances, we sometimes use a native speaker of the source video in the first instance to ensure that all the speech is captured.  The localisation process is then continued with native speakers of the target language to ensure that the translated output is idiomatically appropriate.

Preparing a script for voiceover or dubbing in Khmer

Dubbing is where one voice completely replaces another.  You will most likely see this in films where a character’s voice is dubbed using a different voice in a different language.

Voiceover is often an unseen, offscreen narrator and is not bound to the same extreme time restrictions as dubbing.

Whether a segment of speech is destined for dubbing or voiceover allows our Khmer audiovisual script translators to localise accordingly, depending on how many seconds the voiceover artist will have to deliver the speech.

The scripts are timecoded, and the speakers clearly labelled for each language version.

If you would be interested in receiving demos of some of our voiceover artists – we have male and female talents in over 200 languages – do get in touch and we’ll send some samples over to you.

Preparing a script for Khmer subtitles

As you will be aware, different languages take up different amounts of room to essentially say the same things and there is a limited amount of space to display this onscreen in the format of subtitles.

Nothing is ever simple in translation – some languages use fewer words, but each word has on average more letters.  As an example, Finnish and Hungarian tend to use fewer words but have longer than average word lengths, while Italian, French and Spanish tend to use more words to get content across, but the average number of letters in a word tends to be less…

You’d think this would all come out on the wash but with time restrictions (and character restrictions per line) for subtitles, the linguists preparing the scripts in other languages need to try and take account of reading speeds.  It is ultimately the job of the subtitler to edit the text and timecode the lines to perfection, but their job is made so much easier if a localised script has been prepared by an experienced audiovisual translator understanding the restrictions and rules.

What information can be included as part of a script preparation?

We are very happy to include any information, tags or timecoding required as well as any formatting conventions you may need.  Typically we might include the following:

Time codes: 00:00:00 frequency to be determined.

Speaker labels: characters/voiceover.

Speech: in original language and/or translated languages.

Forced Narrative: a text overlay that clarifies communications or alternate languages meant to be understood by the viewer. They can also be used to clarify dialogue, texted graphics or location/person IDs that are not otherwise covered in the dubbed/localised audio.

How is the cost for Khmer script preparation calculated?

• By the number of minutes
• By the complexity of the formatting
• By time code frequency
• Dependent on the volume
• Schedule for delivery

Get in touch with one of our lovely project managers and they would be very happy to discuss all the available options with you. Do also take a look at the security procedures and infrastructure we already have in place to protect your data.

While you’re here… some quite interesting facts about the Khmer language.

Khmer or Cambodian, or more formally is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. With approximately 16 million speakers, it is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language (after Vietnamese). Khmer has been influenced considerably by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious registers, through Hinduism and Buddhism. The more colloquial registers have influenced, and have been influenced by, Thai, Lao, Vietnamese, and Cham, all of which, due to geographical proximity and long-term cultural contact, form a sprachbund in peninsular Southeast Asia. The vast majority of Khmer speakers speak Central Khmer, the dialect of the central plain where the Khmer are most heavily concentrated. Within Cambodia, regional accents exist in remote areas but these are regarded as varieties of Central Khmer. Two exceptions are the speech of the capital, Phnom Penh, and that of the Khmer Khe in Stung Treng province, both of which differ sufficiently enough from Central Khmer to be considered separate dialects of Khmer. Outside of Cambodia, three distinct dialects are spoken by ethnic Khmers native to areas that were historically part of the Khmer Empire. The Northern Khmer dialect is spoken by over a million Khmers in the southern regions of Northeast Thailand and is treated by some linguists as a separate language. Khmer Krom, or Southern Khmer, is the first language of the Khmer of Vietnam while the Khmer living in the remote Cardamom mountains speak a very conservative dialect that still displays features of the Middle Khmer language.

Where is Khmer most widely spoken?