Intro

Did you ever want to help Debian but weren't sure what to do? we want you!

You are not only helping, but you will also learn a lot while doing it!

Find the ins and outs of subtitling and translating Debian videos here

A QUICKIE (IMPORTANT STUFF TO KNOW)

Where to find us

:: Join IRC if you want something to do... or want to do something but don't know how... or want to hang out... We are cool

:: Use the mailing list for the same reasons as IRC but you prefer the asynchronous nature of email

:: To work on the subtitles online, you can join our team in Amara

:: If you would like to work on the subtitles offline without using amara and be able to submit your own work to the repository you can join the alioth project. You can also speak with somebody on IRC or the mailing list to submit your work for you

Prerequisites

None!

If you can understand english, you can type it down

If you can read english, you can translate it to your local language

How can I help?

Online

This is the easy way to jump in. Register/Login on amara and head to our hub in amara and start subtitling. You dont need to speak or synchronize with anybody. You will also get nice tools out of the box.

Select the language you want to work on, usually "en" if you are just subtitling and not translating. Select edit. We use the "notes" field on the bottom-right corner to put the time where the last person added subtitles so it is easy for others to pick up after you. If the transcript is okay, you can proceed to sync it afterwards

The tools are self explanatory but give us a holler on IRC or the mailing list if you have questions or problems

Offline

This is done using your preferred video player and text editor. Download the video

Then start one of the following tasks:

Files can be imported and exported from amara at any state and point in time (ex. transcript half done, fully transcripted but half sync, etc) to work offline

To avoid duplication of work, you can check the video on amara to see if its already been done. If a sub is half done in amara it can also be downloaded to just resume the work.

Its not a requisite, but is nice if you ask somebody on #debconf-subs to lock the edition of the file on the web for you :)

There are many videos an just a few people doing the subtitling. Its not likely to step in each other work even if you dont synchronize

Need more help?

Read our Conventions and tips for the transcription

If you still have doubts, read our Subtitling FAQ or gives a shout on IRC/mailing list

fast method to sub using aegisub

old things of this page that need to be redone

License

The subtitles will be licensed with the same license of the videos.

Ideas

* Richard: web frontend to the videos where subtitles could been integrated. Its currently being used for pyvideo.org