The same film in several languages

What people need

A company that sells in three countries does not want three different films. It wants one message, one look and one length, with the words in each market's own language. A teacher wants the same explainer in the two languages of the class. The hard part is rarely the translation. It is keeping every version alike when one of them changes.

What works on every paid plan

The words on screen are your words. When you make a film from a script, the film follows your script in your order. A script written in German gives a film with German words; a script in Spanish gives Spanish ones. Nine never makes words up for you, so what the film says is exactly what you gave it.

Your look does not depend on the words. A film made from a script wears the look you pick when you make it, or your studio's own colours when it has them. Pick the same one for every language, and the films match.

Each language is its own film. You make one film per language, from its own script. Each one is written, built and checked like any other film, and each one uses a film's worth of credits from your plan. Nine tells you what a film costs before it starts, and never takes more.

A voice works too. If you record the message in each language, you can make each film from its recording. The film runs as long as you talk, your voice is its sound, and what you say appears on screen as you say it.

What is by arrangement

The Production and Studio plans include extra languages: the same film in another language. It is not a button on the film page. On those plans we set it up with you by email, and a person answers within a working day. If you need many languages of the same film every month, that is the conversation to have, and the contact page is the way to reach us.

Two plain limits, so nothing surprises you. Nine does not translate your script on the page: bring the translation you trust, from a colleague or a translator. And languages written in the Latin alphabet work as usual; for a language written in another alphabet, write to us before you start, so we can check the lettering first.

How to keep every language alike

• Write the first script with translation in mind. Short sentences translate well and keep the scenes the same length.
• Keep the paragraphs the same. A paragraph is roughly a scene. If every translation has the same number of paragraphs, the films share their rhythm.
• Watch the length. German and Finnish often run longer than English. Each plan has a longest film (30 seconds on Film and Film + Transparent), and a script that runs past it is cut at that length, and you are told so.
• Change all of them in one sitting. When the English changes, change the others the same day, so they never drift.

Once each film is made, the chamber works the same on all of them. If you want every language as a tall video for stories as well, see one film in three shapes. For what to paste and how long a script can be, see a film from a script or a document.

How to do it in Nine

1. Write the script in your first language, in short paragraphs, and have it translated.
2. Press Make a film and choose A script. Paste the first language, or drop the document.
3. Pick the look, check what you gave, and press Make my film.
4. Do the same for each language, with the same look. Each is its own film in Your films.
5. On Production or Studio, write to us if you want extra languages of one film set up for you.