Exclusive Fable 2 localization interview
Lionnose has put together an interview on the German translation of Fable II
there are a good number of interesting facts about total number of lines of dialog and total audio recording time.
Source
Lionnose has put together an interview on the German translation of Fable II
there are a good number of interesting facts about total number of lines of dialog and total audio recording time.
Source
Exclusive Fable 2 localization interview
von lionnose @ Montag, 02. Jun, 2008 - 19:21:56
I am very proud to present this exclusive interview of Lionnose.net with Declan MacHugh and Jason Shirley from Microsoft Games Studios Dublin. Declan is International Project Manager and Jason is Audio Lead at MGS Ireland.
This interview is mainly focussed on the German localization of Fable 2, but it also includes lots of interesting side information, international fans of the game will surely enjoy.
Ever wondered how many lines of text and spoken dialogues are included in the game? Did you ask yourself if lip-sync will be supported for your language? How many voice actors will be involved in Fable 2? Why is a German localization such a challenge? Get your answers in this interview!
Please click at "Lies mehr!" for the interview article.
[Mehr:]
Lionnose.net: Hi Jason and Declan, can you tell us something about your team and the responsibilities you’ve got when it comes to localization?
Jason and Declan: Our primary goal is to deliver a high quality fully localized product that gives the end user a fully relevant game experience. Audio VO plays an important role in the loc process and the quality expectations of VO (voice overs) are very high for games. The expectations for drama, realism and interaction are quite similar to the movie industry. We are responsible for casting professional German actors that are recorded in Munich and are from the movie, film and TV industry.
We manage the localization of all European languages from Dublin, Ireland. On Fable 2 we partner with a translation\audio vendor called Binari Sonori in Milan, Italy who manage all languages for us. The German localization is made by two integrated teams, dedicated to language and audio with a total headcount of 65. The teams interact daily to make sure the script translated is consistent with the rest of the contents, and is provides the most effective game play. Here is a quick description of the crew. Language team: 6 translators, 2 proofreaders. Audio team: 47 actors, 5 sound engineers, 2 dubbing directors. Management: 1 PM and 2 coordinators. Given the large size of the project, 2 recording suites are used in parallel.
Our team in house is typically small - approx 5 people made up of a PM, Audio lead, Engineer, Test Lead and a Doc lead. We outsource our testing to various locations around Europe.
Lionnose.net: Years ago, publishers released games in different territories with often long delays between them, while today simultaneous worldwide releases seem to be a new trend. Is there a difference for you when it comes to a worldwide release like Fable 2?
Jason and Declan: The product release is sim ship so our production must be very close behind the developers to ensure we make it on time to market. The nature of game development is that there are changes happening right up till the end. For localization this is a big challenge and we have to put in place careful processes to ensure we capture all the changes in time for release. In reality it means plenty of late nights and overtimes in the last few weeks before we hand off to certification and then into Manufacturing.
Lionnose.net: Talking about the German version of Fable 2: Will it feature German texts and voice-overs?
Yes the German version is a fully localized product including the complete 40,000 lines of VO. This is one of the largest VO counts published by Microsoft to date.
Lionnose.net: Can you provide some information about how many lines of text need to be translated and how many minutes of spoken dialogue need to be synchronized?
Jason and Declan: The total VO word count for Fable2 is approx 320,000 words. 70-100k words of VO will be dubbed for quests including the cinematics. Additionally the AI word count equates to about 220k. The actual number of minutes recorded equates to a total of approx 35hrs of spoken dialogue. Including the SW UI (spoken word user interface)and the Print manuals we will be translating approx 400K words of content.
Lionnose.net: How many German voice actors have been chosen for the localization?
Jason and Declan: Between 45-50 professional dubbing actors.
Lionnose.net: Are there any German voice actors players may recognize from the movies, TV or even other video games? Maybe from the first Fable?
Jason and Declan: Garth is played by the German voice for Marlon Brando and Sam L Jackson. Reaver is played by the German voice for Kevin Spacey and Billy B Thornton.
Lionnose.net: Do you plan to support lip-sync in the German version?
Jason and Declan: Absolutely. The lip sync is generated as part of the build process and all VO for lip sync is run through an animation tool in order to generate the correct lip movements.
Lionnose.net: The German and English languages differ in many aspects - have you so far come across any problems during the localization? For example, German sentences are usually longer than English ones so need more space on screen and thus take longer to read.
Jason and Declan: We have been managing Games for the German market for over 12 years now so we know what to look out for. In the months before the translation effort starts we work with the developers to try and ensure we have enough space for all our languages to fit but sometimes we do have to abbreviate words due to UI restrictions. We always try to avoid it wherever possible. German is always the biggest challenge!
Lionnose.net: Thank you very much for your time!
