About

Translations convert the spoken language in a video into another language and appear as subtitles. Viewers can read the translated subtitles in their preferred language while the original audio remains unchanged.

Before you start

• Video must be in "Ready" status (transcoded)
• Video must be 60 seconds or more in length
• Your account must have Content Lab enabled
• Your account must have an active REACH profile enabled with relevant catalog item(s)

Order translations 

1. Open Content Lab. For instructions, see Access Content Lab in your Kaltura application.
2. Click Captions & Translations.
3. Click + Order captions and select Translations.



The Order translations screen displays. 



4. Complete the following fields:

• Unit – This option only appears in the event that different Reach profiles (budgets) are configured for each unit in your account. The selected unit will be charged for the translation request.
• Service type - Select Machine or Professional. Defaults to Machine if both are available. Options that are unavailable are greyed out.  
• Translation source - Select Existing captions or Original audio. Defaults to Existing captions if both are available. Options that are unavailable are greyed out.
• Source language - Select the source media language from the drop-down menu. The options in the menu are dependent on your REACH plan. Note - Captions with 99% accuracy are recommended for best translations results. You may also upload a captions file. 
• Target language - Select the desired language(s) you want the translations in from the drop-down menu. The options are dependent on your REACH plan. 
• Instructions (Professional only) - Add notes for human editors and reviewers. For example, you can provide guidance on terminology, speaker names, formatting preferences, or accessibility requirements.

5. Click Submit.
A confirmation message displays. 

Your translations order appears in the "In Progress" area of the Captions orders screen and is labeled as "Pending".
When the translations are ready, they are automatically added to the video.

Add instructions for professional translations

If you select Professional as the service type, you can use the Instructions field to share terminology or guidance specific to the media with professional reviewers.

You can:

• Type your own instructions in the Instructions field.
• Click a preset tag to populate the Instructions field, then select one of the suggested completions.
• Click a preset tag to populate the Instructions field, then edit or complete the text manually instead of selecting a suggested completion.

Preset tags

Preset tags are grouped into the following categories:

• Terminology & names – Define acronyms, speaker names, proper names, and preferred terminology.
• Include speaker labels – Request speaker labels where multiple speakers are present.
• Style & tone – Preserve wording, simplify phrasing, remove filler words, or maintain a consistent tone.
• Formatting – Improve punctuation, readability, and sentence casing.
• Accessibility – Include non-speech elements and clarify speaker identity.

Upload a captions file to translate

If you already have captions available, you can upload them and use them as the source for translation.

1. Click Upload caption file. 

   

   The Upload captions file screen displays. 

   

2. Click Upload. 
3. Select the captions file on your computer. 
4. Add a descriptive name for the translation. 
5. Select the language. 
6. Click Upload. 

   The uploaded caption file displays.