Content Factory — film subtitling services

Finished files

Production-ready output in the format your printer, platform or workshop actually needs — press PDF, editable source, CAD file, font binary or deck, as the work requires.

Editable sources

The working files, not just the export, so your team can change the work later without coming back to us.

Full rights

Copyright transfers to you on final payment. Nothing we make for you is resold or reused elsewhere.

Two revision rounds

Included in the quoted price. Corrections are logged against the draft rather than argued over on a call.

01 · Brief

You tell us what the finished thing has to do, and send whatever material you already have.

02 · Scope & price

A written scope, a fixed figure and a delivery date, usually within one working day.

03 · Structure

You sign off the architecture before production starts, so nothing large is built on a wrong assumption.

04 · Production

Work arrives in stages as it finishes, not all at the end, with two revision rounds included.

05 · Handover

Files, sources and rights in your hands, and the invoice closed.

Three working days for a feature, in any language. ₹25,000 per Indian language, ₹50,000 per foreign language, spotting included.

Reading speed decides the words

A subtitle has to be readable in the time it is on screen. That caps characters per line and per second, which means the translation is frequently rewritten shorter rather than rendered faithfully. A literal translation that cannot be read is a failed subtitle.

Spotting to the cut

Subtitles are timed to the edit, not to the dialogue alone. A subtitle that runs across a shot change pulls the eye and breaks the scene, so in and out points are set against the cuts.

Register, idiom and abuse

Slang, regional idiom, songs and swearing all need a decision rather than a dictionary. How strong is too strong for the certification, what a Madurai idiom becomes in Arabic, whether a song is subtitled at all.

Scripts that behave differently

Arabic reads right to left. Japanese mixes three scripts and breaks lines by different rules. Tamil and Telugu stack vowel signs that clip at ordinary line height. Each needs a font and a line-break rule that the projector or player will honour.

Release dates do not move

Theatrical work arrives late and cannot be late leaving. Three working days is the commitment, and it holds when the locked edit reaches us four days before release.

Delivered in the format your pipeline takes

SRT and VTT for streaming and edit review, EBU-STL for broadcast, timed XML for digital cinema packaging, and burnt-in where the platform requires it.

Feature film producers

Theatrical release subtitles across multiple languages simultaneously, delivered to the release date rather than to a comfortable schedule.

Digital cinema and distribution

Timed subtitle files prepared for digital cinema packaging, reel by reel, in the format the packaging house expects.

OTT platforms and aggregators

Series and film subtitles to platform specification, with the character limits, line counts and file naming each platform enforces.

Broadcasters

EBU-STL and closed captions for television, with the compliance requirements that come with them.

Corporate and e-learning

Training video, product film and course content subtitled across the languages your workforce actually uses.

Festival submissions

English subtitles written for a jury rather than an audience, where nuance matters more than brevity, to the festival’s own file specification.

How much does film subtitling cost?

₹25,000 per feature film for an Indian language and ₹50,000 for a foreign language, including spotting and timing. Additional languages on the same film are quoted per language and run in parallel. Fixed in writing before work starts.

How long does it take?

Three working days for a full-length feature. Multiple languages run at the same time, so a simultaneous multi-language release does not multiply the schedule. Trailers and promos in 24 to 48 hours.

Do you do the timing, or only the translation?

Both. Content Factory spots and times from the locked picture and delivers the finished subtitle file. If you already have timed English subtitles we can translate against that timing instead, which is faster and cheaper.

Which file formats do you deliver?

SRT and VTT for streaming and review, EBU-STL for broadcast, timed XML for digital cinema packaging, and burnt-in versions where a platform requires them. Tell us the pipeline and we deliver into it.

Which languages?

All Indian languages, and fifty-plus foreign languages including Arabic, Serbian, German, Spanish, Malay, Japanese and Polish. Every one written by a native speaker and checked by a second.

Is our film kept confidential?

An NDA is signed before any material is sent. Content Factory does not name titles or clients anywhere, including on this site, and pre-release material is handled on that basis as a matter of course.

How much does subtitling & captions cost?

Prices are fixed in writing before work begins. Scope, language count and turnaround move the figure; volume across a programme brings it down. Send the brief and you have a number within a working day.

How long does it take?

Most single deliverables run three to fourteen weeks depending on length and complexity. Programmes are staged so early parts reach you while later parts are still in production. You get a date with the quote.

Who does the work?

A specialist from our global language services team, with an editor and a production person on the same project. Everyone is bound by the same confidentiality terms.

Do I own the result?

Yes. Full copyright transfer, editable sources and production-ready files on final payment. Nothing is resold or reused.

Can it be produced in other languages?

Yes — any of a hundred-plus languages, typeset in the same studio so layout and page numbers match across editions.

Do you work with clients outside India?

Yes. Publishers, institutions and founders in the United States, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Canada, Australia and Japan. Work is delivered by email and shared drive and quoted in US dollars.