subtitles.helpHow it works (FivePass)
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How this subtitle was made

If you arrived here from the last line of a subtitle — yes, it was translated with artificial intelligence. But not with «one click».

Most AI subtitle translations are one pass through a machine — hence their bad reputation. Here, every file goes through the FivePass method: five separate passes, each with one job.

1Characters & gender

First we learn who is who and their gender — from IMDb/Wikipedia, or from the dialogue itself when the film isn't found — so adjectives, participles and forms of address agree correctly, exactly where automatic translations usually give themselves away.

2Terminology & names

We lock the film's key names and terms so they read the same from the first line to the last — not «Frodo» in one line and «Frodho» in the next.

3Translation

Each subtitle is translated with its scene's context and the material from steps 1-2 — directly into the target language, never through a third language.

4Language editing

A second, independent pass that fixes ONLY what needs it: calques, word-for-word renderings, unnatural phrasing, wrong terminology. Anything already right stays untouched.

5Readability

Reading-speed (CPS) and line-length (CPL) checks against professional subtitling standards — whatever can't be read in time is condensed without losing meaning.

Transparency note: on very small files, any pass with nothing to offer (e.g. a consistency glossary for 20 subtitles) is skipped automatically — you don't pay for busywork.

What we DON'T do

• We don't «fix» sync — if the original file is out of time with your video, so will the translation be (that's what tools like ffsubsync are for).
• We don't see the video — in rare cases (e.g. who is speaking to whom) this can cost a gender or style error. We say so because we'd rather you know what you're buying.