YouTube's FREE Automatic Dubbing (multilingual & multi-track audio)

Summary

YouTube has launched a long-awaited foreign language audio dubbing feature for creators, enabling automatic dubbing of videos into multiple languages like French, German, Hindi, and Spanish. The feature is accessible through the 'Advanced Settings' of the YouTube Studio and allows creators to review and approve language tracks. While this works for new uploads, it doesn’t apply to previously uploaded content. The feature includes an option to preview dubbed videos and adjust settings for accuracy. While not perfect, this is a promising step toward more inclusive and accessible content for global audiences.

Takeaways

• 😀 YouTube is rolling out a foreign language audio dubbing feature for creators, which allows them to offer their videos in multiple languages.
• 😀 The dubbing feature had been delayed for several years, but it is now available, bringing a much-anticipated change.
• 😀 To use the dubbing feature, creators must go to Settings > Upload Defaults > Advanced Settings and enable 'Automatic Dubbing' for new uploads.
• 😀 The dubbing feature only works for new uploads and doesn't apply to already published or unlisted videos, although reuploading can enable it.
• 😀 By default, the dubbing feature is enabled, but creators can opt to review it manually or enable experimental languages for their videos.
• 😀 A variety of languages are available for dubbing, including French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish.
• 😀 The language options also include some dialects, and certain languages like Hindi, Indonesian, and Japanese are categorized as experimental.
• 😀 The dubbed videos are previewable, and creators can switch between published and draft versions of the dubs in different languages.
• 😀 The language accuracy of automated dubs varies, but the dubs are clear and understandable, especially in languages like German, which the creator is fluent in.
• 😀 YouTube's dubbing does not aim to match lip movements exactly but focuses on translation accuracy, which may impact the experience slightly.
• 😀 For better accuracy, creators should clean up automatic captions, ensuring proper nouns are capitalized, punctuation is correct, and sentences are clear.
• 😀 The creator hopes YouTube will allow uploading custom audio tracks in the future and include descriptive audio tracks for accessibility.

Q & A

What is the foreign language audio dubbing feature introduced by YouTube?

YouTube's foreign language audio dubbing feature allows creators to automatically add dubbed audio tracks in different languages to their videos, making their content accessible to a global audience.

How long has the audio dubbing feature been in development?

The feature was first announced around 3 to 4 years ago, but it faced several delays before being rolled out recently.

Where can creators find the new dubbing options on YouTube?

Creators can find the dubbing options by going to their Settings, selecting Upload Defaults, and then Advanced Settings. There, they will see a new section called 'Automatic Dubbing' if the feature is available for their channel.

Can the dubbing feature be applied to already-uploaded videos?

Unfortunately, the dubbing feature only works for new uploads. It cannot be applied to videos that have already been uploaded, whether they are published or unlisted. However, creators can re-upload videos if they want to use the dubbing feature.

What languages are available for dubbing in the feature?

The available languages for dubbing are French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish. Some languages, like Hindi, Indonesian, and Japanese, are marked as experimental.

Can creators preview the dubbed audio in different languages?

Yes, creators can preview the dubbed content in different languages through the new language settings. They can select a language and listen to the dubbed version of their video.

Is it possible to edit the subtitles for the dubbed languages?

Subtitles are not automatically added with the dubbed tracks. However, creators can edit and upload new subtitles manually, allowing for more control over the translated content.

How accurate is the automatic dubbing feature?

The automatic dubbing feature is still not perfect. It provides a general translation, but the voice cadence may not perfectly match the original video. It also depends on the language, and the translations tend to be more accurate in languages with more consistent vocabulary, like German.

What improvements does the creator hope for in the future regarding the dubbing feature?

The creator hopes for the ability to upload their own custom audio tracks in supported languages and an option for a descriptive audio track in the video's native language to enhance accessibility.

What advice does the creator give for improving caption accuracy?

The creator advises cleaning up automatically generated captions by capitalizing proper nouns and product names, as well as using correct punctuation. This helps improve machine translation accuracy and ensures better dubbing results.