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Timed Text Style Guide Updates - October/November 2020

This article serves as a summary of all of the updates made to the Netflix timed text style guides in the October/November update cycle.

Please refer to the language specific style guide documents and their change logs for more details. This is a summary.

The Netflix timed text style guides are the source of truth for all subtitling and SDH-related preferences and specifications.

Always adhere to the TTSG of the language you are working with.

All languages

  • Advice has been added for all languages regarding keeping text on one line unless the characters per row limit has been exceeded
  • Advice has been added to TTSGs for languages which accept dual speaker subtitles: use only contained sentences in dual speaker subtitles, avoiding text which carries into or from the previous or subsequent subtitle
  • Advice for handling poetry has been added to all TTSGs and is a language specific preference. Check the TTSG for your language for more details
  • Advice for handling reading aloud has been added to all TTSGs and is a language specific preference. Check the TTSG for your language for more details
  • A pause has been defined in all TTSGs as being 2 seconds or longer
  • Confirmation that translator credits are not required for supplementals and marketing assets

Dutch

  • The Dutch TTSG has been updated with the following adjustments:
    • Adjusted advice around repetitions and inclusion of character names once established

English

  • The English TTSG has been updated to include:
    • Additional detail about representing decades vs. ages
    • Avoiding paraphrasing when editing text in SDH subtitles

French

  • The French TTSG has been updated to include:
    • Advice about diacritical marks
    • Masculine and feminine forms for job titles
    • Adjusted advice around quotations and repetitions

German

  • The German TTSG has been updated to include:
    • Advice around capitalization of words relating to race and ethnicity
    • Expanded dual speaker subtitle section
    • Line break advice
    • Adjusted advice for quotation marks

Greek

  • The references section in the Greek TTSG has been updated

Malay

  • The Malay TTSG has been expanded to include:
    • Advice regarding the capitalization of terms relating to race and ethnicity

Portuguese

  • The Portuguese TTSG has been updated with the following changes:
    • Adjustments to abbreviations section
    • Removal of advice around diacritics in character names
    • Adjustments to continuity section
    • Expansion of dual speaker subtitles section
    • Updates to wording around on-screen text formatting
    • Adjustments to foreign dialogue, numbers and italics sections
    • Updated references

Russian

  • The Russian TTSG has been edited with the following changes:
    • The references section has been edited
    • Advice around inclusion of profanity has been added

Spanish

  • The Spanish TTSG has been updated with:
    • Updated instructions around dual speaker subtitles
    • Revised wording for foreign dialogue and italics
    • Adjusted approach to quotations

Thai

  • The Thai TTSG has been expanded to include:
    • Additional numbering information
    • A new transliteration section
    • A new section regarding formality
    • Expanded details about abbreviations

Timing Guidelines

  • The Netflix subtitle timing guidelines have been updated with the following edits:
    • Adjusted advice about subtitling dialogue which starts just before a shot change
    • Adjusted advice about timing of FNs for on-screen text
    • Some screenshots have been updated
    • The timing advice has been removed from the supplementals and marketing TTSG
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