| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: By how much has the use of CAT tools increased your translation productivity? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Giles Watson 
Italy
Local time: 23:12
Italian to English
Til minne om | Improved quality, not necessarily quantity | Jun 21, 2010 |
In general, I find that the translation time I save using a CAT tool (currently Trados 2009 Suite) tends to get used up by TM and termbase maintenance. No real time saving, then, but the improvement in quality is tangible.
There is also the little matter of being able to work directly with the more exotic file types. One of my current projects is a photo book for a small publisher who uses InDesign CS4. Translating the INX file in Studio is way easier than fiddling around with a mes... See more In general, I find that the translation time I save using a CAT tool (currently Trados 2009 Suite) tends to get used up by TM and termbase maintenance. No real time saving, then, but the improvement in quality is tangible.
There is also the little matter of being able to work directly with the more exotic file types. One of my current projects is a photo book for a small publisher who uses InDesign CS4. Translating the INX file in Studio is way easier than fiddling around with a messy, hard return-bespattered RTF text export in Word or ploughing through what can turn out to be an unappetising plate of tag soup in TagEditor or DVX ▲ Collapse
| | | | Amy Duncan (X)
Brazil
Local time: 18:12
Portuguese to English
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| You must be kidding | Jun 21, 2010 |
Erik Matson wrote: I am shocked to see how many "translators" don't have/use CAT-tools. Must be "hobby translators"!
Does that mean that all translators were "hobby 'translators" before CAT tools were invented? I'm really hoping that "wink" means you're kidding.
I used Trados for a couple of years and detested it. I do mostly literary translations, where CAT tools are worse than useless.
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 14:12
English to German
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Til minne om | @ Erik Matson: Not funny. | Jun 21, 2010 |
Erik Matson wrote: I am shocked to see how many "translators" don't have/use CAT-tools. Must be "hobby translators"!
What you said is a slap in the face of all the truly seasoned and experienced colleagues who were busy translating before there even were any PCs.
Edited for typo.
[Edited at 2010-06-21 17:27 GMT]
| | | | Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 23:12
English to French
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Erik Matson wrote: I am shocked to see how many "translators" don't have/use CAT-tools. Must be "hobby translators"!
You sound like a CAT tool: all and only a matter of words, huh?
We'll come back to the subject when you have a little more experience, the only thing that really increases productivity...
[Modifié le 2010-06-21 19:30 GMT]
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Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 23:12
English to French
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[Modifié le 2010-06-21 19:29 GMT]
| | | | Giles Watson
Italy
Local time: 23:12
Italian to English
Til minne om
Amy Duncan wrote:
I used Trados for a couple of years and detested it. I do mostly literary translations, where CAT tools are worse than useless.
For you, perhaps, Amy but not for everyone.
It is important not to confuse translation genres (literary, commercial, technical, editorial etc) with translation tools (CATs, word processors or good old pen and paper).
What the punters pay for is the result, not how it was achieved.
Giles
| | | | | Yes, pls define productivity. | Jun 22, 2010 |
How do you express productivity; in terms of income per hour or volume of text processed per hour?
I concur with Yasutomo. The good thing however about CAT tools, is that using them improves consistent use of expressions and terminology. Not paying for repetitions, I deem totally unfair. There should be an economically sound ROI on CAT tools. But all too often, the ROI is zero or negative. There is also an increasing pressure to upgrade CAT tools more frequently. Again, who benefits... See more How do you express productivity; in terms of income per hour or volume of text processed per hour?
I concur with Yasutomo. The good thing however about CAT tools, is that using them improves consistent use of expressions and terminology. Not paying for repetitions, I deem totally unfair. There should be an economically sound ROI on CAT tools. But all too often, the ROI is zero or negative. There is also an increasing pressure to upgrade CAT tools more frequently. Again, who benefits? The individual translator? I doubt it.
Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote:
I voted for "I don't know", except the fact that it has increased my translation productivity but at the same time decreased my income due to notorious CAT tool analysis and discounts on repetitions and fuzzy matches which I believe is unfair indeed. ▲ Collapse
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Alison Sabedoria (X)
United Kingdom
French to English
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| CAT versus clairvoyant translating | Jun 22, 2010 |
Well said, Amy, Nicole & Interlangue!
The only "fuzzy matches" in my house are the ones that fall down the side of the cooker!
Like Amy, I find CAT of limited use for my kind of work. I can use Wordfast, but processing "pre-computer" texts to create files usually adds more work than the CAT saves.
If someone can find me a tool that can decipher a Medieval Latin or Old French manuscript - with all the non-standard spellings and abbreviations - now that ... See more Well said, Amy, Nicole & Interlangue!
The only "fuzzy matches" in my house are the ones that fall down the side of the cooker!
Like Amy, I find CAT of limited use for my kind of work. I can use Wordfast, but processing "pre-computer" texts to create files usually adds more work than the CAT saves.
If someone can find me a tool that can decipher a Medieval Latin or Old French manuscript - with all the non-standard spellings and abbreviations - now that would be useful!
Cultivating the art of clairvoyant or channelled translating might be more use to me - does anyone out there do this? Most of the authors I translate are dead, and it's a bit tricky trying to get in touch with them to ask which of two equally plausible readings is correct (the ambiguity is usually untranslatable). ▲ Collapse
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