Creating Multilingual Training Materials for Overseas Audiences from Training Videos—Optimizing Quality, Cost, and Turnaround Time with AI-Generated Voice and MTPE

Company A, a Construction Equipment Manufacturer

Translation and Multilingual Training Material Production

Company A, a construction equipment manufacturer with global operations, created multilingual training materials for overseas audiences using videos of training sessions conducted in Japanese. Human Science handled the entire process, from transcribing and rewriting the Japanese audio to machine translation and post-editing, generating AI voiceovers, and embedding the audio in PowerPoint.

Company Overview

Industry: Construction equipment manufacturing
Business: Manufacturing and sales of construction equipment

Services Utilized

Transcription and rewriting of Japanese lecture audio
Multilingual translation of training materials
MTPE (machine translation and post-editing)
Multilingual AI-generated audio production and quality checks
Audio integration and editing in PowerPoint

Project Overview

Scope: Multilingual training materials for international audiences
Format: Lecture audio and training materials (PowerPoint)
Services: Japanese transcription and rewriting, machine translation, post-editing, AI voice generation, and PowerPoint editing
Deliverables: PowerPoint training materials with multilingual audio

Project Background and Challenges

Company A wanted to deliver its Japanese-language training overseas by creating multilingual audio content with the same material, based on Japanese lecture videos and the PowerPoint files used in the training.

However, there was no written transcript of the instructor's Japanese lecture, so translation could not begin immediately. The audio from the videos first had to be transcribed and edited into a suitable source text for translation.

The start date for the overseas training had already been set, so the multilingual audio content needed to be completed within the specified production schedule.

Why They Chose Human Science: Production Methods Tailored to QCD and End-to-End Service

Human Science proposed several production plans, taking into account the balance between quality, cost, and delivery (QCD).

During the proposal stage, we provided samples to give the client a clear picture of the final output before they considered the production approach.

The client also valued our ability to handle the entire process, from Japanese transcription and rewriting to multilingual translation, audio generation, and PowerPoint file editing, and chose to work with us.

Proposal Details

Use of AI-Generated Voice

We used AI-generated voice to produce multilingual audio.

Lower audio production costs by eliminating the need to arrange narrators for each language
No need to rent a recording studio or coordinate schedules for attending recording sessions
Flexible re-recording when scripts are revised
Consistent audio quality when re-recording for future revisions

Use of MTPE (Machine Translation and Post-Editing)

For translation, we used MTPE, which combines machine translation and post-editing.

Reduced translation costs compared with human translation
Shorter lead times for training material production through a shorter translation schedule
Translation quality comparable to human translation through full post-editing

Production Process

1. Japanese Transcription and Rewriting

We used a tool to transcribe the audio from the Japanese training video. Because the transcript contained errors, remarks unrelated to the content, and colloquial language, we rewrote it in a style suitable for a narration script. We also refined the wording to make it easier to process with machine translation and reordered the topics to improve the effectiveness of the training. After the customer reviewed it, the script was finalized for translation.

2. Machine Translation and Post-Editing (Full Editing)

The finalized script was machine-translated and then fully post-edited by native speakers of each language. Terminology was selected and standardized, and the translations were reviewed by the client and finalized as scripts for AI-generated audio.

3. AI-generated audio production and review

We generated AI audio from the finalized multilingual scripts, then had native speakers of each language review and correct the audio.

Does the audio match the translated text?
Are there any unclear or unnatural passages?
Whether numbers are read correctly
Whether units are read correctly
Whether abbreviations are read correctly

To use AI-generated audio effectively, it was also important to specify abbreviations and proper nouns before generation, design a workflow that includes time for review and corrections, and create a checklist for reviewing the audio immediately after generation.

4. Incorporating Audio Files into PowerPoint

We assigned the completed audio files to individual PowerPoint slides. To optimize the training content, we also adjusted the audio file assignments according to the content covered on each slide.

Post-Delivery Feedback

The client appreciated being able to choose a production approach from multiple plans based on their quality, cost, and delivery requirements; visualize the final output in advance through samples; and entrust the entire process to a single provider, from Japanese transcription and rewriting to multilingual translation, multilingual audio generation, and PowerPoint editing.

The customer also reported that, once production began, both our service and quality met their expectations, giving them confidence in entrusting the project to us.

From Human Science Representatives

Handling multilingual machine translation and post-editing, AI-generated voice editing, and PowerPoint editing together requires a production team with expertise across multiple disciplines. In addition, creating clear, effective multilingual training materials may require rewriting the Japanese source text before translation begins.

Human Science has technical writers, translation coordinators, post-editors, and content production engineers who have worked on multilingual translation projects. Drawing on this experience and expertise, we propose production methods tailored to each customer's needs.

We will continue to support the creation of multilingual education and training content.

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