RE: Translation packages for Frame

["Schwedland, Steve" <Schwedsl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

We have been using S-Tagger for some time now to extract the text out of MIF
files for translation with great satisfaction.  We have had somewhat varied
success with Trados Workbench.  Basically, If you are going to use it from
this point on and not worry about previously translated documents, then you
will probably be very happy, we have been.  It was when we attempted to use
the WinAlign tool that we got into trouble.  

You must be sure that you have all of your segmentation rules set correctly
and uniformly, before you start creating alignment files otherwise the
aligned files will not be the same as the files being translated.  Also be
aware that sometimes the localized file and the English file segment in such
a way that they cannot be aligned at all.  You may want to do some fairly
extensive testing before you do full implementation.  I know this may sound
very basic, but be prepared to hire linguists to do the alignment.  I don't
know how you currently get your files translated, but keep in mind that the
Trados suite of tools were created as a translation aid for translators.
They are most effective when the translator is using them interactively in
the translation process.  Trados claims that the process can be automatic,
and to some extent it can, but it leaves a lot of room for errors.

The cost is not minimal, I think we paid about US$2500 for each S-tagger
license and about US$1500 for each Workbench license (which includes
MultiTerm).  I may be off on these prices, I don't generally deal with that
end of the business, but that is in the ballpark.

Steve

______________________________________
Steve Schwedland
Digital Publishing Facilitator 
SYKES Enterprises, Incorporated
Worldwide Product Information Development
5757 Central Avenue, Suite G
Boulder, CO 80301
Telephone: (303) 440-0909; ext. 133
Fax: (303) 440-6369
schwedsl@corp.sykes.com


> -----Original Message-----
> From:	John Pitt [SMTP:jpitt@wilcom.com.au]
> Sent:	Monday, January 04, 1999 7:39 PM
> To:	'Framers - FrameMaker Discussion List'; 'framers@omsys.com'
> Cc:	Ben Warburton
> Subject:	Translation packages for Frame
> 
> We are becoming very interested in alternatives to our in-house MIF-based
> multi-language translation tool for 13 European and Asian (double-byte)
> languages.
> 
> The S-Tagger/TRADOS suite looks extremely promising (although the size
> restriction on the demo versions disallows serious testing). We're
> awaiting
> price information from TRADOS, but I suspect it will not be cheap if their
> impressive self-running demos reflect the products accurately.
> 
> Has anyone used this suite in anger? Or know of any Australia-based
> companies which use it seriously?
> 
> What about other packages?
> 
> J
> 
> > John Pitt, Technical Writer
> > Wilcom Pty Ltd
> > (02) 9578 5176
> > mailto:jpitt@wilcom.com.au
> > or
> > mailto:johnpitt@zeta.org.au
> > 
> > 
> 
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