Effortless Video Translation using Azure AI Services and Speech Studio

In today's globalized world, effective communication across languages is crucial for businesses, education, and entertainment. Video translation has emerged as a powerful tool to bridge language barriers. Video translation feature of Azure AI Speech service helps translate videos to various languages.

This feature was launched on 21-May-24 and is currently in Public Preview. We used this service recently and based on that I can say, "It does a good job".

Microsoft Speech Studio, which is based on Azure AI Speech service, offers a user-friendly interface for managing translation projects. It utilizes advanced AI algorithms for speech recognition and translation and supports a wide range of languages and dialects, ensuring accurate and natural translations that preserve the context and tone of the original content.

Additional Features:

• Multi-speaker identification
• Extracts dialogues/speech from the source video and transcribes it in source and target languages. Transcribed text files are available for download in vtt format.
• The transcription is available for text-editing and basis that the translated video can be updated.
• Option to use prebuilt neural voices or even your own personal voice for dubbing.
• Microsoft Azure prioritizes data security and regulatory compliance, providing robust encryption and compliance certifications such as GDPR and HIPAA. This ensures that sensitive content remains protected during translation and transmission.

?Current Limitations:

1. Currently this Video translation feature is supported only in East US region. But of course, can be accessed globally.
2. The source video should be in mp4 format, less than 500MB in size and less than 60 minutes of duration.
3. As of now, this feature can be used only via the Speech Studio. In future, Rest APIs and SDKs once available would indeed help in creating workflows, integration, and automation.

Options from other providers:

• Google Cloud has Translation AI services but it does not have simple user-friendly option for video translation. You will have to transcribe and translate and then use Text-to-speech API to synthesize.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides Amazon Translate and Amazon Transcribe. But again, not a direct solution for Video translation.
• There are several 3rd party apps available in the market who claims they can or will do video translations. I personally have not tried them much. And will definitely not recommend them enterprise work where security and compliance are of utmost importance.

?Conclusion

Azure AI Services and Speech Studio represent a robust choice for organizations seeking reliable, scalable, and accurate video translation solutions. By leveraging Microsoft's advanced AI technologies and cloud infrastructure, businesses can effectively localize content, expand their global reach, and enhance communication across diverse audiences.

Now, coming to the important part. How much will Video translation feature pinch your pocket? Personally, I felt that the current cost of $1 per output video minute is a bit too much. Hoping that when the service becomes GA, there will be some downward revision in pricing.