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A translation-ready video is a video you can translate into other languages with few fixes afterward. Planning for translation from the start prevents three common problems:
Translated text gets cut off or overlaps other elements.
Special characters appear as missing characters.
Your team spends significant time fixing spacing, alignment, or animation timing in every language and every scene.
This article shares practical principles that prevent these problems.
✍️ Terms we use in this guide
Original video: the version you start with, usually in your main language.
Target language: the language you translate into.
Translated video: the version after the target-language text is applied.
Canvas: everything you can see in the video.
Script box: the voiceover.
💡 Quick rule of thumb: Keep it simple. Use fewer boxes, fewer layers on top of each other, and fewer animations. Test everything in your longest target language.
Design for Text Expansion
Text expansion means translated text takes up more space than the original text. This section applies to the canvas.
Many languages, for example German, often run 20–40% longer than English. A line that holds 100 characters in English may need room for 120 to 140 characters in a language that runs 20–40% longer. Building in flexibility from the start helps you avoid rework.
Build Flexible Layouts
Use generous text boxes, shapes, and buttons. Assume any element that holds text may need to grow.
Avoid placing text in tight areas, such as corners, gaps between fixed elements, or busy images.
Keep clear space around logos and avatars so longer text cannot collide with them.
Choose Translation-Safe Alignment
Use top-aligned text blocks where you can. Top-aligned text expands downward in a predictable way.
Take care with vertically centered text. Centered text expands in both directions and can overlap neighboring elements.
Structure Text Boxes for Translation
Text box structure affects how Synthesia translates your text. This section applies to the canvas.
When you split a sentence across several text boxes, each piece is translated and reviewed without the full context. This increases the risk of awkward phrasing, inconsistent tone, or grammar that breaks when the pieces are recombined. Word order also changes in many languages, so keeping a phrase together lets the translation reorder it to fit the target language.
Keep Full Sentences in One Text Box
Avoid splitting one sentence across several text boxes.
Keep each full sentence or phrase in a single text box so the translation system sees the complete context.
Use Phrase-Level or Sentence-Level Animations
Animate whole phrases or sentences. These animations hold up better when you translate.
Avoid setups that put each word in its own text box or layer.
✍️ Worth knowing: A sentence with 4 words in English might have 2 or 6 words in another language. This difference can break word-by-word timing and spacing.
Design for Animation-Safe Translation
Animation-safe translation means your animations still work after the text changes length or word order. This section applies to the canvas.
Without this planning, your team must fix timing, position, and spacing by hand before each translated video looks right.
Keep Scenes Simple
Use fewer separate text boxes and animations in each scene. After translation, text moves to new lines. When many elements animate independently, more of them can shift position or fall out of sync.
Avoid stacked or overlapping text layers that appear and disappear at different times. They are harder to track after translation and slower to fix. If you need layers, group related elements and keep their motion consistent.
Keep each headline and sentence in a single text box where possible. If one message is split across 3–5 text layers, you must reposition and retime each piece in every language.
Use Animations That Survive Text Changes
Translated text can be longer, wrap differently, or change word order. These changes throw off timing and positioning when a design is locked to specific moments in the script. Choose animations that still look intentional when text grows or wraps. This reduces fixes for each language and speeds up translation.
Check Brand Fonts and Special Characters
Font coverage decides whether translated text displays correctly. This section applies to the canvas and the script box.
Missing or broken characters in a translated video point to a font coverage issue. Not every typeface includes the characters every language needs, so some fonts do not support certain accents, diacritics, or language-specific letters by default.
Validate Your Brand Font Coverage
Many teams use an existing brand font, so check its limits before you translate.
Check whether your brand font supports the characters in your target languages.
Pay extra attention to accents, diacritics, and language-specific letters, for example ç ã ú ü ñ.
If your brand font lacks certain characters, those characters may display in a different typeface. This creates visual inconsistency across the video.
💡 To avoid this, use typefaces in your Brand Kit with broad multilingual character support, or set up language-specific Brand Kits so each locale uses a compatible font.
Write Translation-Friendly Source Content
Translation-friendly source content means your original text is easy to translate well. This section applies to the canvas and the script box.
Wording can read as unnatural, confusing, or out of step with your local teams, even when the translation is accurate. Clear source text prevents this.
Avoid Wordplay and Puns
Wordplay and puns do not carry over to other languages. They can look awkward or lose their meaning.
Examples include rhyming taglines, double meanings, and wordplay that relies on English.
Use Consistent Terminology
Use the same words for the same concepts throughout your video. This makes your message clearer for your original audience and for translated versions.
Create a Glossary if you use specialized terms, product names, or pronunciations that must stay consistent.
Translation-Ready Checklist
Use this checklist to confirm your video is ready for translation. Before you select Translate, work through these four areas.
Text and Layout
Text and Layout
Do all text boxes have room to grow 20–40% without overlapping other elements or running off the screen?
Do logos, avatars, and key visual elements have clear space around them?
Is each full sentence in its own text box, not split across several boxes?
Animation
Animation
Are animations set at phrase or sentence level, not word by word?
Are scenes simple, with few moving parts and few independent animations?
Are related text layers grouped instead of stacked or overlapping at different times?
Fonts
Fonts
Does your Brand Kit font support the characters your target languages need?
Have you tested with real translated text?
Do you have an agreed fallback plan, such as multilingual-safe typefaces or language-specific Brand Kits, to keep typography consistent?
Content
Content
Does your script avoid wordplay, puns, and rhyming taglines that will not survive translation?
Do you use the same words for the same concepts throughout?
💬 FAQs
How much longer will my text be after translation?
How much longer will my text be after translation?
Many languages, for example German, often run 20–40% longer than English. A line that holds 100 characters in English may need room for 120 to 140 characters in the translated video. Leave extra room in every text box so translated text fits.
Why should I keep a full sentence in one text box?
Why should I keep a full sentence in one text box?
Keeping a full sentence in one text box gives the translation system the complete context. When you split a sentence across several boxes, each piece is translated separately, which can produce awkward phrasing or grammar that breaks when the pieces are recombined.
What happens if my brand font does not support a character in my target language?
What happens if my brand font does not support a character in my target language?
If your brand font does not include a character that a translated video needs, that character may display in a different typeface, which makes the text look inconsistent. Check font coverage for each target language before you translate, and choose Brand Kit typefaces with broad multilingual support.
📚 To learn how to translate a video, check out How do I translate a video.
📚 To manage consistent terms and pronunciations, check out How do I use the Glossary to manage translations and pronunciations.
📚 For technical details, visit Video Translation – Synthesia Docs.