Speechmatics and Limecraft partner to help producers and distributors expand their target audiences

By incorporating Speechmatics’ ASR technology into the Limecraft Flow solution, producers can automatically transcribe their audio and video.

Speechmatics, leaders in machine learning and automatic speech recognition (ASR), is partnering with cloud-based video production workflow provider, Limecraft, to automatically produce same-language and translated subtitles for audio-visual material. The partnership leads to significant cost-savings for producers and distributors, and dramatically increases the value of their content. By incorporating Speechmatics’ ASR technology into the Limecraft Flow solution, producers can automatically transcribe their audio and video. Limecraft then uses the transcript to create broadcast-grade subtitles.

By using a specialised Natural Language Processing (NLP) service to compliment Speechmatics’ leading speech recognition technology, Limecraft Flow automates the spotting process, taking into account the rhythm of the edit and any applicable styling and timing rules. Allowing for post-editing, and given the nature of the content, customers report 50% to 75% cost saving compared to their current workflows.

Limecraft then uses the transcript to create broadcast-grade subtitles. By using a specialised Natural Language Processing (NLP) service to compliment Speechmatics’ leading speech recognition technology, Limecraft Flow automates the spotting process, taking into account the rhythm of the edit and any applicable styling and timing rules. Allowing for post-editing, and given the nature of the content, customers report 50% to 75% cost saving compared to their current workflows. By adding machine translation to the pipeline, Limecraft Flow also enables automatic translation of those subtitles into any other language, allowing producers and distributors to create different language versions at a fraction of the cost. By doing so, producers can now address a global market without the spending burden of several costly and time-consuming translation operations.

Maarten Verwaest, CEO and Founder of Limecraft, says:

“The proliferation of VOD and mobile distribution services has caused an explosion in the market for language services, and a considerable part of the market is subtitles created by artificial intelligence and machine learning. “We knew that professional producers would never accept garbled, computer-made captions. We tuned the solution to a point where it creates subtitles that come close to perfection. To do so, given that the ASR engine is at a core part of the offering, we tested various options from various providers, and Speechmatics’ technology outperformed them all.”

James Page, Product Owner at Speechmatics, adds:

“We are proud to partner with Limecraft and provide our industry-leading ASR technology to enable their customers to ultimately drive valuable business outcomes. We see this partnership as further testament to the quality of our technology.”