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“Losing the Dark” Translations

The Earth from space, looking at the night side and seeing yellow lights burning brightly where there are cities on North America.

Losing the Dark is currently available in 15 different languages:

US English | Cantonese | French | German | Hebrew | Hindi | Japanese | Kannada | Korean | Mandarin | Norwegian | Polish | Russian | Spanish | Turkish

We want to offer Losing the Dark in as many languages as we can, for all to download and share. We made the translated versions provided below, working with kind volunteers from around the world. If you want to work with us to create a version in your preferred language, let us know.

First, contact the DarkSky’s John Barentine. He is coordinating and prioritizing all the translation projects, and will discuss with you the particular arrangements that need to be handled. (Please keep in mind that while your translation efforts may be provided free of charge, we still have real production studio costs to create, upload, and store the 30+ different formats of flat-screen and fulldome versions currently offered). When those arrangements have been finalized, here is the process we will follow to make other language versions available:

YOU DO THIS…
  1. Translate the script.
  2. Select and record a good-quality narrator.
  3. Edit the resulting narration into a timed narration master, and send it to LochNess Productions.
WE DO THIS…
  1. Mix your narration master into our existing music and sound effects tracks.
  2. Combine the new language soundtrack with the existing video, and encode into the various formats shown below.
  3. Publish the newly translated movies on the internet for all to share and enjoy.

The details…

  1. First, contact DarkSky International. It’s possible that translation work for the language you want may already be underway, but not indicated below.
  2. Next, download the English language script PDF and an English language show. You will use the English soundtrack of the movie as a timing reference for editing your translated narration text.
  3. Translate the script. Because the visual timing is already fixed, the durations of the translated paragraphs need to match their English counterparts closely.
  4. Select a voice talent to narrate your translated script. Explain to them how their narration will be used, and obtain their permission for their voice to be distributed in this show.
  5. Record your narrator reading your translated script. In your audio editing software, assemble the good takes and space the paragraphs to match the English timings.
  6. Send the resulting narration to LochNess Productions. We want to receive a 16-bit, 48-kHz WAV file, either 1) in mono, and/or 2) in stereo, with your narration only on the left channel, and our English soundtrack mixed in mono on the right channel, so we can hear how you aligned the timing of your narration with ours.
  7. We will mix your narration with our show master music and fx tracks, ensuring that the relative audio levels are optimal.
  8. Finally, LochNess Productions will merge the new audio soundtrack with the video, render it in all the various versions, and post those new movies on LochNessproductions.com, on darksky.org, on YouTube, etc.