Quality Control
Our highly technical QC team is driven by key performance indicators and metrics. IDC quality control experts are ready to comb through any AV, M&E, audio stems, captions, subtitles, dubs, DCPs, Blu-rays, or any other assets to ensure pristine deliverables. We ensure the best quality to deliver a great audience experience for your consumers. We offer all levels of QC for any resolution, from the pristine to the 5 point, spot check QC.
Scripting
IDC has a dedicated team of leading experts in this core line of business. Creating As Broadcast Scripts (ABS), Dialogue Lists (DL), and Pivot Language Dialogue Lists (PLDL), as well as Combined Continuity Spotting Lists (CCSL), enables us to help document every term, phrase and carefully-constructed shot. We can meet any requirement with accuracy and promptness. Our experienced linguistic experts ensure that each deliverable supports your project in its own unique way. One of our seasoned project managers will guide you through the process and help you select the format that’s best for you.
ABS
As-Broadcast Script includes verbatim dialogue, on-screen text, and burned-in text, exactly as aired on broadcast or streaming.
DL
Dialogue Lists include all spoken dialogue (including other vocalizations) precisely transcribed from its original source language, along with the name of each character who is speaking and any on screen text. Annotations are also provided for slang terms & cultural references.
PLDL
Pivot Language Dialogue Lists are fully transcribed in the original foreign source language (including other vocalizations) and translated into the target pivot language (ie. Spanish to English, Italian to English, etc.) along with character names and any additional on-screen text. Annotations are also provided for slang terms & cultural/historical references.
CCSL
Based on the final product, Combined Continuity Spotting Lists are the most comprehensive of our scripting services. They contain precise lines of dialogue, along with timecodes, locations, music cues, and shot-by-shot descriptions of each scene. They also include transcriptions of dialogue segmented and timed the way subtitles would be.
Localization
Dubbing
Creating quality dubbing takes a village – and a uniquely talented one at that. From casting, translation, and adaptation, through recording, editing, & mixing, the dubs we create deliver all the emotion and nuances of the original version, adapted and performed with a natural feel. Whether a lip sync dub, voiceover-style, or even lector-style, our talented directors and producers make sure the creative intent remains consistent with the original production and provides a seamless viewing experience. Our expert teams and talent create dubbed audio to the highest technical quality and exceed even the most stringent standards for any platform or viewing environment.
• Lip Sync Most often used with scripted movies and series, lip sync dubs fully replace the original-language dialogue with new dialogue adapted to the target language.
• Voiceover Oftenly used for unscripted, documentary, or reality programming, VO mixes keep the original dialogue and translate it with UN- or newsreel-style voiceover in the target language. Styles and conventions vary by region, but most styles use multiple voices.
• Lector Style Generally used in Poland, one reader speaks all the lines of dialogue, without matching tone or emotion.
Casting
In our casting decisions, we strive to capture the texture and feel of each character and project. We cast diverse and appropriate voices to match the tone of each part to create localized versions that are both compelling to local audiences and true to the original.
Timed Text
Timed Text is a bridge to your content for audiences who speak other languages or are deaf/hard of hearing. Whether your content needs subtitles, SDH/closed captioning or forced narratives, we make sure your project's needs are met. Our team of over 1000 linguists in over 80 countries work together to convey the intent and impact of your message seamlessly to local audiences. We thrive on developing creative solutions for the inter-cultural challenges presented by the art of translation. Our in-house and local experts work tirelessly to create the best experience for our clients and audiences alike. Far beyond maintaining impeccable standards in correct spelling, grammar, pronunciation, and idiomatic translation, we create timed text with the care and nuance your project deserves. We take pride in building bridges and connecting people globally by ensuring that your content does not feel “translated” and can be enjoyed by all audiences.
Audio Description
IDC is honored to be recognized by blind and low-vision consumers as a leader in the field of Audio Description. All of our AD projects are written by our rigorously trained staff, voiced by a diverse roster of voiceover talent, and QC’ed not only for accuracy, but also clarity, tone, vocabulary, and cultural competency. We pride ourselves on being one of the only major AD providers regularly hiring narrators and QC specialists who are themselves blind and low-vision. Our on-staff & freelance writers and narrators carefully match the tone of each project, allowing our concise, vivid description to support and enhance the source material without distracting from it. We’re not interested in just checking a box; IDC understands that accessibility is a key to connecting cultural and societal gaps, and we bestow it the close attention to detail that it deserves.
Accessibility
It is paramount to us to enhance the media experience for blind, low-vision, d/Deaf, hard of hearing, and Disabled audience members around the world. Everyone deserves equitable access to film and TV content. This means that when we write a script for audio description, we choose the most evocative vocabulary without overwriting, and making sure all plot-pertinent dialogue is preserved. Our SDH/closed captions are true to the spoken words, with the appropriate descriptors and identifiers. Our devoted team of linguists assure authentic language translations for subtitles and dubbing, bring pictures and words to life in the most powerful way possible for everyone around the globe.
Creative
We will bring your vision to life. Our creative staff possesses a wide mix of storytelling skills and specialties in both sight and sound. Whether you’re building a project from scratch or just need a few finishing touches: voiceover and music recording, audio post, mixing and conforming in 2.0, 5.1 and Atmos, UHD and HDR color correction. No matter what, we’ll perfect your project with flair and finesse.
Audio Recording
Audio recording is both an art and a science that our recordists approach with a masterful precision that only comes from years of experience. Understanding subtle dynamic differences and frequency response characteristics over a wide range of microphones allows us to select the optimal equipment to capture every rich, subtle inflection of voice and musical intonation. The ADR process is another area where our expertise shines, having the skills to replace field audio transparently as if it were originally captured on location.
Audio Mixing
Our team of audio mixers create immersive sonic experiences that seamlessly engage audiences in the scene. We honor your creative vision and make it audibly, visually, and distinctively yours. Our senior engineers know exactly how and when to boost the bass for a club scene, deftly sidestep the dialogue for audio description, and precisely time sound effects for the perfect jump-scare. We know the value of being able to drop a viewer into the auditory feel of a scene and we’re here to exceed your expectations.
Fixes
We correct continuity, color mis-times, motion lag, framing errors, dead pixels, judder, lip sync errors, ticks, pops, static, dropouts, missing or extraneous audio, navigation issues, and much more. We can help with your censorship and S&P needs. Whether your source is 8K, 4K, ATMOS content, or SD stereo classics, our dedicated project managers will work closely with you to help deliver a spotless final product. It’s this diligence that separates us from the rest.
Media Fulfillment
Deliverables
When the industry transitioned from film to digital, IDC was ahead of the curve. With years of experience in creating mastering deliverables and its variations of client-specific specs and guidelines, IDC is the smart choice to ensure your project is optimized to your requirements.
IDC’s aptitude and foresight in efficiency and scalability enables us to incorporate a wide variety of tools to create the highest quality with the fastest turnarounds from 8K to your screeners and everything else in between. We are pleased to offer these services in addition to the full range of available legacy mezzanine file formats, in all resolutions.
At IDC, we take great care to thoroughly evaluate and create master mezzanine files for your distribution's delivery deals, including and not limited to: adding breaks, alternate title cards & credits, screener files, DVD & Blu-ray discs with burned-in IDs, multi-language subtitles, show reels, sizzle reels, EPKs, upfronts, and exhibition loops in all resolutions.
Mastering
Our end-to-end workflows for mastering servicing are second to none. We take great care to thoroughly QC your source files and create pristine master mezzanine files to be used as the new sources for a variety of distributions that may include: international, next day, new launches by creating alternate files versioning, frame rate conversions, PSE Harding test & fixes, multi-language subtitles, Audio Description, and scripting services at scale.
Conforms
IDC works endlessly on conform projects, including closed captioning, subtitles, and dubbed languages. We do everything from adjusting and improving Audio Description tracks to re-sizing a low-resolution edit to meet your exact specifications. Transparency & open communication is key, and one of IDC’s dedicated project managers will be beside you the whole way to ensure your needs are fulfilled and met timely.
Authoring
IDC has been on the forefront of optical media production since its inception. As an early adopter of DVD and Blu-ray media creation tools, IDC has over twenty years of production experience in the authoring of optical media. Our range of professional services covers everything from the fast turnaround of screener discs and replication to fully featured multi-menu driven programs for commercial distribution. We also author UHD content encoded and optimized for the latest generation of 4K Blu-ray players and display systems.
Metadata
Metadata is essential in delivering files from distributors to various platforms. We offer metadata translation in over 80 different languages. Our metadata services are continually evolving to support changing platforms, specs and guidelines, while also supporting existing transforming platforms, in turn creating more efficient workflows for our partners. Our ongoing service offering includes updating, editing, validation, processing bulk orders, API, and compiling metadata code to adhere to platform-specific requirements. We recruit and work with industry experts to ensure that we follow best practices for delivery of your content.
Digitization
With over 30 years of experience in video production and distribution, IDC has maintained a comprehensive range of legacy video equipment in nearly all formats. With the increasing scarcity of functional playback equipment, it has become critical to transfer assets before they become
lost forever. IDC will carefully evaluate media that has started to deteriorate before digitizing to the highest quality master files, safeguarding it for the future.
Security
IDC’s stringent policies establish responsibility and accountability for each step in moving assets and data in and out of the facility. We monitor our facilities via CCTV to ensure physical infrastructure protection. In addition, tiered security protocol ensures only project assigned users access is in contact with your assets. NDAs, background checks, AORs, physical key card access control, and watermarking of all content are implemented in order to ensure proper safety protocols are in place. Penetration tests and vulnerability scans are performed regularly to help eliminate any potential risks. Our customized, comprehensive information security architecture ensures the confidentiality, integrity, and selective availability of all digital assets, information systems, and networks. We pride ourselves on consistently passing many of the industry’s most rigorous audits, and we are pleased to run facilities that have been approved by the Trusted Partner Network.
