Writing a Localization Project Plan From Scope to Close-Out

A project is not a program

Ongoing localization (a strategy, a team structure, a governance process) runs indefinitely. A localization project has a start, an end and a defined deliverable: "translate the 24-video onboarding course into Spanish and German by the end of the quarter." Treating it as a project, with a plan and a close-out, stops it from quietly turning into an open-ended commitment.

The plan does not need specialist software. A shared document and a spreadsheet are enough for most projects under a few hundred assets. What matters is that each section below is written down and agreed before work starts.

Define the scope

Scope is the section most often left vague and most often regretted. Write down:

• Content: which assets are included, by name or by rule ("all videos in the onboarding course, version 3").
• Languages: each target language, including regional variant where it matters.
• Formats: per asset, whether the output is subtitles, a dubbed version, a translated transcript or a combination.
• Depth: what is adapted beyond translation, such as thumbnails, on-screen graphics, examples or metadata.
• Quality bar: what level of review each asset gets.
• Out of scope: what is explicitly not included, such as re-recording, interface localization or new content.

The out-of-scope list prevents most scope creep. When someone asks halfway through whether the project can also translate the course quizzes, the answer is already written down, and adding them becomes a deliberate change with its own time and cost.

Build the content inventory

List every asset in scope with its attributes. For video projects, useful columns are:

Asset ID and title

A stable reference used in every file name and message

Length

Minutes, used for cost and review estimates

Source version

The exact version being localized

Format per language

Subtitles, dub, transcript, or several

Blockers

Burned-in text, music under speech, several speakers, poor audio

Owner and status

Who is handling it, and where it is in the workflow

The blockers column changes estimates. A clean narrated video can go from source to reviewed translation quickly, while one with on-screen text in every scene needs graphics work that may take longer than everything else combined. The article on making videos translation-ready lists the features that cause most trouble.

Estimate effort and build the schedule

Estimate per asset and language, then add up. The main effort lines are usually:

1. Preparation: confirming source versions, collecting project files, preparing glossaries.
2. Processing: transcription, translation and dubbing; often fast with automated tools.
3. Review: fluent reviewers checking each language; usually the largest time line.
4. Fixes: applying review corrections and re-checking.
5. Adaptation: graphics, thumbnails, metadata.
6. Publishing: uploading, linking, updating pages and records.

Schedule review as the constraint. If each reviewer has six hours a week, that capacity sets the pace, not processing speed. Add buffers for holidays in the reviewers' countries, which may differ from yours, and for the first batch, which always takes longer while terms and standards settle.

A pilot batch of two or three assets per language, fully reviewed and published before the rest, is the most reliable way to calibrate the schedule.

List the risks up front

A short risk list with an owner and a response for each is enough:

• Source content changes mid-project: freeze source versions at kick-off and log any change as a scope change.
• Reviewer unavailable: name a backup reviewer for each language.
• Terminology disputes: name one person who decides, and record decisions in the glossary.
• Technical blockers (unsupported file formats, missing project files): check every source file during inventory, not during production.
• Legal or compliance content: identify it early and route it to qualified review.
• Underestimated review time: use pilot-batch timings to re-plan.

Kick-off and hand-offs

Hold a short kick-off with everyone who touches the work: requester, producer, reviewers, approvers and publisher. Confirm scope, schedule, glossary, the review standard and how files move. The most valuable outcome is that each reviewer knows exactly what they will receive, when, and what they are expected to check.

Then define every hand-off explicitly. A hand-off is any point where work moves from one person to another, and each one needs:

1. What is handed over: file names, formats and versions.
2. Where it is placed: a shared folder or tracker, never an email attachment alone.
3. What "done" means for the sender.
4. How the receiver confirms they have it and when they will return it.

Most delays in localization projects happen at hand-offs, not inside tasks. A reviewer who does not know a batch has arrived can lose a week. The step-by-step mechanics of reviewing a translated video belong in the team review workflow; the project plan only needs to say who reviews, by when, and where the results go.

A responsibility matrix

A responsibility matrix (often called RACI) records, for each activity, who is Responsible for doing it, who is Accountable for the result, who is Consulted and who is Informed.

Scope and priorities

Accountable: project lead; Consulted: requester; Informed: all

Source preparation

Responsible: producer; Accountable: project lead

Processing and translation

Responsible: producer; Informed: reviewers

Language review

Responsible: reviewer per language; Accountable: project lead

Terminology decisions

Responsible: glossary owner; Consulted: reviewers

Legal or compliance sign-off

Responsible: approver; Accountable: approver

Publishing and records

Responsible: publisher; Informed: requester

Keep only one Accountable person per activity. When two people are accountable, neither is.

Pitfalls that sink localization projects

• Starting without a frozen source version, then localizing a moving target.
• Treating processing time as the schedule, and discovering review capacity too late.
• Skipping the pilot batch, so errors repeat across every asset before anyone notices.
• Hand-offs by email with no shared tracker, so files and versions go missing.
• No out-of-scope list, so the project grows until it misses its date.
• Closing the project without a review, so the next one repeats the same mistakes.

Using mydubly in the processing step

mydubly covers the processing line of the plan: it turns each source video or audio file into transcripts, SRT and VTT subtitles and, if chosen, a dubbed version, one target language per job. Files of up to two hours are accepted, chosen from your device. The tab must stay open while a job runs, and results are deleted within 30 minutes of a job finishing, so build a "download and file the outputs" step into each hand-off. The video localization page explains the options.

Processing cost is easy to budget because it is per minute. For the 150-minute course in the example, dubbing costs 7,500 credits ($7.50) per language, so 15,000 credits ($15) for Spanish and German together. Subtitle-only or transcript jobs cost 1 credit per minute. Credits are reserved when a job starts and refunded if no result is produced. mydubly does not handle the project tracking, review assignments or graphics work, and it does not translate on-screen text; those stay in your plan as separate lines. For producing several language versions of one video, see translating a video into multiple languages.

Close-out review and next step

Close the project formally. Confirm every asset in scope is published and recorded, archive the source and output files with their versions, and hold a short review: what took longer than planned, which terms caused corrections, which hand-offs failed, and what you would change. Update the glossary, the estimate figures and the plan template with the answers.

If you are about to start a project, write the scope and out-of-scope list first, then the inventory. Those two sections will answer most of the questions the rest of the plan raises. For the dubbing workflow itself, the guide to dubbing a video with AI is a useful companion.