Handing a Localization Edit to a Freelance Editor: The Complete Checklist

Why localization handoffs go wrong

A localization edit is usually a rebuild of a finished video: same picture, new voice, new subtitles, translated graphics. The freelancer was not there for the original edit, may not speak the target language, and has to make dozens of small decisions about levels, timing and text. Every missing file or unclear instruction becomes a message, a delay or a guess.

Most problems trace back to a few gaps: the original project does not open because media is missing, the music under the voice is unavailable, nobody said whether subtitles should be burned in, or the reviewer's notes arrive as a vague paragraph. A checklist closes those gaps before the editor starts.

The files to send

Group the package into what applies to all languages and what is specific to each language.

For all languages:

• Reference master: the published or approved original export. The editor matches against it.
• Editing project: the project file plus all media it uses, collected or consolidated so it opens on another machine. Note the editing software and version.
• Dialogue stem and music-and-effects stem, full length from the first frame; see the M&E track for what it should contain.
• Textless master and the original text list with timings, if the video has on-screen text; textless versions explains both.
• Graphics templates or project files for titles, lower thirds and end cards.
• Fonts, or their names and download sources, with a note on licensing.
• Music files used, with a note on which tracks are cleared for translated versions.
• Brand guide or style notes: colours, logo use, caption style if burned in.

For each language:

• Translated voice track, if dubbing.
• Subtitle files, SRT and VTT, in that language.
• Transcripts in both languages, for reference when matching lines to picture.
• Translated text list for on-screen text, reviewed by a fluent speaker.
• Translated title and end-screen text, if the editor builds thumbnails or end cards.
• A note on any known problems: a line that runs long, a name the voice mispronounces, a section to cut.

Naming and folder structure

The freelancer should be able to tell what every file is without opening it. Use one pattern for every file: date, short slug, file type, language tag and version, for example 2026-10-02_lens-guide_dub_ja_v1.m4a. Put shared files in one folder and each language in its own subfolder named by language tag.

Mirror the folder structure you use internally so returned files drop straight back into place; video asset management for creators describes one that works. Ask the editor to follow the same naming for deliverables, including version numbers on every export.

Before sending, check the obvious: the package size, that the project opens on a second machine if you have one, and that every file listed in the brief is actually present.

The one-page brief

The brief is where a handoff becomes an instruction rather than a pile of files. Keep it to one page:

Deliverables

For each language: dubbed video, subtitled video, or both; aspect ratios; separate audio track file if needed.

Specs

Resolution, frame rate, codec and container, audio format, and any platform loudness recommendation you follow.

Audio

Voice track on the M&E, how far to lower music under speech, whether to keep original reactions such as laughter.

Subtitles

Sidecar files only, or burned in; if burned in, font, size, position and style.

On-screen text

Replace with the translated text list; how to handle text that no longer fits.

Lines that run long

Whether the editor may trim pauses or adjust timing, or should flag and leave them.

Review

Number of included rounds, who reviews, how notes are sent, turnaround times.

Contacts

Who answers language questions and who approves the final version.

Deadline

Delivery date for the first cut and for the final.

Anything the editor would otherwise have to guess belongs here. The editing techniques themselves, such as placing the voice track, smoothing level changes and patching lines, are the editor's craft and are covered in editing dubbed audio in a video editor; the brief only needs to set the expectations.

Review rounds that converge

Unclear review is where freelance projects lose the most time. Set the rules before the first cut:

1. Agree the number of included rounds, commonly two, and what counts as a new round versus a fix.
2. The first cut is reviewed for structure, sync and audio balance by you, and for language by a fluent reviewer.
3. Notes are written as timestamped items: time, what is wrong, what it should be. One note per issue.
4. Consolidate all reviewers' notes into one list before sending, and resolve contradictions yourself.
5. The editor returns a new version with a new version number and a short list of what changed.
6. The final review checks only the listed fixes and a full watch-through at normal speed.

If several reviewers are involved for each language, the approval flow deserves its own process; a review workflow for teams covers that.

Example: a two-language handoff

Common mistakes and risks

• Sending the project without media, or with media in a folder structure the project cannot find.
• Sending only the final mix. Without stems, the editor is limited to the background kept in the dub and cannot rebalance, clean up or replace the original music.
• Leaving subtitle handling unstated, so one language gets burned-in captions and another does not.
• Unreviewed translated text. The editor places text exactly as given; if no fluent speaker checked it, mistakes go straight into the picture.
• Open-ended review. Without a round limit and a note format, small changes continue indefinitely.
• Sharing fonts or music in ways their licenses do not allow. Check what each license permits before sending files to a third party.
• Forgetting to ask for the final project file back, which you need for future updates.

What mydubly contributes to the package

mydubly produces several of the per-language files on the checklist. A dubbing job returns the translated audio as a file, a translated video with that audio in place of the original that works as a quick reference for the editor, target-language SRT and VTT subtitles that follow the dubbed lines, and transcripts in both languages. A transcript job returns subtitles and transcripts without a voice. Jobs run in the video translator on files you choose from your device, up to 2 hours each.

Some things the editor should know from the brief. The whole video is voiced by one of 8 stock voices, with no per-speaker voices, voice cloning or lip-sync. A dub of the full mix keeps the original background under the voice, with the original speech removed; a dub of the dialogue stem has little or nothing underneath, so then the M&E stem is essential. Subtitles are plain single-line cues with no styling, so burned-in subtitles need styling in the editor. mydubly does not host files for sharing: results are deleted within 30 minutes of a job finishing, so download everything, rename it and put it in the package yourself.

Next step

Turn the file list and brief above into a reusable template, fill it in for your next translated video, and send it with the package before the editor starts. For producing the voice tracks themselves, follow how to dub a video with AI.