Forum: CAT Tools Technical Help
Topic: Why are more and more agencies these days choosing memoQ or SDL Studio as their "preferred" tool?
Poster: José Henrique Lamensdorf
Post title: Preferred or mandatory? A question about agencies being entitled to choose
Envision this situation... you are going on a trip overseas, and book a rental car online. The car rental company's web site shows one example of a particular car group, however they warn you that a similar/equivalent car of another make may be actually provided. When you get to the rental location, you may ASK if they have your favorite car brand in that range, however they are under no obligation to have nor to provide it to you.
Likewise, if a translator will be undertaking a job single-handed, it supposedly doesn't matter which CAT tool s/he will use. Of course, there are valid reasons - e.g. absolute wording consistency - why some nonspecific CAT tool [b]may[/b] be required.
Teamwork on one same job may require the use of one same CAT tool by all involved, however such projects are not everything in the trade.
Some typical cases I've been in... (of course, every translator will have theirs)
[*] I use WordFast Classic. Quoting one of my best clients, the unanimous voice among them says, [i]You may use any CAT tool you like, as long as you leave no trace of its use on the deliverables[/i].
[*] Some prospects (they'll never be my clients) say, [i]You MUST have Trados. It doesn't matter if you'll be translating script-less video for dubbing, please do not contact us ever again unless you have Trados. This is our carved-in-stone house policy. Kindly refrain from trying to convince us to change it, at is the one thing we've decided to preserve forever in our company. Anything else is negotiable, as long as you have Trados.[/i] (Call it SDL Studio, whatever they like.)
[*] One client had a series of giant translation projects, where she would be using a worldwide team of 10-15 translators connected to one common TM on the cloud, being shared and built in real time by all of them. To each participating translator who didn't have it already, she provided a MemoQ portable license. One of the requirements, of course, was being used to work with some nondescript unspecific CAT tool. For several months, I was one of the members of that successful team. After these projects were over, I returned to my old WordFast.
[*] Another client sent me a project and a link to download Passolo. No idea on whether its free or not. I did it on Passolo, delivered it, and then uninstalled the program.
Back to the rental car analogy. Say you own a Toyota. Now and then you go on assignments where clients provide you with a Ford or a VW from their fleet (or rented) to drive. However NO sensible client will ever say that you MUST BUY, say, an Audi, otherwise your driving services will not be accepted.
Topic: Why are more and more agencies these days choosing memoQ or SDL Studio as their "preferred" tool?
Poster: José Henrique Lamensdorf
Post title: Preferred or mandatory? A question about agencies being entitled to choose
Envision this situation... you are going on a trip overseas, and book a rental car online. The car rental company's web site shows one example of a particular car group, however they warn you that a similar/equivalent car of another make may be actually provided. When you get to the rental location, you may ASK if they have your favorite car brand in that range, however they are under no obligation to have nor to provide it to you.
Likewise, if a translator will be undertaking a job single-handed, it supposedly doesn't matter which CAT tool s/he will use. Of course, there are valid reasons - e.g. absolute wording consistency - why some nonspecific CAT tool [b]may[/b] be required.
Teamwork on one same job may require the use of one same CAT tool by all involved, however such projects are not everything in the trade.
Some typical cases I've been in... (of course, every translator will have theirs)
[*] I use WordFast Classic. Quoting one of my best clients, the unanimous voice among them says, [i]You may use any CAT tool you like, as long as you leave no trace of its use on the deliverables[/i].
[*] Some prospects (they'll never be my clients) say, [i]You MUST have Trados. It doesn't matter if you'll be translating script-less video for dubbing, please do not contact us ever again unless you have Trados. This is our carved-in-stone house policy. Kindly refrain from trying to convince us to change it, at is the one thing we've decided to preserve forever in our company. Anything else is negotiable, as long as you have Trados.[/i] (Call it SDL Studio, whatever they like.)
[*] One client had a series of giant translation projects, where she would be using a worldwide team of 10-15 translators connected to one common TM on the cloud, being shared and built in real time by all of them. To each participating translator who didn't have it already, she provided a MemoQ portable license. One of the requirements, of course, was being used to work with some nondescript unspecific CAT tool. For several months, I was one of the members of that successful team. After these projects were over, I returned to my old WordFast.
[*] Another client sent me a project and a link to download Passolo. No idea on whether its free or not. I did it on Passolo, delivered it, and then uninstalled the program.
Back to the rental car analogy. Say you own a Toyota. Now and then you go on assignments where clients provide you with a Ford or a VW from their fleet (or rented) to drive. However NO sensible client will ever say that you MUST BUY, say, an Audi, otherwise your driving services will not be accepted.