Foreign Desk - any experience? Thread poster: Anne Seerup
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Anne Seerup
Ireland
Local time: 13:15
English to Danish
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I have just been contacted by a potential client who insists on their translators using the CAT-tool ForeignDesk. I normally use Trados 6.5. Does anyone have experience with this software and if so how compatible is it with Trados?
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Hi,
I found ForeignDesk from Lionbridge an excellent tool, especially for translatying GUI items. If correctly configured, the tool can emulate programming in c++, e.g. you can easilly change size of dialogs and buttons with a simple drag and drop operation, so that the localized strings are not truncated in the GUI. Usually (this was 2 years ago, when I did my last project with FD) the translator receives a free version of FD, with TM database already configured. The agencies usually buy ... See more Hi,
I found ForeignDesk from Lionbridge an excellent tool, especially for translatying GUI items. If correctly configured, the tool can emulate programming in c++, e.g. you can easilly change size of dialogs and buttons with a simple drag and drop operation, so that the localized strings are not truncated in the GUI. Usually (this was 2 years ago, when I did my last project with FD) the translator receives a free version of FD, with TM database already configured. The agencies usually buy the full version, with complete setup functions, which entitle them to send free versions to the translators. Maybe someone else can confirm if this practice is still in use. The setup of the project (usually the agency takes care of it) seems quite complex, while the translation process is smooth.
Massimo
[Edited at 2004-05-20 10:37] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Anne Seerup
Ireland
Local time: 13:15
English to Danish
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TOPIC STARTER
Thank you - that gives me a good picture of the tool and it sounds quite handy for the purpose. Was a bit suspicious of it at first. The free version is still provided to the translator.
Cheers
Anne
Massimo Rippa wrote:
Hi,
I found ForeignDesk from Lionbridge an excellent tool, especially for translatying GUI items. If correctly configured, the tool can emulate programming in c++, e.g. you can easilly change size of dialogs and buttons with a simple point-and-click operation, so that the localized strings are not truncated in the GUI. Usually (this was 2 years ago, when I did my last project with FD) the translator receives a free version of FD, with TM database already configured. The agencies usually buy the full version, with complete setup functions, which entitle them to send free versions to the translators. Maybe someone else can confirm if this practice is still in use. The setup of the project (usually the agency takes care of it) seems quite complex, while the translation process is smooth.
Massimo
| | | | Marc P (X) 
Local time: 14:15
German to English
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MarcPrior wrote:
As far as I know, there is no version that you have to pay for (please correct me someone if this is not correct).
Marcimo [/quote][/quote]
Hi Marc
Maybe on this point I had some confusions with Multilizer (a tool that I don't like at all). I officially confirm all my other statements
M.
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I also had a chance to work with ForeignDesk on GUI and I find the application quite useful. It is the only free tool that I know that lets you translate, tinker a bit with GUI and provide compiled files.
The biggest draw back -- you cannot use a built-in spellchecker.
My 2 cc
Romuald
| | | | Ulrike Lieder (X)
Local time: 05:15
English to German
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In memoriam | Haven't worked with it in a long time, but didn't like it much | May 20, 2004 |
Romuald Pawlikowski wrote:
The biggest draw back -- you cannot use a built-in spellchecker.
It's been quite a while since I've worked with Foreign Desk (or the agency that uses it), but I know my copy did have a spellchecker - the spellchecker even distinguished between pre- and post-reform German spelling.
I personally found FD quite restrictive. You could never see the document in its final, formatted form, which IMHO detracts from understanding the text flow and getting the "big picture". And the segmentation was rigid - you could not, as you can with Trados, resize a segment. I considered that a drawback since it's sometimes necessary to turn things around in the target language in order to make the text more readable. I also missed the Word interface as that meant no access to my Word macros.
As noted above, I have not worked with FD in quite a while - maybe 3, 4 years? - and some of the tool's features may have been enhanced and it may be more user-friendly now. I personally never did like it much.
| | | | | Spellchecker in FD | May 20, 2004 |
Ulrike Lieder wrote:
It's been quite a while since I've worked with Foreign Desk (or the agency that uses it), but I know my copy did have a spellchecker - the spellchecker even distinguished between pre- and post-reform German spelling.
Probably you used it before it was published as free software. The feature had to be disabled because the spellchecker was third party (not free) software.
I agree that it may be a bit restrictive as far as "normal texts" concerned, but still it a good tool with GUIs.
Romuald
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claude
Thailand
Local time: 14:15
English to French
| Foreign Desk | May 21, 2004 |
I used it a lot and it seems that there was a new version called Lion Linguist.
I confirm there is a spell checker.
| | | | Spiros Doikas
Local time: 15:15
Member (2002)
English to Greek
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