| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | SDL Studio: I hate it, I hate it, I hate it! Thread poster: Michael Beijer
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LEXpert 
United States
Local time: 22:37
Member (2008)
Croatian to English
+ ...
| Cross-compatibility - Groupshare? | Mar 15, 2018 |
John Fossey wrote:
Kathryn Britton wrote:
MemoQ and Studio are compatible so when I receive a package in Trados, I simply load it into MemoQ, work as normal and then when I create the return package, MemoQ kindly puts it back into Trados for me ....
That's what I've been doing for years as well. The client doesn't appear to even know I didn't use Studio. [Edited at 2018-03-14 17:06 GMT]
Can you check out Groupshare projects in MemoQ?
| | | | | Problems with Termbase Search | Mar 15, 2018 |
Although I do not have any major problems with Studio, this is not the case with Termbase Search.
Although the consistent use of terminology is essential for translators, I often get the message "No results available" even though I get the message "term exists already ... in the active termbase". The suggested solution to reorganise the TB does not help.
| | | | Angela Malik
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:37
German to English
+ ...
| Workaround for creating impossible return packages | Mar 15, 2018 |
Hey Michael,
I have never had the kind of problem you are describing, but when I install Studio I always try to avoid installing any additional plug-ins or widgets, so perhaps that is why.
BUT to get around this particular issue, you CAN just go into the project folder, go to your target language folder, and then send the SDLXLIFF files to the client. They don't HAVE to have a return package in order to receive the translation. This is actually one of the main reasons w... See more Hey Michael,
I have never had the kind of problem you are describing, but when I install Studio I always try to avoid installing any additional plug-ins or widgets, so perhaps that is why.
BUT to get around this particular issue, you CAN just go into the project folder, go to your target language folder, and then send the SDLXLIFF files to the client. They don't HAVE to have a return package in order to receive the translation. This is actually one of the main reasons why I prefer Trados Studio to MemoQ.
For example, once you have translated a project going from en-US to de-DE, navigate to the folder where your project is located, go to the de-DE folder, and you will find your translated files there. You can simply return those to the client without having to worry about creating a return package. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 05:37
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Same thing (kinda) | Mar 15, 2018 |
Michael Joseph Wdowiak Beijer wrote:
I have a permanent warning/reminder on my whiteboard that says "NEVER USE STUDIO AGAIN!"...
We all make such promises to ourselves. Never again will I use X or Y system. But then a client comes begging, and you end up doing it again. And sometimes you get burnt again.
For example, a while ago I vowed never to use Crowdin ever again, but... a good client asked me to do it, and so I did, and got burnt again. And a few weeks ago it happened again: another client asked me to use it, I refused, there was some correspondence back and forth, and now I'm using it again. I dislike it intensely ("hate" is a strong word), but sometimes you have to bite down. I've made similar vows about Wordbee, XTM, that nameless Lionbridge tool, etc.
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Michael Beijer
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:37
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | "NEVER AGAIN" | Mar 15, 2018 |
Jo Macdonald wrote:
Micheal your "NEVER AGIN" pic made me laugh but I reckon you just need to learn how to use it mate.
My experience is quite the opposite.
I started using SDLX when that came out in the dark ages, switched to Trados, then Studio, when the companies merged.
Personally I've never had any major problems with the programs, and any minor problems were often caused by hang-ups in the original file being processed, busted tables, stuff like that.
In my case if I get a MemoQ job I'll translate the mqxliff file in Studio, never had a problem with this, and I wouldn't touch Memsource even with a long pointy stick and thick rubber gloves on. I get about 10 mails a week from one client warning everyone their MemoQ server is up the spout, so if you're working with that online you're fu......ed, but do I care with my good old trusty Studio on my own computer at home? Naaaah.
But, then again, maybe I should learn to use more tools.
I must be having really bad luck then, because this is probably the 4th or 5th time I have had to completely uninstall/reinstall Studio. Hell, I even had to reinstall Windows itself once, to solve a problem with Studio that SDL support couldn't fix. It wouldn't be a such an issue, if it weren't for the fact that more and more agencies are requiring it these days.
Yeah, regarding Memsource, that's exactly what I would have said a few months ago, but I actually started playing around with it a while ago, first the online editor (which I pretty quickly ditched because it was too slow), and then their desktop editor, which I soon realized was actually really good. Sure, it's missing a few features of the other big CAT tools, but I soon found that I was actually really enjoying using it, and that it had considerably speeded up my work, probably partially due to the fact that it has less features, and thus less dictractions. I also love the fact that I can finally connect ALL my large TMs to a project with no slow-downs at all, which is a benefit of using cloud-stored TMs/TBs. Another thing I really like about it is it's minimalist, logical UI, which is basically a copy of the memoQ UI. I can't stand the convoluted mess that the Studio has become. I can never tell where one little window starts and the next begins. Anyway, I'm sure you and pothers will disagree, but that's been my experience.
Michael
| | | | Michael Beijer
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:37
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Yes, that's one of my main problems with Studio too: absolutely unreliable terminology recognition | Mar 15, 2018 |
asr2 wrote:
Although I do not have any major problems with Studio, this is not the case with Termbase Search.
Although the consistent use of terminology is essential for translators, I often get the message "No results available" even though I get the message "term exists already ... in the active termbase". The suggested solution to reorganise the TB does not help.
… whether you're using local termbases, or their new Cloud Terminology termbases (which is very interesting but just doesn't work). There is nothing more frustrating than constantly being told that the term you are trying to enter is already present in your termbase, and yet you were not shown it.
I have been sending in support requests about this for years, and although I'm sure they are doing their best at SDL, no one has ever really managed to solve this problem. My guess is that they should completely ditch whatever underlying system they are currently using, and start from scratch again. In CafeTran, or Memsource, e.g., terminology recognition always works, period. It's ridiculous that the so-called market leader cannot offer functional terminology matching.
| | | | Michael Beijer
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:37
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Thanks for the tip! | Mar 15, 2018 |
Angela Rimmer wrote:
Hey Michael,
I have never had the kind of problem you are describing, but when I install Studio I always try to avoid installing any additional plug-ins or widgets, so perhaps that is why.
BUT to get around this particular issue, you CAN just go into the project folder, go to your target language folder, and then send the SDLXLIFF files to the client. They don't HAVE to have a return package in order to receive the translation. This is actually one of the main reasons why I prefer Trados Studio to MemoQ.
For example, once you have translated a project going from en-US to de-DE, navigate to the folder where your project is located, go to the de-DE folder, and you will find your translated files there. You can simply return those to the client without having to worry about creating a return package.
Yes, I know about that trick, but I always try to return a Return package if that's what the client wants. This was an extremely large job, which their engineers created out of literally thousands of different files, and I have a feeling that they want a Return package for some kind of technical reason rather.
Michael
| | | | Claudia Cherici
Italy
Local time: 05:37
Member (2010)
English to Italian
+ ...
Jo Macdonald wrote:
Micheal your "NEVER AGIN" pic made me laugh but I reckon you just need to learn how to use it mate.
My experience is quite the opposite.
I started using SDLX when that came out in the dark ages, switched to Trados, then Studio, when the companies merged.
Personally I've never had any major problems with the programs, and any minor problems were often caused by hang-ups in the original file being processed, busted tables, stuff like that.
In my case if I get a MemoQ job I'll translate the mqxliff file in Studio, never had a problem with this, and I wouldn't touch Memsource even with a long pointy stick and thick rubber gloves on. I get about 10 mails a week from one client warning everyone their MemoQ server is up the spout, so if you're working with that online you're fu......ed, but do I care with my good old trusty Studio on my own computer at home? Naaaah.
But, then again, maybe I should learn to use more tools.
I quote every word (except the last line)
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Michael Beijer
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:37
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Samuel Murray wrote:
Michael Joseph Wdowiak Beijer wrote:
I have a permanent warning/reminder on my whiteboard that says "NEVER USE STUDIO AGAIN!"...
We all make such promises to ourselves. Never again will I use X or Y system. But then a client comes begging, and you end up doing it again. And sometimes you get burnt again.
For example, a while ago I vowed never to use Crowdin ever again, but... a good client asked me to do it, and so I did, and got burnt again. And a few weeks ago it happened again: another client asked me to use it, I refused, there was some correspondence back and forth, and now I'm using it again. I dislike it intensely ("hate" is a strong word), but sometimes you have to bite down. I've made similar vows about Wordbee, XTM, that nameless Lionbridge tool, etc.
Indeed, I will write myself a little note like that, but then after not working in Studio for a couple of months, and perhaps erasing the note from my whiteboard because I need space for something else, a good client pops up and asks me whether I would like to do a very large, lucrative job in Studio, and having stupidly forgotten my past woes, I accept it. I do this over and over and over, like some kind of Greek mythological character
Another reason I am often tempted back by Studio is the fact that it does have a lot of cool features (for example, it's auto-complete system is probably the best in any CAT tool at the moment), and of course a whole bunch more are constantly being added by the SDL AppStore. However, as a few people have already mentioned, and this has been my experience too: SDL Apps are often more trouble than they're worth in terms of the added instability they cause.
PS: I'm dictating all of these posts, so please excuse any typos...
| | | | Jo Macdonald
Spain
Local time: 05:37
Member (2005)
Italian to English
+ ...
| Thanks for the tip | Mar 15, 2018 |
I might give Memsource a go then.
The different windows in Studio you can just drag and drop 'em to where you want, and then make 'em autohide/popup.
I have all the termbases and bookmark stuff hidden at the bottom for example, TM and search results up top, side bars totally hidden.
Studio 2017 should have most plugins included so I don't think you really need to install many plugins.
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 06:37
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
| Return package is only zip-file | Mar 15, 2018 |
At least that's what I'm told. So you could zip your files and rename them as whatever the SDL-thing is called.
I haven't had any serious problem with Trados since 2005, except with the stupid Word plug-in back then. But I only use the version out of the box without additions.
| | | | Michael Beijer
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:37
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Thanks for the tip Heinrich! | Mar 15, 2018 |
Heinrich Pesch wrote:
At least that's what I'm told. So you could zip your files and rename them as whatever the SDL-thing is called.
I haven't had any serious problem with Trados since 2005, except with the stupid Word plug-in back then. But I only use the version out of the box without additions.
Indeed, I just renamed the Return package to XXX.zip, and then extracted it to a folder, and all I found inside were:
1. a project file (XXX.sdlproj)
2. two language folders: src and trgt, with the relevant .sdlxliff files
That is, no special stuff to speak of. However, whether creating my own Return package from scratch would actually work is another thing. I have a feeling something would probably go wrong somewhere along the way.
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| Not a problem at all | Mar 16, 2018 |
Michael Joseph Wdowiak Beijer wrote:
However, whether creating my own Return package from scratch would actually work is another thing. I have a feeling something would probably go wrong somewhere along the way.
This is not a problem at all. You can even automate it with AutoHotkey.
| | | | | Everyone's personal experience | Mar 16, 2018 |
Anyone who ever bought a certain product will have had a unique personal experience with it.
If the product is intrinsically BAD, everyone who buys it will have a BAD experience, and it will either:
a) be forced out of the marketplace by withering demand, or
b) have to force its success in the marketplace via ma$$ive investment in marketing.
Microsoft Office is the typical case (b) above. Having used dozens of different word processors since the days of the ... See more Anyone who ever bought a certain product will have had a unique personal experience with it.
If the product is intrinsically BAD, everyone who buys it will have a BAD experience, and it will either:
a) be forced out of the marketplace by withering demand, or
b) have to force its success in the marketplace via ma$$ive investment in marketing.
Microsoft Office is the typical case (b) above. Having used dozens of different word processors since the days of the Apple II, MS Word was always the worst of them all, and still is. However ma$$ive investments in marketing made it the one-and-only market standard. Astound Presentation was much better than PowerPoint, however it was killed and buried on account of Windows 98 bugs. I could go on and on, but I think I've made my point.
And yet some people love working with MS Office, possibly because they are young enough not to have used anything else, ever! Some people love Trados and other SDL software, othesr hate them. The problem is that SDL has NOT succeeded in making Trados the one-and-only market standard; other options are thriving.
I wouldn't know... Maybe they didn't have the clout resulting from the kind of money selling Windows generates, perhaps a couple of zeros was missing in their budget.
Yet SDL is still trying hard. I'd be curious to know what possibly underhanded rewards motivate so many translation companies to demand Trados so fiercely, even in jobs where NO CAT tool will be of any use.
Is Trados bad?
That should be relative.
Let's switch examples. My car is 12 years old, not a fancy model, and not anyone's dream brand. I decided that I would change it when it began causing trouble. In all these years, it hasn't yet! Now and then a blown lamp, or a minor part to be replaced; nothing else. Just start the engine, go wherever you want, get back safely, and be amazed with how little fuel it took you to do it.
On the other hand, I see on newspapers and in social media people venting their frustration after having bought a new top model car from some dream brand, and then spending half a year with the car stuck in the dealer's shop because its malfunctions defy troubleshooting, they can't get replacement parts, hiring lawyers, fighting in court, etc. etc.
And yet some people have had bad experiences with cars like mine. Others won't buy a car brand different from that one that is known to cause so much trouble.
Carve that in stone: Your mileage may vary... both quantitatively and qualitatively.
What always amazes me is that the CAT tool software industry has set the bar quite low, and keeps it there.
Just compare it with the DTP software industry... on the top end we have InDesign/Page Maker, QuarkXpress, Frame Maker... at the bottom we have MS Publisher, Page Plus, and Scribus. And yet the complaints about all DTP software bugs I see amount to a very small fraction of those on any ONE CAT tool from all those available.
If the bar were set higher, the typical $19.99-shareware interface used in WordFast Classic, kept unchanged from the days when it was free, would have made it a case (a), as described above, many years ago! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Wojciech_ (X)
Poland
Local time: 05:37
English to Polish
+ ...
With a number of unique features Studio 2017 offers while actually translating a document, it tends to be a strong player on the market. Yet, the whole application is overly bloated, not adapted to multi-core CPUs and simply veeeery slow. That's my greatest problem with it.
Another problem I have, actually with most CAT tools is that they don't offer automation of many processes that could get automated. With Trados it's even worse, because to access useful solutions you must instal... See more With a number of unique features Studio 2017 offers while actually translating a document, it tends to be a strong player on the market. Yet, the whole application is overly bloated, not adapted to multi-core CPUs and simply veeeery slow. That's my greatest problem with it.
Another problem I have, actually with most CAT tools is that they don't offer automation of many processes that could get automated. With Trados it's even worse, because to access useful solutions you must install external plugins, which aren't fully integrated within Studio. This means constant clicking and setting up each individual plugin to a specific project.
I'll give you an example. A very useful plugin called Record TU Source - as the name indicates, it records the path and name of a file that TM segments come from. But to use it in your project you must:
1) In your Language Pair setup window select the TM you want to use and which will store the data.
2) Select TUSource as a TM provider.
3) When you select it, a new window opens where you select the TM you want TUSource to store data in.
4) Then in your TM window you REMOVE the TM from point 1.
The same is true for other useful plugins like RegexMatch Autosuggest. When you are translating in, say PL-EN language pair, you must tick sometimes dozens of boxes for all regular expressions that apply to this language pair. If its EN-PL, then you must untick all the boxes that apply to PL-EN and tick the ones for EN-PL...
The maintenance editor is yet another example of something that is far from being useful. If on completion a project (say 800 TU), I want to clean up my project-specific TM, I must export it to TMX format and perform maintenance in the now obsolete but still great Heartsome TMX editor. Then reimport the TMX to my Big Mama.
No need to say it takes time.
Then there's preview, which works soooo slowly. Try previewing a Powerpoint presentation of around 4 MB (about 20 slides). If you want the preview to update with which translated segment, you must be patient, because it takes around 30 seconds per TM.
All I'm saying here is: Studio has really a bunch of useful solutions, often not offered by competition, but the whole program is so terribly slow that it can really make your blood boil sometimes.
Oh, and lack of one TM for reverse language pairs is a shame really. And no, AnyTM is not a solution - it's just a new TM created in a slightly more automated way than if you did it by yourself.
Sorry for my rant, but it's a bit disappointing. It's like having a beautiful shiny Porsche with all the gimmicks you can imagine, and then learning that it's slower than a Beetle. Moreover, if you want to put it in reverse, you must first install a special reverse transmission ▲ Collapse
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