Assembly video subtitles. Keep parts and orientation clear.

Subtitle the exact assembly shown

For an authorized recorded assembly demonstration, Polyglot can create local subtitles, support human text review and export SRT or WebVTT. Pair the track with the exact product, component set and manual revision used in the video. The subtitle file cannot establish that the assembly is correct or safe.

Use your own demonstration or obtain permission for the recording, manual excerpts, diagrams and narration. Have the product owner or a qualified reviewer approve consequential instructions. Preserve the manufacturer’s warnings and conditions; do not turn a personal shortcut into an approved procedure through caption editing.

Record parts before you review wording

Start a parts-and-orientation sheet. Give the product identifier, relevant manual page or step, part labels and the viewpoint used when saying left, right, front or rear. Check the actual component version, rather than assuming similar-looking products share instructions. IKEA’s support guidance, for example, directs customers to the assembly documents on the relevant product page.

A newly written fictional example shows how a single adjective can reverse orientation. Its part numbers are invented and are not instructions for any real product.

Illustrative assembly note
Product: Sample Stand / B
Manual: revision 3 / step 4
Video: stand-b-v02.mp4

Heard: “Smooth face inward.”
Draft: “Smooth face
outward.”
Review: restore inward.

Viewpoint: front of stand
Part: panel P2
Owner checks orientation
against the actual manual.

Distinguish speech errors from assembly errors

Replay each direction while checking the relevant part. Correct transcription errors to match the audio. If the narrator says the wrong part number or the hands perform a different action, flag the conflict for the owner instead of silently rewriting the subtitles. Repair the video or add an explicit approved correction before delivery.

Pay particular attention to steps shown out of sequence, a mirrored camera view and cuts where a fastener appears installed without explanation. Preserve instructions that say to leave a part loose until a later step. Spoken quantities and measurements need review, but Polyglot does not recognize tools, read diagrams, identify parts or check torque.

A silent close-up may need a separate written or narrated explanation. Captions describe the audio; they do not automatically describe an unspoken alignment. For translated tracks, ask a technically competent language reviewer to check part labels, directional terms, units and the scope of each warning against the same product revision.

Accept the video and manual as a set

Open the final video and exported track in the intended player. Check that each instruction appears with the relevant action and that the captions leave the fastener or alignment point visible. Inspect the first instruction after a cut and any later reference back to an earlier step. Recutting or speeding up footage requires another timing check.

Deliver the video identifier, manual revision, reviewed languages and unresolved-issue status together. Keep old versions separate so an earlier product’s track is not reused by mistake. If a destination only accepts video with visible embedded captions, use a suitable external editor for that delivery and test the result. File acceptance is not assembly approval, and this workflow does not replace product-specific safety review.

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