| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Is there a way around Transit? Thread poster: Heinrich Pesch
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Heinrich Pesch 
Finland
Local time: 08:49
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
Very often jobs require the use of transit. I have never excepted such a job, as I heard transit being a rather nasty tool from the point of the translator.
Is it possible to do such jobs with other tools without the customer noticing anything? Is it true that the transit file format is just a version of zip?
Why do agencies like transit so much?
| | | | Bob Kerns (X)
Germany
Local time: 07:49
German to English
| Give it a try | Mar 24, 2004 |
Hi Heinrich,
I started using Transit about 18 months ago and found it easy to learn and easy to use. In the meantime I have handled several large (profitable) projects with the FREE version of Transit: Transit Satellite PE, downloadable under http://www.star-solutions.net/html/eng/support/Transit-SAT-PE.html
The only disadvantage that I have exp... See more Hi Heinrich,
I started using Transit about 18 months ago and found it easy to learn and easy to use. In the meantime I have handled several large (profitable) projects with the FREE version of Transit: Transit Satellite PE, downloadable under http://www.star-solutions.net/html/eng/support/Transit-SAT-PE.html
The only disadvantage that I have experienced is that the manufacturer provides NO support for the free version and most agencies are not in a position to solve technical problems. On the other hand Transit is much more stable than TRADOS (and infinitely cheaper).
You can also download an English computer-based training (CBT) program and manuals in German or English.
Why not do what I did: Take a day off work and work through the CBT program and the tutorial. Then add Transit to your profile and it won't be long before the jobs roll in.
I should perhaps add that I have no financial interest in Transit and I don't get coffee machines or anything else for recommending it. I just like it
Regards from Germany.
Bob
[Edited at 2004-03-24 18:30]
[Edited at 2004-03-24 18:33] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jerzy Czopik
Germany
Local time: 07:49
Member (2003)
Polish to German
+ ...
| The tool doesn´t cost a buck | Mar 24, 2004 |
but it is nasty in my eyes.
You have no chance to modify anything, so if the segmentation is bad and your PM says the customer does not want to be educated how to format his document, you have to work with sentences cut in pieces, making a nonsense from the use of a CAT-tool.
But even than it is worth to give it a try, because with proper set projects you can really easy work with it.
There is no comfort with editing, but the same is with SDLX and - as far I know - with ... See more but it is nasty in my eyes.
You have no chance to modify anything, so if the segmentation is bad and your PM says the customer does not want to be educated how to format his document, you have to work with sentences cut in pieces, making a nonsense from the use of a CAT-tool.
But even than it is worth to give it a try, because with proper set projects you can really easy work with it.
There is no comfort with editing, but the same is with SDLX and - as far I know - with DV X too.
I work with Transit since 1997, not enjoying it, but earning good money, so if I were you, I would give the free version at least a try.
Regards
Jerzy ▲ Collapse
| | | | Doru Voin
Romania
Local time: 08:49
English to Romanian
+ ...
| Nasty tool - but only in the hands of "nasty" PMs | Mar 24, 2004 |
Jerzy Czopik wrote:
h proper set projects you can really easy work with it.
[/quote]
I totally agree with Jerzy. I've had good times and bad times with Transit Satellite FE - everything depends on how good the Project Manager is with Transit.
Regards from Bucharest,
Doru Voin
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Doru Voin
Romania
Local time: 08:49
English to Romanian
+ ...
| Do not take every(any)thing for granted | Mar 24, 2004 |
Is it true that the transit file format is just a version of zip?
Why do agencies like transit so much?
Transit is probably not the best CAT around, but for sure is not "just a version of zip" either: it has concordance features, fuzzy match, it gives you the ability to create dictionaries per projects, and offers you more segment statuses (i.e. Translated, Not translated, Edited, etc.) than other CATs.
So don't take for granted what other people (the competition maybe?) say: give it a try. The version for translators is freeware for now.
And to answer the first question, why do agencies "transit" so much: just how many other CAT manufacturers offer fully functional free versions of their CATs for freelancers? OmegaT is one example...Helium and IBM TM - OK, but how "publicly available" are them?
Regards from Bucharest,
Doru Voin
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 08:49
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | But my actual question... | Mar 25, 2004 |
was, can I do the job without transit without the agency noticing? I do not intend to use transit, since I always let a second person check my translations, and the checks are done in Word only. So is there a way of transforming normal TMs and wordfiles into the transit format?
| | | | | Nothing to be scared of | Mar 25, 2004 |
can I do the job without transit without the agency noticing?
I don't think so. If you use the Satellite version, you receive a single file prepared by your PM. Aldough this file is not a zip file, it is a compressed file containing a series of files which are extracted and put into their places once you import the project file. Once the translation is finished, you choose the option Project/Send, and the project packs itself into a file that you deliver to your PM.
I do not intend to use transit, since I always let a second person check my translations, and the checks are done in Word only. So is there a way of transforming normal TMs and wordfiles into the transit format?
You can copy/paste the text from the open Transit file into Word, check it and manually make the necessary changes.
[Edited at 2004-03-25 07:37]
| | | | Jerzy Czopik
Germany
Local time: 07:49
Member (2003)
Polish to German
+ ...
| AFAIK there is no way round Transit | Mar 25, 2004 |
And copying and pasting the text from it will be a pain...
Sorry, I asked this question some time ago by SDLX, Atril and Trados - only Trados offered preparing (say: converting) Transit files for translation with Trados, but surely not for free. I did not use this option...
Regards
Jerzy
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Vesna Zivcic wrote:
If you use the Satellite version, you receive a single file prepared by your PM. Aldough this file is not a zip file, it is a compressed file containing a series of files which are extracted and put into their places once you import the project file.
Just as a technical sidenote: It IS in fact a zip file that has been renamed to .pxf or .txf.
So, for troubleshooting purposes, you can unzip it with WinZIP, WinRAR or similar and have a look at the individual files.
Transit is not all that bad if you look beyond the complex interface and the fact that it allows no WYSIWYG editing like Trados for Word files. But as mentioned before, the working experience highly depends on the proper preparation of the files.
| | | | Jerzy Czopik
Germany
Local time: 07:49
Member (2003)
Polish to German
+ ...
| But nevertheless - if someone want´s Transit, you have either to accept or refuse | Mar 25, 2004 |
but you are not able to process Transit files with other software.
And regarding "bad" or not "bad" - this is a very individuall question. For me it is an ugly tool with no advantages compared with the other tools. Maybe it lets the PM handle files better, but this would be an advantage for the PM.
If I get original files, I hanlde them with Trados, as this is the most convenient way for me.
This just for the record.
Kind regards
Jerzy
| | | | | My experience speaks to the contrary | Mar 25, 2004 |
So, for troubleshooting purposes, you can unzip it with WinZIP, WinRAR or similar and have a look at the individual files.
When I received my first Transit file, I downloaded it as any other file (on XP platform). It downloaded itself as a zip file, I extracted the files and was puzzled that they were empty!
It turned out that by downloading the file from my mailbox I had to chose to download it as "All Files" instead of letting it download automatically as a zip file.
[Edited at 2004-03-25 12:22]
| | | | | way around transit? probably not | Mar 25, 2004 |
Greetings
yes, as the others have pointed out, the pxf files are actually zip files. If you unzip one of these, you'll see the project definition and language pairs, among other things.
In the older versions of (2.7 and earlier), you could open the langauge pairs in a text editor and edit them manually, bypassing transit. This was very useful for doing text searches on a whole group of files. You had to be very careful, though, not to overwrite the tags.
... See more Greetings
yes, as the others have pointed out, the pxf files are actually zip files. If you unzip one of these, you'll see the project definition and language pairs, among other things.
In the older versions of (2.7 and earlier), you could open the langauge pairs in a text editor and edit them manually, bypassing transit. This was very useful for doing text searches on a whole group of files. You had to be very careful, though, not to overwrite the tags.
As of version 3, i.e. including XV and the Satellite version - which is probably a derivate of Transit XV, the files are binary enncoded. As a result, if you open the language pairs in a text editor, you'll just see a bunch of gobbledegook. So without Transit, there's no way that I know of to get at the text.
Hope this helps answer your question.
Chris
Heinrich Pesch wrote:
was, can I do the job without transit without the agency noticing? I do not intend to use transit, since I always let a second person check my translations, and the checks are done in Word only. So is there a way of transforming normal TMs and wordfiles into the transit format? ▲ Collapse
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Del01 (X)
Local time: 07:49
German to Spanish
+ ...
| Of course you can process Transit files with other applications | Mar 25, 2004 |
Yes, Transit pxf files (for receiving a project) and txf files (for sending it back) are compressed files. You just have to rename their extension, for instance, to .zip, and decompress.
The language files included in the pxf or txf files can be processed with another application (such as Déjà Vu) as .sgml or .xml files, no matter they were originally created with Transit 2.7, 3.0 or XV. Simply change the extension of these files to .xml.
Inconvenience: the reference ... See more Yes, Transit pxf files (for receiving a project) and txf files (for sending it back) are compressed files. You just have to rename their extension, for instance, to .zip, and decompress.
The language files included in the pxf or txf files can be processed with another application (such as Déjà Vu) as .sgml or .xml files, no matter they were originally created with Transit 2.7, 3.0 or XV. Simply change the extension of these files to .xml.
Inconvenience: the reference files and pretranslated segments will need some preprocessing work so that they can also be used by your desired application.
Best regards,
Ignacio Hermo
Vesna Zivcic wrote: can I do the job without transit without the agency noticing? I don't think so. If you use the Satellite version, you receive a single file prepared by your PM. Aldough this file is not a zip file, it is a compressed file containing a series of files which are extracted and put into their places once you import the project file. Once the translation is finished, you choose the option Project/Send, and the project packs itself into a file that you deliver to your PM. I do not intend to use transit, since I always let a second person check my translations, and the checks are done in Word only. So is there a way of transforming normal TMs and wordfiles into the transit format? You can copy/paste the text from the open Transit file into Word, check it and manually make the necessary changes. [Edited at 2004-03-25 07:37] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Hua Gu
Local time: 13:49
English to Chinese
+ ...
| Transit can only receive files from PM? | Mar 27, 2004 |
I am a new comer. I read Bob Kerns and I downloaded the Transit Satellite PE today but found that I can't establish a new file or import a .doc or .txt file. Does the free version can only receive a file from the PM? Can't I translate any document on this Transit?
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Yes, huagu. The reason for this is that Star's giving away of the Satellite PE for free is meant to boost sales of the full version.
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