'across' -- can anyone report on this new CAT tool? Initiator des Themas: ENGSOL
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ENGSOL
Deutsch > Englisch
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I recently discovered this (new) CAT tool.
across
http://www.across.net/en/index.html
It comes in various editions -- from a simple personal edition for EUR 399,- to the enterprise edition with all the bells and whistles that goes for around 37k. It's got all the usual features included like TMs, term bases, concordance searches etc, but also has a few nifty extras like... See more I recently discovered this (new) CAT tool.
across
http://www.across.net/en/index.html
It comes in various editions -- from a simple personal edition for EUR 399,- to the enterprise edition with all the bells and whistles that goes for around 37k. It's got all the usual features included like TMs, term bases, concordance searches etc, but also has a few nifty extras like an integrated workflow and project managment function.
Does anyone use this tool or know more about it? (I haven't tried the free trial version yet)
Thomas ▲ Collapse
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I use Across and it's simply fantastic! Sorry, I don't know enough english to explain better the functions...
Kindly
Annelore
| | | | Jerzy Czopik 
Deutschland
Local time: 18:24
Mitglied (2003)
Polnisch > Deutsch
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| Sonja Tomaskovic (X)
Deutschland
Local time: 18:24
Englisch > Deutsch
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| Very slow, IMHO | Dec 2, 2005 |
I have registered across when they were offering free licences for freelance translators.
Unfortunately, I have found it to be very slow. For instance, there is no way to bypass the whole project management thing. Sometimes I just want to translate one small document. Creating a project, defining a TM and a termbase, tracking the progress, etc. are not that important all the time. However, there is no way to avoid it. You have to create a project each time (or add it to an existing ... See more I have registered across when they were offering free licences for freelance translators.
Unfortunately, I have found it to be very slow. For instance, there is no way to bypass the whole project management thing. Sometimes I just want to translate one small document. Creating a project, defining a TM and a termbase, tracking the progress, etc. are not that important all the time. However, there is no way to avoid it. You have to create a project each time (or add it to an existing one), you have to import the file which can take ages, and if you have a legacy TM that you would like to import, good luck. Grab a book and a cup of coffee, you will need it while you are watching the progress bar crawl forward.
The window that contains the segments is IMHO too crowded. You have all sorts of frames that can be closed, but even the main frame seems too overloaded. One drawback is IMHO that actually across segments by paragraph. It is only when you reach a segment that it highlights individual sentences (they appear in boldface). It does save the sentences individually in your TM, but the whole highlighting thing gets useless if you decide to split your translation into two sentences or to merge two target sentences into one in your translation.
Once you have finished your translation, you have to confirm that each file has been finished. Only then can you start to export your translation back to its original format, which, needless to say, takes time again.
All in all, it slows me only down and requires too much confirmation until you can see the final product. ▲ Collapse
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| Big cup of coffee (or a whole coffee pot) | Dec 2, 2005 |
Sonja Tomaskovic wrote:
I registered across when they were offering free licences for freelance translators.
Unfortunately, I have found it to be very slow. ... if you have a legacy TM that you would like to import, good luck. Grab a book and a cup of coffee, you will need it while you are watching the progress bar crawl forward.
I also gave it a whirl when the freebie freelance licence was on offer.
My TM in DVX has thousands and thousands of entries (main file 245 MB, plus index files of similar size for each language). To import that little lot I would probably need to take a short holiday. A book and a cup of coffee would not keep me going for long enough. So I didn't bother.
For my trial, I imported my 40 MB DVX terminology database instead (which was just about in the "good book and cup of coffee" league) and tried to pretranslate a sample file. No go. I could not find any convenient way to insert terminology segments into the target language. I would have had to scroll through the terminology entries and click each one singly with the mouse. I couldn't find any way to assemble from segments automatically.
Your comments on the project management overkill and the slowness of the program serve to underline my feelings: nice to have it on the computer as a museum piece, but not much use for real work.
(Note: this is my subjective judgement, which may not necessarily apply to everyone's needs.)
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When I opened up Across to check one or two things while writing the above reply, the program changed the size of the windows for other programs that were open at the time, so my Netscape and Outlook windows were squashed to about a third of their normal height.
Like an octopus reaching out its tentacles to interfere with everything it can lay its suction pads on.
| | | | ENGSOL
Deutsch > Englisch
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THEMENSTARTER | 'across' -- can anyone report on this CAT tool? | Dec 2, 2005 |
Hello Jerzy and Sonja,
Thanks for the links. I checked the forum before I posted my question but couldn't find anything! I see now that this tool isn't as 'new' as I thought!
Sonja Tomaskovic wrote:
I have registered across when they were offering free licences for freelance translators.
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Thanks for the helpful response. I haven't been able to test the software yet as it doesn't run on my system.
What caught my fancy (initially!) were all the networking features, but they come at a steep price -- as I've now worked out!
Thomas
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