Video Localization Planner

Video Localization Planner is a small open-source command line tool for planning multilingual video translation work before a creator or team spends time on production. It does not translate video by itself. Its job is narrower and more practical: estimate the scope of a localization job, compare output modes, and generate a review checklist that can be shared with editors, translators, marketers, or support teams.

The project is useful when a team has one source video and needs to decide whether to create subtitles, AI dubbing, or a more polished lip-sync version for another market. The script turns a few simple inputs into a structured plan: source duration, target languages, selected output mode, review priorities, and a CSV checklist for quality control. This makes the first localization pass easier to discuss and less likely to drift into unnecessary work.

For teams that need an online production workflow after planning, a focused tool such as translate a video can be used for the actual video translation stage.

Features

• Estimate localization scope from video length, target languages, and output mode.
• Compare three common output modes: subtitles, AI dubbing, and lip-sync video.
• Generate a plain CSV checklist for human review.
• Keep calculations transparent and editable.
• Run as a single Python file with no project setup.
• Use only standard library modules, so it works offline.

Why this exists

Video localization often starts too broadly. A creator may want every language, every channel, every output format, and every file type at once. That usually creates slow review cycles and unclear expectations. This planner encourages a smaller first pass: pick one source video, choose a target language set, select one output mode, review the result, then expand only after the localized version has a real publishing path.

The tool is deliberately simple. It is not a media processor, subtitle parser, speech recognition engine, or AI model wrapper. It is a planning utility. That makes it suitable for SourceForge as a real downloadable project while keeping the code easy to inspect and modify.

Installation

Download the release package and run the script with Python 3.10 or newer:

python3 video_localization_planner.py --help

No dependencies are required.

If you use uv, this also works:

uv run video_localization_planner.py --help

Quick start

Create a plan for a ten-minute video translated into Spanish, French, and German:

python3 video_localization_planner.py \
  --title "Product Demo" \
  --minutes 10 \
  --languages Spanish,French,German \
  --mode dubbing \
  --out product-demo-plan.csv

The command prints a summary and writes a CSV checklist. The checklist includes review items for timing, terminology, speaker names, claims, export format, and channel fit.

Output modes

The planner supports three modes:

subtitles is best for fast publishing, tutorials, social clips, searchable text, and cases where the original voice can remain.

dubbing is best when the viewer should be able to listen naturally without reading every subtitle line.

lipsync is best for polished marketing videos, presenter-led explainers, sales demos, or lessons where the face on screen needs to match the localized audio more closely.

The script uses simple planning weights rather than pretending to know the exact cost or quality of any external provider. You can edit those weights directly inside the file if your workflow uses different assumptions.

CSV fields

The generated CSV includes:

• section
• item
• owner
• status
• notes

The default owner is reviewer, and the default status is todo. This keeps the file compatible with spreadsheets, issue trackers, project management tools, and simple manual review.

Example workflow

1. Choose one source video that already performs well in the original language.
2. Run the planner with one to five target languages.
3. Review the printed estimate and CSV checklist.
4. Assign review items to the person responsible for terminology, timing, claims, and export quality.
5. Produce the localized asset.
6. Publish to the target channel.
7. Only then decide whether to add more languages or output modes.

Failure handling

The tool validates the important inputs before writing files. It rejects non-positive durations, unknown output modes, missing language lists, and unwritable output paths. Errors are printed in plain language and the command exits with a non-zero status code.

License

This project is released under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md.