| Pages in topic: [1 2 3 4] > | Is it really so necessary to have Trados? Thread poster: Alex Dall'Asta
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Hi everbody, I have been a full-time translator for 3 years now and have managed to dodge Trados, but several agencies seem to require its use. How necessary do you think it is today?
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:11
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Alex Dall'Asta wrote:
Hi everbody, I have been a full-time translator for 3 years now and have managed to dodge Trados, but several agencies seem to require its use. How necessary do you think it is today?
I turn down work for anyone who specifies it as a requrement. I use a different CAT tool. So my opinion Trados isn't necessary.
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Most outsourcers that 'require' Trados actually just need us to be able to handle the common Trados formats (sdlppx, sdlxliff, etc.), and many CAT tools do that.
A few do need Trados for a specific purpose, but I don't have time to accept everything I'm offered anyway, so I can just ignore those and focus on what I can do with memoQ, just as I turn down everything that requires use of various 'exotic' online tools, except for Memsource.
I don't like Trados, so it wouldn... See more Most outsourcers that 'require' Trados actually just need us to be able to handle the common Trados formats (sdlppx, sdlxliff, etc.), and many CAT tools do that.
A few do need Trados for a specific purpose, but I don't have time to accept everything I'm offered anyway, so I can just ignore those and focus on what I can do with memoQ, just as I turn down everything that requires use of various 'exotic' online tools, except for Memsource.
I don't like Trados, so it wouldn't make much sense to pay to get it just to be able to handle a few more tasks when I have plenty to do already.
Of course, this is just my own experience. The situation could be different depending on the languages and industries.
[Edited at 2021-11-17 16:24 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | It depends on the work you do | Nov 17, 2021 |
I've been using Trados for around five years now, and couldn't do without it. But it really depends on the work you do. If agencies are constantly requiring you to use it, you should examine what the ROI of buying it would be.
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Luca Ruella 
United States
Member (2005)
English to Italian
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| Industry standard | Nov 17, 2021 |
Alex Dall'Asta wrote:
Hi everbody, I have been a full-time translator for 3 years now and have managed to dodge Trados, but several agencies seem to require its use. How necessary do you think it is today?
Trados is an industry standard so not using it is like an Engineer or Architect who does not want to use AutoCad or graphic artist who does not want to use PhotoShop. I'd turn them down.
| | | | Marjolein Snippe
Netherlands
Local time: 22:11
Member (2012)
English to Dutch
+ ...
| No, but you will not be able to work for some clients | Nov 17, 2021 |
Fiona Grace Peterson wrote:
I've been using Trados for around five years now, and couldn't do without it.
I really need a CAT tool for most of my work, but I use Wordfast, not Trados.
Yes, Trados brands itself as "Industry standard" but unless the client needs translators to collaborate via the cloud, they are usually perfectly happy to send me their sdlxliff or sdlppx files and TMs and don't care what software I use.
Some do insist I use Trados for specific projects, or for all of their projects, so those projects or clients will go to someone else.
| | | | Tony M
France
Local time: 22:11
Member
French to English
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER | Default setting for posting jobs? | Nov 17, 2021 |
I've always suspected it is probably the default setting for outsourcers when posting jobs.
My hunch is partly because the requirement for Trados often appears on jobs that patently woldn't be suitable for Trados treatment — and I've even seen it on jobs where another specific CAT tool was mentioned in the advert text!
In addition, I believe it is true to say that there is a business connection between the publishers of Trados and Proz.com; I'm not revealing any secrets, it was a m... See more I've always suspected it is probably the default setting for outsourcers when posting jobs.
My hunch is partly because the requirement for Trados often appears on jobs that patently woldn't be suitable for Trados treatment — and I've even seen it on jobs where another specific CAT tool was mentioned in the advert text!
In addition, I believe it is true to say that there is a business connection between the publishers of Trados and Proz.com; I'm not revealing any secrets, it was a matter of public knowledge at one point, but I can't now find back where I read it. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Georgi Kovachev
Bulgaria
Local time: 23:11
Member (2010)
English to Bulgarian
+ ...
| Industry standard | Nov 17, 2021 |
Luca Ruella wrote: Alex Dall'Asta wrote:
Hi everbody, I have been a full-time translator for 3 years now and have managed to dodge Trados, but several agencies seem to require its use. How necessary do you think it is today? Trados is an industry standard so not using it is like an Engineer or Architect who does not want to use AutoCad or graphic artist who does not want to use PhotoShop. I'd turn them down.
Does learning any piece of software other than AutoCad or PhotoShop, but with the same functions, make an engineer or an architect less qualified or professional if they opt not to use AutoCad or PhotoShop? The same is valid for any other profession.
The point is not what tools you use, but what product or service you deliver.
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| Is it really so necessary to have Trados? | Nov 17, 2021 |
Alex Dall'Asta wrote:
Hi everbody, I have been a full-time translator for 3 years now and have managed to dodge Trados, but several agencies seem to require its use. How necessary do you think it is today?
It's not absolutely necessary, in my very personal view. I get lots of Studio projects, never turned them down, just used another CAT tool, no client ever complained as he got the file(s) in the required format. What tool I use for this is my business.
| | | | | I stopped using Trados after the 2011 version and switched completely to MemoQ | Nov 17, 2021 |
Most customers are quite happy with sending me a Studio (Trados) package and me using MemoQ (you can send a Studio package back). I don't like Trados while I do MemoQ. I mainly translate technical information so using a CAT tool makes sense.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:11
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Luca Ruella wrote: Alex Dall'Asta wrote:
Hi everbody, I have been a full-time translator for 3 years now and have managed to dodge Trados, but several agencies seem to require its use. How necessary do you think it is today? Trados is an industry standard so not using it is like an Engineer or Architect who does not want to use AutoCad or graphic artist who does not want to use PhotoShop. I'd turn them down.
Many architects do not use Autocad. I'm an architect. There are better tools than Autocad.
| | | | Adieu
Ukrainian to English
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| Not really, but you do need SOMETHING | Nov 17, 2021 |
I get enough MemoQ-required work from several clients that I don't need Trados or even have it installed on my current laptop.
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Nikita Kobrin
Lithuania
Local time: 23:11
Member (2010)
English to Russian
+ ...
| | It depends... | Nov 17, 2021 |
It depends on customers, especially language service providers. They may ask you to use Studio, or any other CAT tool or platform. I am using Studio 2019, MemoQ and Memsource.
Alex Dall'Asta wrote:
Hi everbody, I have been a full-time translator for 3 years now and have managed to dodge Trados, but several agencies seem to require its use. How necessary do you think it is today?
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 16:11
German to English
| No longer absolutely necessary | Nov 17, 2021 |
At one time Trados reigned supreme in the CAT tool game. There were a number of challengers, but few attracted a serious following until Déjà vu came along. Translators often owned both programs: Trados was used to segment files, but the work was done in Déjà vu, then reimported into Trados for delivery. This led the the ridiculous (and often arduous) process of the "round trip".
Developers such as Kilgray realized that they could capture an important market segment if they cou... See more At one time Trados reigned supreme in the CAT tool game. There were a number of challengers, but few attracted a serious following until Déjà vu came along. Translators often owned both programs: Trados was used to segment files, but the work was done in Déjà vu, then reimported into Trados for delivery. This led the the ridiculous (and often arduous) process of the "round trip".
Developers such as Kilgray realized that they could capture an important market segment if they could produce a program that could handle Trados packages and deliver in that format. Since Déjà vu was moribund I bought memoQ shortly after its introduction and have relied on it ever since as my primary tool.
I last purchased Trados Studio (or whatever it was called) in 2011. I used it sporadically for a while as an alternative to memoQ since I had a large customer who absolutely insisted on Trados.
When I bought a new computer this past summer, after attempts to return my Trados license failed, I didn't bother to transfer the program to my new machine. Although it's still on my old back-up computer, I don't expect to have to use it ever again. ▲ Collapse
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