Translates subtitles of a 40-episode short drama within 20 seconds across 18 languages
Improved human subtitle translation proofreading efficiency by 40%
Enhanced short drama streaming conversion rate by 20%
By leveraging Gemini on Vertex AI to translate short drama subtitles, Stardust TV provides more engaging viewing experiences.
By leveraging Gemini on Vertex AI to translate short drama subtitles, Stardust TV provides more engaging viewing experiences.
Enhancing short drama viewing experiences with AI
After months of comparison tests, we found that Gemini on Vertex AI delivered the most accurate subtitle translation thanks to its excellent comprehension capability. As a multimodal model, it can use videos as reference to interpret verbal nuances better.
Wynstan Niu
Overseas Project Director, Stardust TV
Short dramas made more revenue than box offices in China in 2024 and are attracting increasing attention outside the country. That's largely because they're tailored to a mobile-first audience.
Stardust TV is a leading online streaming platform that brings popular Chinese short dramas to viewers around the world. Launched in early 2025, its streaming app offers micro dramas of various genres ranging from fantasy and sci-fi to romance, with subtitles or dubbing in 18 languages.
Consisting of episodes that last 90 seconds to two minutes, short dramas are loved for their tight plots and sharp emotion. Their subtitles, therefore, need to be translated as authentically and accurately as possible so people can easily immerse themselves in a story, even when they don't understand its language.
"Subtitle translation quality is essential for us to engage global viewers," explains Wynstan Niu, overseas project director at Stardust TV. "Audiences enjoy the entertainment experience at its fullest when they completely grasp what's happening."
To ensure translation quality, Stardust TV used to rely on in-house translators to proofread translated text generated by several AI-powered translation software. This required a lot of modifications because the software couldn't interpret certain tones and emotions correctly. Aiming to enhance its translation team's proofreading efficiency and the viewing experiences it provides, Stardust TV compared different AI translation tools, eventually landing on Gemini on Vertex AI from Google Cloud for its 30% higher translation accuracy. Collaborating with Meetsocial, a Google Cloud partner, Stardust TV built within two weeks a generative AI app that can output accurate subtitle formats across 100+ languages.
"After months of comparison tests, we found that Gemini on Vertex AI delivered the most accurate subtitle translation thanks to its excellent comprehension capability," says Wynstan Niu. "As a multimodal model, it can use videos as reference to interpret verbal nuances better."
Offering appealing short dramas in 18 languages with 40% higher productivity
Leveraging the technical know-how of Meetsocial, Stardust TV's translation team started training its Gemini model in January 2025 to translate Chinese subtitles into 17 languages. To assure translation consistency, the team also built custom glossaries that incorporate brand names and commonly mistranslated terms.
Within three months, Stardust TV has seen significant productivity improvement in subtitle translation proofreading. Not only is Gemini capable of generating translated subtitles of a 40-episode short drama within 20 seconds, the enhanced translation accuracy also allows Stardust TV's translators to proofread faster. Wynstan Niu mentions that Meetsocial's AI expertise and consulting service helped the Stardust TV team adapt the model to its business needs faster and speed up time to market.
"The learning capability of Gemini on Vertex AI is really amazing. After a short period of training, it has reached our quality requirements for subtitle translation and helped boost our translation team's proofreading efficiency by 40%," Wynstan Niu notes. "This number will grow even higher as we continue to train and optimize the model."
The higher translation productivity means updated streaming service, as Stardust TV is able to introduce more drama titles to its users and offer more diverse content. On top of that, by using Gemini to refine its already published subtitles, Stardust TV found that viewer conversion rate increased by 20%.
"With its industry-leading translation capability, Gemini on Vertex AI has improved our operations in many aspects," says Wynstan Niu. "We're now able to provide more engaging viewing experiences, release new short dramas faster, and expand to overseas markets more easily."
The learning capability of Gemini on Vertex AI is really amazing. After a short period of training, it has reached our quality requirements for subtitle translation and helped boost our translation team's proofreading efficiency by 40%.
Wynstan Niu
Overseas Project Director, Stardust TV
Broadening AI application for better streaming services
Next, Stardust TV will continue advancing the quality of the translation generated by its Gemini model. To provide more immersive viewing experiences and add on to the variety of content it provides, the streaming platform is also working on enhancing the naturality of dubbing produced by tools like Text-to-Speech AI and plans to use Gemini to generate motion comics.
"By providing outstanding AI capabilities, Google Cloud has helped us make a huge leap forward in productivity to provide more appealing short drama streaming services," notes Wynstan Niu. "We'll continue advancing our AI models in Google Cloud to engage more audiences around the world."
By providing outstanding AI capabilities, Google Cloud has helped us make a huge leap forward in productivity to provide more appealing short drama streaming services. We'll continue advancing our AI models in Google Cloud to engage more audiences around the world.
Wynstan Niu
Overseas Project Director, Stardust TV
Stardust TV offers an online streaming platform featuring short dramas in various genres with subtitles in 18 languages.
Industry: Media and Entertainment
Location: China
About Google Cloud partner- Meetsocial
Meetsocial is a digital service provider that has helped more than 30,000 Chinese brands expand to overseas markets since 2013.
