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It's been nearly a year since Trados Live was launched and although initially I was very excited, and it was the reason why I purchased Studio 2021, that excitement wore off quickly as it proved to be rather useless and cumbersome. But they promised it was a work in progress and they could change and update things without having to release new software. So I let it sit for a couple of months and this morning I decided to give it another try with a Package I received from a client. Packages are SDL proprietary files so you would expect it all to go smoothly by now. Did it?
No, it did not. There's still no option to simply open a package, work on it and create a return package, all in Trados Live. The suggestion is to use the sdlxliff files and create a new project in Trados Live. Off we go. Luckily a Package is nothing more than a Zip file, so add .zip to the extension and you can just find the files you need. 26 sdlxliff files in this case, and a TM. Off I went to create a project in Trados Live, but I had to cancel the first attempt because there was no option to simply add/import a TM to the project. The whole process of TMs in Trados Live is as tortuous as it was in the beginning. First you need to create a TM, next you need to import a local TM to that, and next you need to create a Translation Engine. Now be sure to set up a Customer first otherwise you'll end up with all that in Root and that can quickly become a long list. I never understood the whole need for a Translation Engine, and the reasoning as to why you cannot simply add a TM to a project, but hey, that's how it has to be done. So I had my Translation Engine ready, and so I could finally start creating my project. Added all the required info, the 26 files, and the newly created Translation Engine, and checked SDL Language Cloud (NDAs permitting of course) and clicked create.
Now we wait. Because after nearly a year we still have to accept projects we just created ourselves. And you would think that there would be ONE mail telling you a project is ready to accept, but nope, it resulted in 26 mails telling me that I needed to accept 26 files. Why on earth there's not just one mail informing me off a project that I just created but still needed to accept, I don't know. This is the most useless stage of the entire process. Somebody at SDL should have thought to include an option to assign it to myself when creating it surely. Soit, it's not there and I sat there for minutes waiting to accept 26 files, and not one project.
What it ought to be? Proprietary SDL files, like Packages, should be processed by Trados Live exactly the same way as the desktop Studio version. You simply open the package, add your own TM, SDL Language Cloud, etc, do the work, and create a return package. All in Trados Live. The fact that this is still not possible after nearly a year baffles me. I've read the excuse that "Trados Live" is a free service with the purchase of Studio 2021. I don't accept that excuse. I purchased Studio 2021 BECAUSE of Trados Live. I would have been happy with Studio 2019, there was no need for 2021. Except for Trados Live. And after nearly a year I feel cheated. At first I understood it was a new thing, and it needed work. But now I feel cheated as I understand there's no desire at SDL to make Trados Live a fully functional option for at least their own proprietary files. SDL (and RWS) should feel ashamed of themselves by delivering such a subpar experience and product to their customers.
