How do I add closed captioning to my project?

NoNeedF0RaName · Post by **NoNeedF0RaName** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 8:03 pm

I'm using Media Studio Pro 8 and I have been given the task of editing a public access TV show that my church is doing. The editing part is easy enough, but the station we're looking into insists that we have closed captioning. How the heck do I do that? I know how to do subtitles, but closed captioning, as you guys know, is different.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 1:35 am

Are they expecting a DVD of the final video? If so, then you would need DVD Authoring software that supports the ability to add Closed Captions -- two packages on the PC (other than Scenarist) are Adobe's Encore DVD 2.0 (and probably CS3), and DVD Lab PRO 2.0 (although there is an existing bug in DVD Lab PRO if the CC uses more than two lines).

You would also need the ability to format the CC properly...

Regards,
George

NoNeedF0RaName · Post by **NoNeedF0RaName** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 1:38 am

So Ulead DVD Workshop 2 wouldn't cut it?

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 1:42 am

NoNeedF0RaName wrote:So Ulead DVD Workshop 2 wouldn't cut it?

Unfortunately, DVD WS2.x does not support adding Closed Captions to your DVD

Regards,
George

Devil · Post by **Devil** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 9:25 am

Closed captioning on a DVD may be handled exactly the same as sub-titling, so, yes, you can use DVD-WS2. It is mainly on tape that they are treated differently, although some NTSC TVs have special decoders for line 21 captions. In Europe, broadcast captions are done through teletext and DVD captions are always the same as subtitles, which is an option in the USA

From Wikipedia:

Most of the world does not distinguish captions from subtitles. In the United States and Canada, these terms do have different meanings, however: "subtitles" assume the viewer can hear but cannot understand the language, so they only translate dialogue and some on-screen text. "Captions" aim to describe all significant audio content and "non-speech information," such as the identity of speakers and their manner of speaking, along with music or sound effects using words or symbols.

The United Kingdom, Ireland, and most other countries do not distinguish between subtitles and closed captions, and use "subtitles" as the general term ¡X the equivalent of "captioning" is usually referred to as "Subtitles for the hard of hearing".

NTSC DVDs may carry closed captions in the Line 21 format. They are are sent to the TV by the player and can be displayed with a TV's built in decoder or a set-top decoder as usual. Independent of Line 21, video DVDs may also carry captions as a bitmap overlay which can be turned on and off via the DVD player, just like subtitles. This type of captioning is usually carried in a subtitle track labeled either "English for the hearing impaired" or, more recently, "SDH" (Subtitled for the Deaf and Hard of hearing). On some DVDs, the Line 21 captions may contain the same text as the subtitles; on others, only the Line 21 captions include the additional non-speech information needed for deaf and hard of hearing viewers.

Note that line 21 captions can not exist on high-def TV in any format, so it is probably on the way out.

IMHO, do it as a sub-title track suitably labelled.

Gra · Post by **Gra** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 7:51 pm

Hi
I run Movie Factory 6+ and believe you can import an srt file. I've not tried it but I wonder how you create an srt file? Can you do it via MSP or do I need DVD WS 2 or some other special programme?

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 8:21 pm

Devil wrote:Closed captioning on a DVD may be handled exactly the same as sub-titling, so, yes, you can use DVD-WS2.

No, technically speaking, DVDWS2 can NOT add Closed Caption streams (Line-21) to an authored DVD. The type of CC that you turn On/Off with settings on your NTSC TV (or CC Decoder).

You can add subtitles, but they are a different matter altogether -- they are NOT displayed during the broadcast during playback of the DVD. YOu can always turn On/Off subtitles if you happen to be playing the DVD from your own player -- but not if it is to be broadcast...

Regards,
George

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 7:21 am

A few rather expensive links:
ClosedCaption maker
¡§Do your own Captioning¡¨
(units now in-stock!)
ADDrollupCC (post-production only) $2,200 (hardware & software
ADDrollupCC_TC $4,000 (hardware & software

Captioning NLE Video
With CPC-700NLE CaptionMaker (Windows) and MacCaption-NLE (Mac), you can caption any 720x486 uncompressed video sitting in your NLE system like FinalCut Pro, Avid, Media 100, Adobe Premier etc. without using any external closed caption encoder. Then you can dump the video to a tape format (BetaSP, DigiBeta etc.) via the NLE hardware (like Avid, AJA, BlackMagic Decklink etc.).
Prices from $995 to $8,995

Quite a few listed here
Didn't have time to check pricing.

Didn't find any free stuff and it all looks rather expensive.

troppo · Post by **troppo** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 1:31 am

Just wondering if it might be more useful to put this thread in the DVDWS forum?

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:51 am

Thanks for pointing that out - I hadn't noticed it was in the wrong forum