2009

You can also use a third-party utility. Most subtitling utilities take advantage of the
Final Cut Pro XML Interchange Format to automate the process of creating subtitles to
match a timed script that you provide. Some subtitling utilities provide an interface for
actually assembling the script, whereas others require one that’s premade. Most of these
utilities use one of two approaches. Some facilitate the automated placement of text
generators within your sequence, whereas others automatically create TIFF graphics that
are edited into your sequence. Do a bit of research to determine which of these approaches
best suits your needs.
Adding Subtitles in DVD Studio Pro
The DVD standard is designed to accommodate up to 32 subtitle streams, which makes
it possible to offer subtitles in multiple languages for international distribution. The viewer
is then able to select the appropriate language to view using the DVD player’s controls.
There are two ways you can create subtitles in DVD Studio Pro. You can create them
manually, one at a time, by entering timecode values or dragging in the Timeline and
then setting the position, font, size, style, color, and start and end fades of each subtitle.
You can also import specially formatted files that contain all of the subtitles for a particular
video track. DVD Studio Pro supports subtitle files in the following formats:
• STL: The Spruce Technologies subtitle format
• SON: The Sonic Solutions bitmap-based format
• TXT: A plain text file
• SCR: The Daikin U.S. Comtec Laboratories Scenarist bitmap-based format
The timecode values used to synchronize the text with the video must be based on those
of the encoded MPEG-2 program.
Adding Text Tracks to QuickTime Movies
QuickTime supports dedicated text tracks that can be turned on and off by the viewer
within QuickTime Player. These text tracks are useful for programs intended for Internet
distribution. The QuickTime format supports multiple text tracks that users can switch
among, and individual text tracks can be identified as one of a standardized list of
languages, to provide international support. Additionally, text in QuickTime text tracks
can be extensively formatted using a variety of descriptors for font, size, color, background,
justification, aliasing, and so on. These options make QuickTime text tracks extremely
versatile for multimedia use.
Text tracks can be formatted by hand in any text editor and then inserted into a QuickTime
movie using QuickTime Player. For more information, go to
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/tutorials/texttracks.html. You can also use one of several
third-party utilities to create and format text tracks in a more structured fashion.
104 Chapter 6 Mastering