Question about MaestroSBT

[thinredline]

Hello.
I have a question concerning the "screen and bitmap size" options in MaestroSBT.

I recently put subtitles in a PAL (720x576) DVD and I saw the default option for that was Minus 3.
(I used Arrial Narrow 22, non bold, with outline 2 and was making sst subtitles)
i was very happy with the result:




Today, I tried to put subtitles in a NTSC (720x480) DVD and I saw the default option was Minus 2.
i wasn't happy with the result (i used same style fonts):
(don't pay attention to the colors and position, just the fonts)



I tried with the same subtitles the Minus 3 option, like in the PAL dvd, and again I was happy with what I got. it was the same style with the first screenshot:


Now, my question is:
will it do any harm if I use Minus 3 for NTSC too, instead of the default Minus 2?
(I previewed quickly the subtitles in MaestroSBT, and I didn't see any lines coming out of the borders, if that was going to be the problem.)

i see MaestroSBT has Minus 2 as default for all NTSC resolutions, and Minus 3 for all PAL ones.

[manono]

Now, my question is:
will it do any harm if I use Minus 3 for NTSC too, instead of the default Minus 2?

I wouldn't, if I were you. I make all mine for NTSC with -2 and don't have any problems.

I don't think the problem is the -2 or -3, but whether you're making them for 16:9 display or 4:3 display. Ideally, if your video is 16:9, you make 2 sets of subs in MaestroSBT, one for viewing on 4:3 TV sets, the other for 16:9 TV sets. It looks to me like the middle picture is for 16:9 display and the bottom one for 4:3.

You can fool around with those settings in the Rendering page and then view them in the Preview. You'll easily see the differences. And neither shows them as they'll actually appear on your TV set, but only as they're stored in the DVD. To be sure of what you're getting, you'll have to actually view a finished DVD.

And if the subs are too small for your tastes, you can always enlarge them. I usually make my 16:9 subs a little bit smaller than my 4:3 subs.

[thinredline]

Thank you for your reply..

Well, I used the minus 3 eventually (the 3rd screenshot).
I reviewed the final DVD and all the subtitles in DVDsubedit, and all seems fine. (I have a 16:9 screen)
The other ones were too narrow..

I wonder if i played the DVD in a DVDplayer with a TV set, would they look the same?
Because i think there were some people who had some problems with that.
Meaning, in the pc all was fine, and on TV it was not.


here's the final result:


A rhetorical question: Is there anyone today with a 4:3 TV set or screen?


edit: a peculiar thing just happened:
I used -2 and -3 with the same subtitles for a 720x480 NTSC resolution, as before, and the result is the same!!!
I wonder why I had the result of the 2nd screenshot of my first post before..

[El Heggunte]

......

A rhetorical question: Is there anyone today with a 4:3 TV set or screen?

The world is far greater than Greece.

[manono]

The other ones were too narrow..

Yes, because they're shown at the 720x576 resolution. When stretched out for display on your 16:9 TV set, they should become a lot more round.

[thinredline]

The other ones were too narrow..

Yes, because they're shown at the 720x576 resolution. When stretched out for display on your 16:9 TV set, they should become a lot more round.

well, it didn't happen that way.
I had already muxed the subtitles in the DVD and watched in my 16x9 screen and it was like this (narrow).
then i deleted the DVD and I did it all over again..

[manono]

OK, do you know what the font looks like 'normally'? Maybe it was designed not to have round 'o's. Of course, you can make the subs any way you like. That's one of the beauties of MaestroSBT. I was only answering your original question about the -2 and -3 thing, which has absolutely nothing to do with the final appearance of the fonts on the TV screen.

Also, unless you muxed correctly using Muxman, I can't vouch for your authoring program and if you even loaded the subs correctly.

[thinredline]

I used muxman..
they were already narrow from the preview of MaestroSBT.

As i said, I used Arian Narrow. So, the font normally looks narrow.
The rounded ones got like this "by mistake", probably by the minus 2 or minus 3 option.
But i was happy with it and i want all the subtitles to look like this.

bottomline:
for all the screenshots above, i used Arian Narrow 22, non bold, with outline 2.
I'm just not sure, why that one time they were indeed narrow, and all the other times rounded..

[jman98]

A rhetorical question: Is there anyone today with a 4:3 TV set or screen?

I understand that this is rhetorical, but based on the posts we get, you might be surprised at how many people still have 4:3 TV sets. Most of these people live in the USA. This article says that at the end of 2011 that about 26% of US households had HDTVs. It also predicts it will be 2016 before half, yes HALF, of US households have HDTVS.
http://broadcastengineering.com/news/hdtv-household-penetration-surpass-50-percent-2016-says-report