Closed Caption?

[jayndenver73]

I hope someone can clear a few things up for me.

I have been making my own DVD's for a few years now. I have been able to do different angles, 2nd audio, and alot of other higher end stuff. But I have not been able to figure out Closed Captions.

I have read a few of the guides, and looked at almost all of the tools, but I'm just not clear on a few things.

Do I need to watch the video and type what is being said in order to have CC? Or is there a program that would do this for me?

Any help, or a point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

I use the following programs.

DVD Architect
Sony Vegas
Main-concept MPEG Encoder
I also just got a MAC, with the IDVD, and IMovie.

[Baldrick]

Do I need to watch the video and type what is being said in order to have CC?

Yes. But do you need so called Closed Captions? just make standard dvd subtitles with for example DVD Architect ,
.

[gll99]

Closed captions can only be authored with a few high end tools. DVD Maestro, Sonic Scenarist and one other I can't recall.

The mpeg muxer is the key and none of the ones I have seen can mux the cc data as user data in the mpeg. There is one that claims to do it called mpegrepairhd but it's about $4000.

There is one free muxer that will do it but it can only mux 1mb of video data per hour. Do you have that much time for a whole DVD? It's on this site :
http://www.geocities.com/mcpoodle43/SCC_TOOLS/DOCS/SCC_TOOLS.HTML.

As Baldrick says, I gave up trying to mux cc and am now converting captured tv closed caption to srt using the tools on the McPoodle site. There are also a number of other tools and gui's related to processing subs discussed in the subtitle forum on this site.

I set up a graph (graphedit) and can now capture both the show or vhs movie to mpeg and the separate CC at the same time. Then it's just a matter of converting the raw cc to srt (or other format) for input to any number of authoring programs.

CC and subs can coexist on a DVD and I would love to be able to keep the CC as is. There are certain advantages to cc that are hard to duplicate with subs like scrolling text lines and displaying 2 captions at once near the persons speaking etc... I know some of this can be emulated using subs with programs like DVDLab where individual text can placed left or right in the display window but it means a lot of extra tweaking when the captured cc is already properly set and would only need to be muxed if only a reasonably priced muxer existed.

Oh well, at least it's not too hard to convert the cc to srt but if only........

[GeorgeW]

Closed captions can only be authored with a few high end tools. DVD Maestro, Sonic Scenarist and one other I can't recall.

CC is for NTSC only.

DVD-Lab PRO 2.0 can mux in closed captions in "SCC" format.

And I believe Adobe Encore DVD 2.0 also has CC functionality

Regards,
George

[gll99]

GeorgeW wrote

And I believe Adobe Encore DVD 2.0 also has CC functionality

My goodness man you are right!

I just checked the adobe help center and it specifically mentions SCC closed caption input with Encore v2. They say line 1 or line 2 but I think it's the same as line 21 and 22.

DVD-Lab PRO 2.0 can mux in closed captions in "SCC" format.

It must be a new feature in 2.0. Where do you input the SCC file. A quick look at the timeline only shows subs as before? I'll check the help files but if you know it will be much easier. Thanks

This is great news for my wife. She is having difficulty with tv sound. It's not just loudness because that doesn't solve the issue. It's more about selecting the voices from the background music, special effects and other environmental movie sounds.

These tools are cost effective for the professional and hobbyist alike. I always found it funny that so few authoring software provided the line 21 cc functionality or if it was available they sure didn't highlight that fact.

@jayndenver73

I'm glad you asked this question because after research, I had basically set this idea aside (for the present anyway) because it didn't seem cost effective for home use.

btw) I still plan to convert the raw captured cc as both subs and scc since as I said before they can coexist on a dvd and each method has benefits in the way they can be activated and displayed.

[SLK001]

I just checked the adobe help center and it specifically mentions SCC closed caption input with Encore v2. They say line 1 or line 2 but I think it's the same as line 21 and 22.

Line 1 and line 2 refer to the particular fields on which the CC's are muxed (you probably mean Field 1 or Field 2). Normal CC's are encoded only on Field 1. The DVD spec calls out a Field 2 caption, but I have yet to see a DVD with them.

And all closed captions (regardless of field) are placed on line 21 of the Vertical Retrace Interval (VRI).

McPoodle has done a lot of stuff concerning closed captions. His website (shown above) is: http://www.geocities.com/mcpoodle43/SCC_TOOLS/DOCS/SCC_TOOLS.HTML

[GeorgeW]

DVD-Lab PRO 2.0 can mux in closed captions in "SCC" format.

It must be a new feature in 2.0. Where do you input the SCC file. A quick look at the timeline only shows subs as before? I'll check the help files but if you know it will be much easier. Thanks

It is new in DLP 2.0 -- In UOPS & Settings -- there is a place to specify the file for CC Line 21

Regards,
George