Can you Closed Caption in Final Cut?

[Shane Ross]

Yes…you need MacCaption.

https://www.cpcweb.com/products/product_summary.htm

Shane

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[Jason Livingston]

Hello Rudy,
It is definitely possible to closed caption HDCAM in Final Cut Pro, however you do need some extra software.

It requires two things:
A Matrox MXO2 (this is the only video I/O device which supports HD video with closed captions. AJA and Blackmagic cards currently do not support HD closed captions.)

A closed captions file in the “Matrox 4VANC” format. This can be generated using CPC’s MacCaption software. If you want to bring closed captioning in-house, then you can buy the software and do all the captioning yourself. Or if this is just a one-off project, you can pay a closed captioning service company to do the captioning for you and e-mail you the Matrox 4VANC file (it is very small, even for a long form project). You don’t have to ship tapes back and forth using this method.

Once you have the Matrox 4VANC track generated by MacCaption, you simply drop this into your Final Cut Pro timeline and then you can output captioned HD video (and captioned SD video simultaneously if you wish) right from your FCP timeline. You don’t even have to render.

For more information, please see: https://cpcweb.com/mxo2/

You can download a free demo of MacCaption, as well as sample Matrox 4VANC files, and free video tutorials which demonstrate the process from start to finish.

Hope this helps.

Jason Livingston
CPC

[Craig Harris]

According to AJA, they now support closed captioning in Final Cut 7 as well as Mac Caption.
https://www.aja.com/news/index_article.php?id=89

[Ben Slocum]

Rudy,
If you’ve got the latest version of FCP, then all you’ll need is an .scc file that you point the program to when you go to “print to tape”. If you don’t have the capability to make the .scc file, I can do it for $150 for a 30 minute program (or $5/minute $50 minimum for shorter stuff). Just send me the audio file. I know this post isn’t very detailed and doesn’t cover all the fine aspects of what can be done, but I hoped to catch you before you go out and invest in new hardware or software. Give me a call when you get a chance and I’d love to help out (even if it’s just advice 🙂 ) 805-478-8405. Ben Slocum

[Rudy Shalamar]

Hi Ben,

The show was shot in HD 1080i. I know that SD captions don’t work when encoded to HD decks. Do you have an HDcam compatable system?

Thank you!

[Ben Slocum]

Sorry, I don’t. When I’ve delivered HD video with 608 caption data it was in the form of an mpeg2 transport stream. Is that an option for you? If so, you only need your video file, a valid .scc file, and Compressor.

Ben Slocum
Production Manager
KCOY-TV