HD .mov files with Closed Captioning in MC5

[Jason Livingston]

Hi Dan,
Media Composer 5 only reads HD captions from AAF and MXF files with a SMPTE 436M track. It will not read any HD captions from a .mov, regardless of the codec used.*

You can use MacCaption to import the .mov HD closed captions and then convert them to a AAF file for use in Media Composer.

* Pedantically speaking, there used to be a way for DNxHD to have embedded VANC captions in a .mov container, but that method was extremely limited and it was deprecated by Avid when MC5 was released.

Best regards,

Jason Livingston
CPC Closed Captioning

[Dan Stone]

Thanks Jason,
I’m asking because I’m preparing a client spec sheet. Due to my requirements for working from broadcast-quality .mov’s would you agree that I should be requesting .aaf or .mxf files (with a SMPTE 436M track) to accompany each .mov supplied?

I should also mention that I have CaptionMaker HD Enterprise at my disposal and noticed you’re affiliated with CPC. Am I correct that no form of HD .mov can be imported for CC extraction using this software? Maybe you have a suggestion for how I can integrate it into my MC5 workflow better. As it stands I’ve only been using it for converting .scc to .aaf files on my HD projects (and only when I’ve received identical SD/HD versions of material).

Again, your advice is much appreciated. Thanks for your help.

Dan

[Jason Livingston]

Hi Dan,
The QuickTime CC track can only be read on a Mac, but if you have access to a Mac computer, you can download MacCaption and use the same CaptionMaker dongle to run MacCaption. Once imported, you can export the AAF for Avid closed captions, and it can be used on any Avid (Windows or Mac).

Best regards,

Jason Livingston
CPC Closed Captioning

[Dan Stone]

Damn. No Macs here. Looks like I’m stuck asking for AAFs. Thanks for laying all that out Jason. You’re a great help.
All the best,
Dan