Passing closed captions THRU FCP

[David Bogie]

We have unconfirmed testimony that the signal passes through unscathed UNTIL you apply any filter or effect. If the media is rendered, the line 21 information is lost.
Again, that’s unconfirmed, but from reliable sources. I am working from Dr Memory which might not be fully functional.

bogiesan

This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

[Jeffrey]

I can definatly confirm that captions WILL pass through FCP un-harmed until you apply an effect of any kind. Any sort of render will erase your captions from only that renderd portion of the video. We need to run captions through FCP every day and we can do it as long as we don’t render anything. The render re-compresses the video and the captions are lost in that re-compression.

Also, not all VTR’s will keep those captions intact either. Our Beta decks work fine and always keep the captions safe, but beware if you run it through a DV Deck, captions WILL NOT run through a DSR-45!!! The only path through a DSR-45 to keep the captions is through the Monitor Out connector; component, composite, and S-Video WILL NOT keep the captions. However, the older DSR-30 WILL keep the captions through any path. I cannot vouch for capture cards like the Kona or AJA IO.

Jeff

“TV said that? Then it must be true.” -Homer Simpson

[Malcolm Thorpe]

Our problem is that we have to convert to DV streams so that they can be FTP’d to a central server for airplay on a digital sub-carrier of our signal. Sounds to me like I’m pooched. Even if I do manage to save the line 21 data, it is gone as soon as I convert. Thanks all

[Jeffrey]

Just as an FYI: (and if you allready know this, just ignore me) When CC’s are tranfered from an analogue signal (line 21) like from a BetaSP source, they are tranfered to the DV tapes VAUX data area. In the DV world CC’s no longer reside on line 21. And if you’re editing with the DV codec with a 720×480 frame size, CC’s cannot be added to line 21, they must be encoded to the VAUX area. To do line 21 encoding you must be using a codec that supports 720×486.

The guys at CCaption.com know a lot about this stuff. And they pretty much make the only CC software available for MAC and FCP: MacCaption.

You might not be pooched yet, depending on your whole signal path, I’d check with the guys at CCaption.com and see what advice they can give you.

Jeff

“TV said that? Then it must be true.” -Homer Simpson

[Malcolm Thorpe]

Thanks for the info Jeff, I will run it up the pipe and see if the guys in the big office want to explore this