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Subtitles for FCP – ideal settings
Folks,
I’m editing a documentary on FCP 7.0.2 that includes several foreign language speakers. These clips need to be subtitled. Several questions:
1. What are the ideal settings for NTSC 4:3 subtitles? Is there a broadcast standard? I’d like to hear opinions:
Font
Color
Drop shadow (Y/N)
Opacity of DS (#)
Maximum amount of words or characters per subtitle (#)2. I can copy and paste the attribute of drop shadow, but not the attribute of font, font size, or font color – correct? Or can you batch change the fonts and their colors?
Thanks for help.
DMCG
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6 Replies
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Each broadcaster may have their own requirements so be sure to check with them. Here’s a link to Automatic Sync Technologies/ that has a lot of good general info re titling on their site.
John
MacPro 8-core 2.8GHz 8 GB RAM OS 10.5.8 QT7.6.4 Kona 3 Dual Cinema 23 ATI Radeon HD 3870, 24″ TV-Logic Monitor, ATTO ExpressSAS R380 RAID Adapter, PDE enclosure with 8-drive 6TB RAID 5
FCS 3 (FCP 7.0.2, Motion 4.0.2, Comp 3.5.2, DVDSP 4.2.2, Color 1.5.2)Pro Tools HD w SYNC IO & 192 Digital I/O, Yamaha DM1000, Millennia Media HV-3C, Neumann U87, Schoeps Mk41 mics, Genelec Monitors, PrimaLT ISDN
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Ok, but I don’t see on this site and answer to any of my questions – is there a more specific link?
Thanks
DMCG -
this is from a BBC website:
As a general rule, subtitles:
* Must consist of no more than three lines;
* Must contain no more than 32 characters in each line;
* Must be centred at the bottom of the video clip; and
* Should include colours to distinguish speakers from each other – namely, white, yellow, cyan and green.still would like to know font type and size!
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I don’t remember where I saw the info. Check the Support FAQs and Resources tab. I used AST for Flash subtitling and searched all over the site for information. They definitely have recommendations for things like font, # of characters per line, etc.
John
MacPro 8-core 2.8GHz 8 GB RAM OS 10.5.8 QT7.6.4 Kona 3 Dual Cinema 23 ATI Radeon HD 3870, 24″ TV-Logic Monitor, ATTO ExpressSAS R380 RAID Adapter, PDE enclosure with 8-drive 6TB RAID 5
FCS 3 (FCP 7.0.2, Motion 4.0.2, Comp 3.5.2, DVDSP 4.2.2, Color 1.5.2)Pro Tools HD w SYNC IO & 192 Digital I/O, Yamaha DM1000, Millennia Media HV-3C, Neumann U87, Schoeps Mk41 mics, Genelec Monitors, PrimaLT ISDN
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This sounds more like subtitling for the deaf.
Normal subtitles have a max of two lines, and are white with a black outline.
4:3 is normally left alligned, for NTSC font size 38.Fonts are highly subject to taste, but in any case, use a sans-serif, condensed font.
No more than 42 chars on a line, and keep read speed good.
(Rule of thumb, read them OUT LOUD while their on. If you can’t make it, shorten the text.)There is no way that i know to paste attributes on text generators.
And if you are going to subtitle in your timeline, you’re nuts. (unless it’s just a few titles.)
Check out Subbits from my site. It has a learning curve, but it will save you tons of time.
You can do a roundtrip with XML to get the titles from FCP and back.BUT, there is a major bug in FCP 7.02. Line breaks on XML export are gone.
(On XML import in FCP they do work.)Bouke
https://www.videotoolshed.com/
smart tools for video pros -
Thank you for this – great information.
DAN
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