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Audio
and Visual Services
Closed
Captioning
Open Captioning
Subtitles
Recording
DVD Authoring
Stripping of Captions
Closed
Captioning
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Closed
captioning is the process of encoding captions onto tape
or DVD for the hearing-impaired audience. Closed captions
can be turned on and off by the viewer using their TV remote.
Captions are white text on a black background.
We really can only do Roman-character-based languages at
this point. The captions are buried in the video signal
of the tape so capabilities are somewhat limited. |
The
bulk of this work is done in English (English captions of the English
narration) as it is, again, used for a hearing-impaired audience.
We also do a fair amount in Spanish.
Captioned files can also be created for use on the Internet.
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Open captioning
This is actually the exact same process as closed captioning, except
the captions are permanently turned on – the viewer cannot
turn them off. This is still mostly used for a hearing-impaired
audience, but some clients prefer this look for Spanish (or other
Roman character languages) ‘subtitles’ as they will
always stand out regardless of the background video.
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Subtitles
This
is where we can start getting into pretty much any language
needed, whether to tape or DVD. Subtitles are, obviously, used
for an audience who does not speak the language being used in
the narration of the program.
They also have a different look in that they do not have the
black background. They are keyed overtop the video. We can usually
play with drop shadows, outlines, etc. to make sure the subtitles
stand out quite well from the background. |
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Subtitles
can be turned on or off on a DVD, but are permanently keyed onto
videotape. With DVD you can also have multiple languages on the
same disc. Tape requires a separate tape per language.
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Recording
This is where the voice tracks of the various speakers are re-recorded,
or dubbed, in sync with the original language. We can do essentially
any language here as well, but cost is more of a factor. You have
talent fees, and studio fees, which may not only include recording,
but final mixing as well.
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DVD Authoring
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We
can create menus, chapter points, etc. on a DVD so that the
user can access various audio or subtitle tracks, as well as
jump to certain points within the show.
While we can do fairly complex authoring, the bulk of this type
of work is from clients who have a videotape and want to place
it on DVD. We then may add captions or subtitle files. |
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Stripping
of Captions
We often have clients who come to us with a tape that has been captioned
previously, and they have no contact with the facility who did the
original captioning. We can ‘strip’ the captions from
that tape, then create a file format for them to place on DVD, which
is usually what is requested.
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