Adobe

Subtitle scripts


 

    About script files

    You import subtitles using a script file. Encore accepts three different types of script files: Text Scripts, Image Scripts, and FAB Image Scripts. Scripts specify the start and end timecode of the subtitles. The big difference between them is that text scripts contain the subtitle text, whereas the two types of image scripts reference predesigned and formatted image files.

    Unlike image-based subtitles, text script files include the subtitle text along with the timecode for the start and end point for each subtitle. Text scripts contain no screen position or formatting information. You format and position the subtitles as a group when you import them using the Import Subtitles (Text Script) dialog box. You can specify the track on which you want to position subtitles, language, color set, and group that are used when displaying them.

    Importing subtitles

    Import text script files

    1. Open the timeline to which you want to add subtitles.

    2. Choose Timeline > Import Subtitles > Text Script.

      You can import directly from the timeline by right-clicking (Windows) or Control-clicking (Mac OS) the subtitle track header and choosing the appropriate import option from the menu.

    3. Locate and select the script you want to import, and click Open.

    4. In the Import Subtitles (Text Script) dialog box, format the text, position the subtitles within the frame, and specify the track, language, and timecode offset as needed.

      Import Subtitles (Text Script) dialog box
      A.
      Subtitle within bounding box

      B.
      Text formatting and alignment options

      C.
      Coordinates of the text bounding box

      D.
      Options for formatting Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (CJK) characters

      E.
      Subtitle track and language

      F.
      Color set options

      G.
      Timecode offset options

      H.
      Text orientation

      I.
      Text position within bounding box

    Text Script import options

    The Import Subtitles (Text Script) dialog box includes the following options:

    Text formatting options
    Set the font, font style, stroke, and other attributes of the text. These options are the same as those in the Character panel except for Faux Bold, Faux Italic, and Set Stroke Weight. A stroke (or outline) can increase the contrast between the subtitles and the video and improves readability.

    Bounding box coordinates
    Adjust the position and size of the bounding box. Each value specifies the screen pixel coordinate for an edge (left, right, top, and bottom). If necessary, you can also adjust the size of the bounding box for each clip after you place it. (See Edit, reformat, or move subtitles.)

    Text orientation
    Sets the orientation of the text, either horizontal  or vertical .

    Text position within bounding box
    Sets the position of the clip within the bounding box. A value of 0% aligns the first line of the subtitle with the top of the bounding box for horizontal text, and with the right edge of the bounding box for vertical text. A value of 100% aligns the last line of the subtitle with the bottom edge of the bounding box for horizontal text, and with the left edge of the bounding box for vertical text.
    Comparison of position values for horizontal text
    A.
    0%

    B.
    50%

    C.
    100%

    Asian text options
    Specify options for formatting Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (CJK) characters (also known as double-byte characters). (See Adding text to menus.)

    Subtitle track and language
    Lists the available subtitle tracks or lets you specify that a new track be created for the subtitles. Also lets you designate the language of the subtitles.

    Color set options
    Applies a color set to the timeline and a color group to all the subtitle clips in the script. You can later change the color group for individual clips using the Properties panel.

    Timecode offset options
    Determines whether the script timecode is interpreted exactly (Absolute) or offset by a specified amount (Relative). For example, when a clip has a source timecode that starts at 01;00;19;09 and a subtitle script has been logged for it using that timecode, you would set the Relative value to 01;00;19;09 on import to ensure that the imported subtitles synchronize correctly with the clip’s audio.

    Import subtitle image files using scripts

    You can import subtitle image files using two different types of scripts: image scripts and FAB image scripts. Both types reference image files that contain subtitles, simple graphics (such as pointers or masks), or both. Because the image files are preformatted and prepositioned, you cannot edit them in Encore.

    Subtitle image and sample script

    Although many professionals obtain image files from a subtitling house or service, you can create your own. As with the subpictures you create to highlight buttons, you achieve the best results by limiting image files to three colors or fewer. Use sharp edges for text and graphics, avoiding gradients, feathering, or anti-aliasing. Image files can be in JPG, GIF, PNG, TIF, or BMP format. When you import an image-based script, you specify how to map the colors in the image to the colors in the Timeline Color Set.

    Note: Image scripts (except FAB files) contain an absolute path to the image files. Before you import a script, make sure that the image files are in the location it specifies.

    1. Open the timeline to which you want to add subtitles.

    2. Choose Timeline > Import Subtitles > FAB Images Script or choose Timeline > Import Subtitles > Image Script.

      You can import directly from the timeline by right-clicking (Windows) or Control-clicking (Mac OS) the subtitle track header and choosing the appropriate import option from the menu.

    3. Locate and select the file you want to import, and click Open.

    4. For FAB script files only, locate and select the folder containing the image files; then click OK.

    5. In the Map Colors dialog box, select an eyedropper, position it over the appropriate area in the image, and click to select the color. Repeat for all three eyedroppers.

      Note: Ensure that you set a different color for each of the options. If you choose the same color, the final output, sometimes, is not as expected..

      Each eyedropper controls the color mapping of the image to the subtitle color set as follows:

      Background
      Maps to the transparent area of the subtitle overlay. Place the eyedropper over the background of the subtitle image.

      Fill/Color 1
      Maps to the fill of the type. Place the eyedropper over the body of the type (or, for nontext subtitles, over the object you want mapped to Color 1).

      Outline/Color 2
      Maps to the outline of the type. Place the eyedropper over the outline of a character (or, for nontext subtitle files, over the object you want mapped to Color 2).
      Note: Any additional colors in the image become transparent.

    6. Click OK.

    7. In the Subtitle Settings area of the Import Subtitles dialog box, specify the appropriate settings for the following options, and click OK:

      • From the Track menu, specify the subtitle track to which these subtitles should be placed and identify the language of the subtitle.

      • From the Color Set menus, choose a color set and highlight group to use for the subtitles. The color set you select is used for all the subtitles on all tracks in the timeline. The color group applies to all subtitles in this script.

      • Select Relative to offset the timecode of each subtitle. You specify the offset in the adjacent box. Select this option if the script’s timecode matches the source timecode of a clip in the timeline.

      • Select Absolute to import the subtitles at the timecode of the timeline itself (for instance, starting at zero).

    Structure of script files

    Script files are text-only files that are easy to write and edit in a text-editing application. For large projects, subtitling is generally handled by a subtitling house or service, which may create either text- or image-based scripts. If you want to create your own scripts or modify an existing script, it is important to understand the structure of script files.

    Important: Regardless of the type of script (text or image based), always save a script as a text file (TXT). To ensure that all the characters are correctly interpreted, choose Unicode UTF‑8 or UTF‑16 encoding when you save. This encoding option is available for text files in most text editors, such as Microsoft Notepad or TextEdit for Mac OS.

    Structure of text script files

    Text script files specify the subtitle number, the start time and end time in the video, and the subtitle text. You separate each line of a clip with a return. You format the text, position the subtitles on the screen, and choose the color group when you import the file.

    Text subtitle scripts should follow this format:

    Subtitle_# Start_Timecode End_Timecode Subtitle_text

    Additional_line_of_subtitle_text

    Additional_line_of_subtitle_text

    You can use either spaces or tabs to separate the elements in the script, and the Enter key to separate lines within the script. If you want to break the subtitle text into separate lines, just use the Enter key to start a new line.

    Keep in mind, however, that after you import the subtitles, the point size of the text and the size of the bounding box may force the text to reflow, causing unexpected line breaks.

    In this example, the following lines would form two separate clips, one at 2;02 and the second at 5;18:

    1 00;00;02;02 00;00;03;15 The cat never came back.

    She just walked away.

    2 00;00;05;18 00;00;09;20 I hope she’s all right.

    She always looked out the window with a special kind of longing.

    Structure of image scripts

    In image scripts, the first line designates the screen position, in pixel coordinates, of all image files. The second line includes a path to the folder containing the image files. The path is absolute, not relative, so make sure that you update the path if you move the image files. All remaining lines reference a single subtitle per line, specifying the subtitle number, the start and end time, and the filename of the image file containing the subtitle.

    The format of an image script file is as follows (italicized text represents the text you replace):

    Display_Area (Left Top Right Bottom)

    Directory Path

    Subtitle#Start_timecode End_timecode Image_file_name

    The display area uses the frame pixels for coordinates (for example, 720 x 480 pixels for NTSC or 720 x 576 pixels for PAL), where the zero point is the upper-left corner. You can separate the elements on each line using spaces or tabs.

    In this example, the full-screen images overlay the entire screen:

    Display_Area (000 000 720 480)

    Directory C:\Subtitles\Image Files\Caption Inc Images\ (Windows) or

    directory /Subtitles/Image Files/Caption Inc Images/ (Mac OS)

    1 00;00;02;02 00;00;03;15 CATTALESS001.TIF

    2 00;00;05;18 00;00;09;20 CATTALESS002.TIF

    Structure of FAB image scripts

    FAB image scripts contain separate position information for each image file. Unlike image scripts, you specify where to find the image files when you import a FAB image script. Each line of the file references a single subtitle image file, its start and end time in the video, and the pixel coordinates for its upper-left corner and lower-right corner. FAB subtitle scripts use the following format:

    Image_file_name Start_Timecode End_Timecode Left Top Right Bottom

    The position values use the frame pixels for coordinates (for example, 720 x 480 pixels for NTSC or 720 x 576 pixels for PAL), where the zero point is the upper-left corner. You can separate the elements on the lines by using spaces or tabs, and separate the lines within the script by using the Enter key.

    In this example, the full-screen images overlay the entire screen:

    RACE001.TIF 00;00;02;02 00;00;03;15 000 000 720 480

    RACE002.TIF 00;00;05;18 00;00;09;20 000 000 720 480

    Timecode format

    It is important that your script files correctly specify the timecode for your project. The timecode you use depends on the television standard of the project:

    NTSC
    NTSC projects use drop-frame timecode, which separates the numbers with semicolons, as in hh;mm;ss;ff (hours; minutes; seconds; frames).

    PAL
    PAL projects use timecode that separates the numbers with colons, as in hh:mm:ss:ff (hours: minutes: seconds: frames).

    When specifying timecode, keep in mind the following concepts:

    • Timecode in a script should match the timecode format of the project so that the subtitles sync correctly with the audio and video. While Encore can convert non-drop-frame timecode to drop frame, you get the best results if you specify the appropriate timecode for a project.

    • Timecode numbers do not need leading zeros. For example, 0;0;12;3 would be correctly interpreted as 00;00;12;03 on import.

    • Some subtitle-editing applications save subtitle scripts using the Time format instead of timecode. Time format is in the form: hh;mm;ss,zzz (hours; minutes; seconds, milliseconds). Encore does not recognize Time format. To convert Time format to timecode, you need to convert milliseconds (zzz) to frames (ff). The formula is:

      NTSC: Frame # = (milliseconds x 29.97) ÷ 1000

      PAL: Frame # = (milliseconds x 25) ÷ 1000

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