Closed Captioning?

[J_Barnes]

Okay, this is becomming a real headache for me because I'm working on projects that require US government 508 compliance...specifically, everything has to be closed captioned.

Does anyone know of any kind of plugin to encode closed captioning for vegas or premiere? I know you can attached captioning to a WM file, but that doesn't help me, as everything is ending up on 1/2" and must be encoded on the tape.

This seems like a perfect project for enterprising programmers, as I can find nothing to fill this hole in the market. And...the entire federal government is mandated for 508 compliance, so there's obviously a market built in.

Anyone know of any software? Our outboard captioner isn't working so well.

[David Jimerson]

Sorry, I don't. Does FCP do that? Just out of curiosity.

[J_Barnes]

No editing software does that...that's why I'm surprised that no one has bothered to work on a plug-in.

It's nice that vegas does it in Windows Media, but it'd be great if you could also encode standard closed captioning on output.

As it stands now, I have to either run title overlays, or run it through an outboard processor. I don't want to do either of those in the long-term.

[David Jimerson]

I didn't think so, but I don't keep up with every new feature on FCP, so I thought it might. Looks like a programming opportunity, as you say . . .

[Jive]

A plugin would be nice, but there are in existence various software products that allow you to do closed-captioning. *It appears that all of these products require a hardware encoder/processor for the final step. *Perhaps this hardware step is required for closed-captioning and that is why no one has created a plugin for an NLE (tho I have not any closed-captioning, so I do not speak from experience :))

[Gopher_Greene]

This may help

http://www.captions.org/softlinks.cfm

[miinbox]

Hello. Long time lurker, first time poster here. Unfortunately, it appears that no such plug in exists for Vegas or Premiere -- at least, it wouldn't work if the project was output to tape.

The cheapest hardware encoder I've found is CCEPlus which may be installed on your PC -- it goes for about $1500. (See http://www.softtouch-inc.com/ccep.htm) Most hardware based encoders cost around $4,000 - $8,000. You've already said that you prefer not going down that route in the long run, so...

The only software based encoder I've found is at http://www.ccaption.com. According to the website, it is the world's only software based captioning encoder that can go onto video without losing a generation. So, this may be something closer to what you're looking for. Only problem is that you'll have to tackle on the fact that this software seems to be supported only by Avid, Media100, and Matrox. Not to mention, the software costs a pretty penny. The price being as high as it is, I'm not certain which is more beneficial: a software based encoder or a hardware based encoder.

So, you're right; there's definitely a market for this. If anyone can figure out how ccaption works, there's money to be made, I'm sure.

In the meantime, perhaps you can give CPC a call and inquire if they plan to port ccaption to Vegas.

Wow... after a long time lurking these forums, it's nice to be able to participate! Cheers! :)

[J_Barnes]

Miinbox, thanks for your post. Where I am now, we have an outboard captioner that is pretty nice, but it still is a pain to use in a non-linear editing environment because there is no way to use it without striking a tape and then running that tape to a second generation.

I'm aware of ccaption, we put in a purchase request for that a long time ago, but I haven't heard anything good about the software so far.

It just seems like it would be such a simple thing to design, it couldn't be harder then AC3 encoding, and it's a hell of a lot more useful, so it's odd that no one has one out.

I think ccaption also works standalone with video files, but I'll have to research that again.

thanks for the post and welcome to dvxuser.com