Creating Subtitles
19
You can create text subtitles directly in DVD Studio Pro, one at a time. You set their
position, font, size, style, and color, and can have them fade in and out. You control their
start and stop time either by entering timecode values or dragging in the timeline.
You can also import subtitle files containing all of the subtitles for a track. DVD Studio Pro
supports files that conform to any of these formats:
• STL: The Spruce Technologies subtitle format
• SON: The Sonic Solutions bitmap-based format
• TXT: A plain text file
• SCR: The Daiken-Comtec Laboratories Scenarist bitmap-based format
Note: See
Importing Older DVD Studio Pro Subtitles
for information on importing SPU
format subtitles (subtitles created with earlier versions of DVD Studio Pro).
Files in these formats should all contain multiple subtitle text or graphics images tied to
timecode values, ensuring they are placed properly within the timeline.
You can also import graphics files and use them as subtitles or overlay them on the video.
For example, you could have a graphic that traces a route on a map that appears in the
video stream. By importing several graphics, you could effectively animate the graphic
(by making the line move in the map, for example).
Subtitles can also be used to superimpose buttons over the track’s video. The viewer
selects these buttons just as they would buttons on a menu. Creating buttons over video
is similar to creating buttons using the standard menu creation method; that is, both
involve overlays, drawing rectangles to identify each button’s active area, and color
mapping.
There are no limits to how many subtitles you can add to a subtitle stream. However,
there are limits to how many subtitles you can have that provide buttons over video. See
How Do Buttons over Video Work?
for more information.
There is also no limit to the length of subtitles—you can make subtitles as short as one
frame or as long as the track.
Short subtitles can be useful if you want to create an animation effect, with simple graphics
that move. See
Using Graphics Files to Create an Animation
for more information.
Subtitles can be configured so that the viewer controls whether they appear, or they can
be forced to appear.
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Chapter 19
Creating Subtitles