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MacCaption + Blackmagic+FCP7
Deliver HD Closed Captions |
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Complete
captioning and subtitling solution.
No
additional CC hardware required. No generation loss!!!
Overview
MacCaption taps into the Blackmagic DeckLink HD cards
(HD Extreme 3, DeckLink Studio, DeckLink Studio 2, DeckLink SDI and
DeckLink Optical Fiber).
You need MacCaption DTV, DTV-B, or HD
Enterprise, Final Cut Pro 7, as well as the most recent
DeckLink drivers to import & export
True CEA-708
and CEA-608 closed captions right from your Mac, without
needing any expensive HD caption encoding hardware.
This means Blackmagic users that edit
with Final Cut Pro 7 can utilize MacCaption to caption HD and SD
videos in-house. This eliminates the need for a dedicated HD caption
encoder, which costs $7,600 or more, plus saves time and money,
preserves quality, and simplifies work-flow.
How it Works
MacCaption lets users enter,
position, and time stamp captions, then creates an encoded
caption file. This file is loaded into Final Cut Pro 7 via the
"Edit to Tape" or "Print to Video" menus. The Blackmagic cards then channel the encoded caption data to the proper location in the HD video
data.
Simplifies Work-Flow
MacCaption saves users
time and money by authoring captions in-house, avoiding
the costs and delays of shipping master tapes back and forth.
MacCaption eliminates
the generation loss of legacy tape-to-tape hardware encoders,
because the captions are printed to tape directly from Final
Cut Pro.
MacCaption can
re-purpose captions
for multiple tape formats, the web, VOD, and optical disc delivery.
MacCaption does not require the complicated cable runs to tape
machines, a closed caption encoder, a time code reader, etc.
that are required by all other captioning software.
Note: Final Cut Pro 7 does not have any caption
preparation or encoding capabilities, that is, the ability to
create closed captions from scratch or raw script. Our MacCaption software
has caption preparation capabilities and also
generates caption files which Final Cut Pro can then use to
add closed captioning to your HD and SD videos.
Popular caption file formats such as .SCC and .CAP
files only contain CEA-608 caption data, therefore they do not satisfy
FCC requirements for DTV broadcasts. The FCC
requires both
CEA-708 and CEA-608 captions on all DTV
broadcasts, whether they are SD or HD. MacCaption can
import your existing caption files (or create new captions
from scratch), and exports a
true 708 caption track
to ensure your video is compliant with all FCC regulations.
We are
currently testing various workflows with the new Final Cut
Pro, and will be posting new tutorials and information as soon
as it is ready.
Excepts from FCP 7 manual (Chapter
>> Mastering)
http://documentation.apple.com/en/finalcutstudio
/workflows/index.html
"There are
third-party applications, such as MacCaption from CPC, that
provide the means to import transcripts, edit them with timing
information, encode closed captioning data in the necessary
format, and insert the closed captioning data into a QuickTime
file in preparation for tape output or DVD encoding."
"However, you can
use a third-party utility (such as CPC MacCaption) to reformat
CEA-608 closed captioning as true CEA-708-encoded closed
captioning, saving the result as a QuickTime closed captioning
track that you can use for output instead."
Blackmagic Captioning Workflow
Video Tutorials:
coming soon
Troubleshooting
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Before You Begin:
Top 5 common issues
Please double check that:
A) If you are working with HD video, make sure your
HD deck is configured to record VANC Line 9 closed captions.
Sony HD decks by default are set to not
record Line 9. Click here for
more info.
B) You have a way to monitor HD closed
captions. You cannot use a consumer monitor connected by
HDMI or component, unless you have additional hardware.
Click here for more info.
C) You are not
trying to up/down-convert while outputting captions. The
Blackmagic cards presently do not support this. Your
View setting in FCP should match the resolution of your
sequence, and must be either 29.97 or 59.94 frame rate.
D) The 00:00:00:00 mark in your captions project should
align with the first frame of your FCP timeline (usually
01:00:00:00 or 00:59:00:00). QuickTime captions should
always start at 00:00:00:00, not the FCP sequence starting
time. See this illustration.
E) If your captions track is shorter than your
timeline duration, FCP will loop your caption track (the
captions will start to play again from the beginning).
To avoid this, make sure your captions track is at least as
long as the timeline by putting a blank caption at the end of
your project.
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To work with Blackmagic DeckLink
(HD
Extreme 3, DeckLink
Studio, DeckLink Studio 2, DeckLink SDI and DeckLink
Optical Fiber),
you need
MacCaption DTV, DTV
Lite (DTV-B), or
HD Enterprise, Final Cut
Pro 7, as well as the most recent
DeckLink drivers.
Currently, DeckLink cards support either HD
or SD closed captions, but not
HD + SD simultaneously.
To export HD closed captions via HD-SDI choose
"QuickTime DTV
608/708 Closed Captions Track."
To export SD closed
captions choose
"QuickTime 608 Closed Captions
(FCP/Podcast/Web)."
All Blackmagic workflows support MacCaption's
Assemble Captions
feature, which allows you to edit videos that
were already captioned, then conform the
captions to match your edited sequence,
without having to re-do all your captions from
scratch.
Initial Steps for All Workflows
- If you are starting with a FCP project, export
your timeline as a QuickTime movie (this can be a
reference movie, i.e. not self contained; or self
contained if you prefer).
- Import this QuickTime movie into MacCaption
and
transcribe & time-stamp your captions as
normal.
- If your MacCaption project doesn't begin at
00:00:00:00 (e.g., most FCP timelines start at
01:00:00:00), you must ripple (Time Code > Ripple
Time Code) your project so that the time codes in
MacCaption reference 00:00:00:00 as the starting
point (i.e. the first caption should start shortly
after 00:00:00:00.)
- If you will be outputting for
HD, make sure you have at least one 708 target
specified in MacCaption Caption >
Encode Preferences (usually, Program A to
Service 1).
HD workflow
- Follow the initial steps 1-4 above.
-
MacCaption Export > HD >
QuickTime DTV 608/708 Closed Captions Track.
Your settings should match this picture.
- To output via FCP: select
your original time line and make sure your View >
Video Playback is set to the same format as your
video file, then go to the "Print to Video" or
"Edit to Tape" menu.
- In the Closed Captioning setting of the Print
to Video/Edit to Tape dialog box, select the QuickTime movie
with the DTV 608/708 track that you exported in
Step 8 above.
SD workflow
- Follow the initial steps 1-4
above.
- MacCaption Export >
Podcast/Web/QuickTime 608 > QuickTime 608
Closed Captions (FCP/Podcast/Web).
- To output via FCP: select
your original time line and make sure your View >
Video Playback is set to NTSC 720x486, then
go to the Print to Video or Edit to Tape menu.
- In the Closed Captioning setting of the Print
to Video/Edit to Tape dialog box, select the QuickTime movie
with the 608 track that you exported in Step 8
above.
Click here
for a white paper describing some of the issues of
monitoring HD closed captions.
Please note that HDMI and component
connections do NOT carry closed captioning data.
(DTV compatible TVs can only receive caption data
as metadata in the DTV MPEG-2 transport stream, or
as line 21 on the analog SD inputs.) The
only high definition baseband interface which
carries closed captioning data is HD-SDI.
To proof HD 708 captions
on an external monitor, you need an HD-SDI device
with a 708 closed captions decoder. For example, HD-SDI 708
closed captions can be displayed on a Sony Luma
monitor with the optional
BKM-244CC closed caption decoder
(note: not compatible with 708 roll-up or paint-on
captions), or converted into open captions using
an
Evertz 7760CCM-HD decoder card,
or verified using the
Tektronix Video Test
waveform monitors. There are other devices
capable of decoding 708 captions as well. However,
we have yet to find an HD-SDI 708 captions decoder
which properly supports Asian languages and other
Unicode characters.
You can proof your HD 708 captions in
MacCaption or in QuickTime Player after exporting
a movie file with a QuickTime 608 track or
QuickTime DTV 608/708
track.
Deck Setup:
By default, most Sony HD
decks are factory set to not record VANC Line 9
where the HD closed captions are stored. You
must go into the deck setup or maintenance menu
and look for the "VANC Packet RX" setting.
This should be set to: VANC Line 9, DID 61, SDID
01. The exact menu depends on your deck.
See this
page for some of the settings we know, or
please contact Sony for more information.
Also,
please be aware that most Sony decks do not output
HD VANC data to the monitor outputs during live
monitoring or recording, only during tape
playback. If you are trying to monitor your
captions, please connect your HD-SDI monitor w/708
caption decoder directly to your Blackmagic card instead
of the deck,
otherwise you must first record to tape and then
play the tape back to see captions on a monitor
connected directly to the deck.
Finally,
please be aware that some kinds of HD decks do not
support HD closed captioning
at all. These include:
- Panasonic
AJ-HD1200 (the AJ-HD1400 deck is ok)
- All XDCAM EX
decks (XDCAM HD decks are ok)
- All HDV decks
Working with 23.976
(24p) Video:
Currently, FCP7 supports
Print to Video with HD captions for 720p59.94 and
1080i59.94 (sometimes called 1080i29.97) only.
All DTV broadcasts are aired in one of these
two formats. 24p sequences can be printed to
video using either of these settings. Make
sure you set your View > Video Playback preset to
one of these formats.
Looping captions
Final Cut Pro will loop your caption
track if it is shorter than the duration of your
sequence. This will cause the first captions
to repeat in the middle or end of your sequence.
To avoid this, put a blank caption at the end of
your caption project, and set the time of this
blank caption to be at or past the end of your
sequence. This will ensure that the caption
track is at least as long as your sequence is.
Can't see captions on external device:
- Make sure you follow the above procedures
exactly and do not get any error messages during
the export or print to video processes.
- Make
sure your deck is correctly configured to record
VANC Line 9 captions, and keep in mind that Sony
decks do not loop through VANC data to the monitor
outputs except when playing back from tape.
-
Make sure that you are using an HD-SDI device
which is capable of decoding HD CEA-708 closed
captions. Consumer monitors connected by HDMI or
component CANNOT receive captions this way. You
can use an external HD-SDI closed captions decoder
connected to a HD-SDI to HDMI converter to preview
captions on a HDMI monitor. The best option is to
use a HD-SDI professional monitor or waveform
monitor with a built-in or add-on CEA-708 decoder.
See "Monitoring your 708 captions" above for more
information.
Older Workflow
As of July, 2009, Blackmagic DeckLink supports 4:2:2 10-bit
Uncompressed captioning
only. 4:2:2 8-bit video is not yet supported. This captioning method
replaces the first line of active video
with DTV 708 caption data, which is in turn moved to the HD video's
VANC area by the DeckLink hardware on export.
MacCaption can encode and decode HD captions using DeckLink HD Extreme
series hardware. The V7.2 Blackmagic Design software download is
required. You can download the software at: www.blackmagic-design.com/support/software
To add captions to your HD video, you must first
capture or export the video as an Uncompressed 4:2:2 10-bit QuickTime
movie.
To add captions to the Uncompressed 4:2:2 10-bit video,
set the MacCaption Preferences Primary Row to 0 in the NLE tab. This
will tell the software that the CC information is on the first line of
the video image. In the DeckLink Control Panel set the Capture VANC
input line value to 9 (see below), and check the associated check box.
In the MacCaption application use the "File >
Export > NLE > CCIR 601/4:2:2P@ML Video with Closed Captions" menu
selection to prepare a 4:2:2 10-bit uncompressed file for closed
caption export with DeckLink HD Extreme hardware.
Enlarge picture
Captions will be inserted into the HD-SDI output when the resulting
video file is exported through the DeckLink HD Extreme hardware board.
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