kndy-nt2099 wrote:What PC software are you guys using for your subtitles? Unfortunately for the Mac (w/o having to spend a lot on Final Cut Pro), subtitles are done via Quicktime Pro or iMovie. With my subtitles via iMovie, ....
As Bill Clinton would say, "I feel your pain."
Yes, I'm actually a mac geek myself (so much so, I own the domain name - macgeek.org). I tried my best at sticking with the Macintosh platform for all of my video editing, but to no avail. iLife (iMovie and iDVD) are great tools for someone who has a DV camera, and just want to blast the contents to DVD. In the subbing world like we're doing, these tools reek!!! :( Apple just came out with a new iLife suite earlier this week, and I'm going to monitor what improves they've made to iMovie and iDVD.
As a result, I'm now doing all of my video capturing and editing under Windows. I still use my Mac as my backup capturing machine (only in MPEG-1 though). The tools and hardware on the PC side is much more affordable on projects like these where there isn't any money to be made on the finished results.
For subbing, I could have used something that specializes in subtitles. However, there are three basic things I want to achieve:
1) Flexible placement of text ANYWHERE on the screen.
2) Ability to perform special effects on text if I wanted to (fading in/out, animation, etc.)
3) Have multiple lines of text being displayed at different rates. UTSR episode 2 is a prime example of this, where I displayed the artistes names but at the same time display the song lyrics, both popping up at different rates and at different places on the screen.
With that, I ended up (note the "ended up" phrase I use) using
Pinnacle Studio 8.6. What I did with the package is create a custom template containing all of the text styles that I use in the subs. The software is very slow because it tries to cache everything in RAM. So, for example, if you try perform any kind of editing, sometimes you have to wait a few seconds before you can gain back control of the PC. Also, the right-clicking of options is totally lame or non-existent! Coming from a Macintosh background, we mac geeks expect consistency across different applications, and in the Windows world, you don't have this. Other than that, Pinnacle Studio has great text capabilities, and excellent video codecs when exporting (supports DV types 1 and 2).
InterVideo DVD Creator 2 would have been a better choice for stability and ease of use. However, their text templates are really bad, and at times they don't even work out correctly. For example, when you use a bottom centering text template, it looks good on the editor, but on the finished output the fonts become twice as large. I contacted these %&$@! several times about this, and they've never said anything. :(
I chose to stick with MPEG-2 for two reasons. One, anyone can play these. Though some people need to get a video codec, that task just takes a few minutes. Any form of AVI packaging, you're asking for trouble with compatibility. Though most PC people can play an AVI package, what it contains can be somewhat confusing. And, most mainstream DVD players can't play AVI because of the lack of DivX or XviD video codecs them. Though I own a DivX player myself, I think I'm in the very small minority. My goal is to reach the largest audience possible. Even those without a PC - if they want a copy, I can arrange for distribution via snail mail. On-line downloading size, ability to play only on PC, etc. aren't considered in this project because I'm basically trying to keep compatibility with the masses, and at the same time retain that A grade.
Man, I'm rambling on too much!!!! I'll stop right now!!! :P
--- groink
