We are often asked "How do I deliver a video file with closed captions?"

The answer depends on what kind of system or software will be used to play or process the file on the receiving side. Telestream captioning software supports many different kinds of workflows for delivering files with closed captions to be used on file-based video servers and digital asset management (DAM).

When confirming your delivery specs with your facility or client, here are some good questions to ask:

• What kind of server or software process they will be using to ingest (import) the file that you send them. (e.g. “We will be ingesting the file into our Omneon playback server”, or “We are going to put the file in our FCP system and output to a tape”, or “We use Telestream Vantage to transcode the file to XYZ format”, etc. – The more specific details, the better!)
• The detailed specs of file type(s) they can accept with closed captions (wrapper/stream type, codec, resolution, frame rate, bit rate)

Omneon

Omneon servers support different kinds of media files, depending on the options installed on the server:

• XDCAM HD-type MXF files with SMPTE 436M Closed Captions
• DV/DVCPRO (DV25/50) codec MOV files with internal VAUX Closed Captions

Harris Nexio

Harris Nexio servers with software version 5.71 and later can use the MCC file format generated by our captioning software for HD closed captioning.

SeaChange

SeaChange servers can use XDCAM HD-type MXF files with SMPTE 436M Closed Captions, or DV25 (standard def) video with DV VAUX closed captions.

DG Fast

Depending on your specific drop box for DG Fast, they may require either MPEG-2 Program or Transport streams with embedded closed captions for HD. For SD, they use the 720x512 MPEG-2 format also supported by Telestream captioning software using the MainConcept plugin.

Other File-based Closed Captioning Workflows

CaptionMaker can embed closed captions directly into many kinds of video files for digital delivery:

• QuickTime:
• Line 21 onto any QuickTime video
• QuickTime 608 SD Closed Captions
• QuickTime DTV 608/708 HD Closed Captions
• MPEG-2 Elementary, Program, and Transport Streams
• MXF Files for XDCAM, Omneon and SeaChange servers
• DVCPRO HD QuickTime files for Omneon servers and more
• Common closed caption formatted files such as Cheetah CAP, SCC, MCC, etc.

Closed Captioning for Web and Mobile Devices

CaptionMaker can add closed captions to many web video formats: QuickTime (including for iPod/iPhone/iPad/etc.), iTunes, YouTube, Windows Media.
Learn More

Closed Captioning & Subtitling for DVD and Blu-ray

CaptionMaker can add closed captions and subtitles to DVDs for most professional authoring programs, including DVD Studio Pro. It can also create HD subtitles for Blu-ray authoring programs.
Learn More