Appendix B. ASCII File Format used by EZTitles

[Header]

Original Title:

Translated Title:

Original Episode:

Translated Episode:

Original Languages:

Translated Languages:

Translator:

Editor:

Publisher:

Max Characters Per Line: 0

Frame Rate: 29.97 fps

TimeCode Format: 30 frames/sec drop-frame

[/Header]

0000 : 00:00:00:00 00:00:00:08

[L1]Top Gun

[L1](DVD - PAL)

[L1]STORY:

[L1]LANG: GBR

[L1]

[]

0001 : 01:24:40:01 01:24:43:16 CC 32

[C2]You'll also be trained and evaluated

[C2]by civilian specialists.

####This is a comment line

0002 : 01:24:43:20 01:24:48:14 LC 43 [hidden]

[C2]They are our best source of

[C2]information on enemy aircraft.

0003 : 01:24:48:18 01:24:54:04 CC 50

[C2]One of the most qualified is call sign

[C2]Charlie, with a Ph.D. in astrophysics.

0004 : 01:24:54:08 01:25:01:01 CC 60

[C2]Listen to her, because the Pentagon

[C2]listens to her about your proficiency.

0005 : 01:25:01:05 01:25:04:15 CC 30

[C2]<All yours, Charlie.>

The Plain ASCII files that EZTitles uses contain as much information as possible about your subtitles and project in general. However, not all of the attributes have to be present in the file in order for EZTitles to open it.

File Header

As you can see from the sample above, the file starts with the File Header section which may contain number of somehow descriptive information about the translator who created the file, the languages used in the file, the show it has been intended for as well as general details about the particular project like the Maximum characters per line, its Frame Rate and Timecode Format. The File Header section is not mandatory and isn't required to be present in the file.

Subtitles

Each subtitle consists of subtitle header and text lines. Both the subtitle header and text lines must start on separate lines in the file.

Subtitle header

The subtitle header may contain several attributes, as explained below:

0002 : 01:24:43:20 01:24:48:14 LC 43 [hidden]

Subtitle number	Can be present in different formats: 1, 01, 0001, etc. EZTitles will also read and recognize inserted subtitles if they are indicated by a number followed by a letter index like for example 001a, 1476b, 3c, etc. The subtitle number is optional.
In- and Out-cues	Must be present in SMPTE HH:MM:SS:FF format. The two timecodes are separated by space.
Justification	Combination of justification and position codes. The first character specifies the position of the whole subtitles text and the second one represents the text justification. The possible values are: L (left), C (center) or R (right). For example CL indicates that the subtitle is center-left aligned (the block of text is positioned at the center of the screen and the individual lines are justified left). Optional attribute.
Maximum number of allowed characters	The optimal number of characters calculated on the basis of the subtitle duration and the reading speed parameters. Optional attribute.
[Hidden]	Placed at the end of the subtitle header indicates that the particular subtitle is hidden. Optional attribute.

Text lines

Following the subtitle header are the actual text lines. Each text line starts at a new line. The line could start with format information enclosed in square brackets "[ ]". The format information indicates the row alignment (L - left, R - right, C - center) and the font number - 1 or 2. Format information is optional. Subtitles lacking these details will be loaded and displayed in EZTitles with the default settings from the Project Settings/Subtitles menu.

The subtitle's text itself may be indicated as italics by enclosing it inside angled brackets "< >".

Lines starting with ## are considered as commentary and they will be loaded as comments in EZTitles.

To make the text appear higher on the screen you may add square brackets [] on a new line for each row the text has to be raised by.

Looking in the example above, the last subtitle "All yours, Charlie" will appear to the bottom of the screen, but modifying will make EZTitles display it raised to the 3rd row.

0005 : 01:25:01:05 01:25:04:15 CC 30

[C2]<All yours, Charlie.>

[]

Note that the Zero Subtitle obeys the same rules as the regular subtitles but it must always has the 0 subtitle number and respectively has to be inserted at the beginning of the file, right below the File Header section.