The Type page is divided into four subsections: Project Type, Mode, Video Format and Timecode Format.
Project Settings - Type Page
Project Type
Here you can choose whether you will work with Open/DVD, Digital Cinema, Teletext subtitles or Closed Captions. The other properties pages will change accordingly to your choice here.
Open subtitles |
Open subtitles are integrated into the TV picture at the TV station before the TV signal is broadcasted. This allows the viewer's to see subtitles without a special decoder on their TV sets. However, this method allows broadcasting subtitles in just a single language simultaneously. |
Subtitles for Digital Cinema |
Subtitles for Digital Cinema must follow a specific set of rules and standards accepted and enforced by the motion pictures community. The Digital Cinema mode fully complies with the existing standards and most of the parameters will automatically be used by the DLP Cinema XML and SMPTE export options during the subtitles export. We strongly recommend you to always switch to Digital Cinema mode when you need to deliver your files as subtitles for Digital Cinema. |
DVD / BD (Blu-ray) subtitles |
The subtitles on DVD and Blu-ray discs are not burnt in the picture instead they are usually added to the disc as a set of compressed images with transparency. The DVD/Blu-ray player reads the subtitles from the disc and overlays them on the picture using transparent background. You can have subtitles in many different languages on a single disc. |
Teletext subtitles |
Teletext subtitles are transmitted as teletext data in the hidden part of the TV transmission. The teletext subtitle data is decoded by the teletext decoder in the TV set and then displayed on the screen. Each viewer may decide whether or not he wants to see it. If the viewer wants to read the subtitles, he simply needs to select his language specific subtitle page on the teletext decoder. This method of subtitle transmission is widely used in Europe. |
Closed Captions |
Closed Captions are broadcasted in the invisible part of the TV transmission and the TV set decodes and displays the subtitles. Closed captions are used mostly in North America. |
The Project Mode is intended to address certain specific issues connected with the target equipment and file format.
Here, just like the Project Type options, when you select a mode the pages change accordingly to match the choice you have made.
Native Mode
Native Mode is for creating DVD and Blu-ray Subtitles, Native Teletext (EBU) subtitles or can be used when compatibility with PAC or 890 subtitle files is not important to you.
When you choose Native mode you must select the Authoring System for which the subtitles will be exported (see Export DVD Images) and the desired resolution, aspect ratio, frame rate and TimeCode format (see Video Format below).
Project Properties – DVD Authoring System (Native mode only)
NONE/HD/NLE authoring system is intended for creation of full-color images with alpha transparency. Choose this system if you want to export EDL, images for BluRay or HD-DVD with custom script layout, etc.
When EZTitles is running in Open/Native mode you could use the Charset option when preparing subtitles for certain providers and companies. Just select a provider (ARTE, Netflix, Disney or EBU STL), language or character code table and EZTitles will instantly scan the text for any characters not supported by the selected provider or for that particular language. If there are any they will be displayed as unprintable characters, indicated by "□".
Note: Unprintable characters can be spotted by using the respective Check Subtitles option.
PAC and 890 Modes
You can select PAC Compatibility Mode if you want to be sure that everything you write is compatible with PAC subtitle files. 890 Compatibility Mode works exactly the same way but for the 890 subtitle files. PAC/890 modes are intended as presentation compliant mode which takes into account all the specifics related to the presentation of PAC or 890 subtitle files.
We strongly recommend to work in PAC/890 mode when you need to deliver your subtitles in the PAC or 890 formats.
The very first and important step of setting the project options is to choose language/encoding for each of the two presentation fonts available:
PAC/890 Languages Select
Depending on your choice the characters that are not include in the selected language or encoding will be marked as non-printable and will be displayed with a small rectangle symbol "□" in the text. You can always see the missing text by holding the mouse pointer on the "magnifying glass" icon that appears in the lower left corner of the main editor. Please check Original Attributes Preview for more information.
When Arabic, Farsi or Hebrew is selected the corresponding font and lines will align right-to-left automatically.
Teletext
If you need to produce Teletext subtitles, we suggest to select the respective Teletext project type:
Teletext mode settings
The Teletext Language option can be used to warn you when you enter a symbol which is not part of the selected language's alphabet. If such characters exist they will be displayed as non-printable. The non-printable characters are replaced by a small rectangle symbol "□" in the text. If you are not sure about it then you can leave it to Not Specified to "allow" all characters and symbols to be inserted.
The Character Code Table option is available when Teletext Language is set to Not Specified and enables you to verify that only characters from the supported by EBU STL code tables are present in the file. All other characters will be displayed as non-printable "□" and will be caught by Check Subtitles. Please note that we don't recommend selecting Not Specified here - mixing characters from the different Code Tables will most likely cause problems later on when exporting EBU STL from your project because it forces you to select Character Code Table for the output file.
Use Teletext Level 1.5 checkbox to enable characters from G2 (supplementary) set to be used.
Please mind that Teletext Level 1.5 is a term introduced by ETSI EN 300 706 and doesn't have anything to do with EBU STL - it expands the supported by Teletext level 1 number of characters by introducing national sub-sets of characters and codes. The option is meant to verify if there are characters other than the allowed by the specific national sub-set. If such characters exist and this option is not turned on they will be displayed as non-printable.
Video Format and TimeCode Format
You have to choose which video standard you want to be compatible with – PAL (European standard), NTSC (American standard), HD standard with appropriate resolution and aspect ratio or 2K/4K for Digital Cinema projects. Also you must select the frame rate and timecode format. These three parameters correlate so that you can't have PAL video with 29.97 fps, for example.
Choosing Custom under Format enables you to specify resolution with custom width and height with pixel aspect ratio of 1:1. This could be useful, or even required, when doing image export. Pixel Aspect Ratio of project in Custom resolution will always be 1:1 which also means that the Aspect Ratio will be defined by the specified width and height.
Width and Height values for the custom resolution can vary in the range of 128xp - 8192px. To avoid any issues, entering a value outside the allowed range will reset both width and height to 1920px and 1080px respectively.
The Aspect Ratio is the ratio of the image's width and height. If it is set correctly to match the ratio of the video file the image will be displayed correctly, without being stretched or crippled in any way.
The Letterboxing is the method used to display widescreen movie on a traditional 4x3 screen. Two black mattes will be inserted above and below or to the left and right (i.e pillarbox) of the picture if you decide to use this.
If the opposite is required, i.e. to remove the black mattes in case of 16:9 picture embedded in 4:3 you may considering using Video Crop.