Italics in Closed Caption Subtitles

[fredfred27]

I am trying to create a closed caption VF in DCP-o-matic 2.18.20, but when adding a subtitle file with italics, it seems that <i> and </i> are causing line breaks and not denoting italics. I have tried with earlier versions and seem to get the same results. When creating an open caption VF, the italics work fine from the same subtitle file. Are closed captions with italics not supported in DCP-o-matic?

[carl]

I see what you mean about the closed caption preview being wrong. I made a note in the tracker

https://dcpomatic.com/bugs/view.php?id=3067

I think the XML/MXF output should be OK though (unless you also tested that?)

[fredfred27]

These problems are only occurring with Closed Captions. Open Captions are working fine.

I compared these in Subtitle Edit 4.0.8.

The XML I added to DCP-o-matic
HER: <i>It's your tur...</i><br />Just..just wait a minute.
becomes
HER: <i>It's your tur...</i>Just..just wait a minute.
in the MXF file from DCP-o-matic

Here are others

TV HOST: <i>Yes. And leading our</i><br /><i>teams in today's youth sawing</i>
TV HOST: <i>Yes. And leading our</i>teams in today's youth sawing

NEWS ANCHOR:<br /><i>We interrupt this program</i>
NEWS ANCHOR:We interrupt this program

<i>You looked at my letters?</i><br />I did not.
You looked at my letters?I did not.

<i>thinks like...</i><br />You really disappoint me!
thinks like...You really disappoint me!

The problem seems to be in the interpretation of the loaded XML overall and not the viewer.

Thanks

[fredfred27]

Now looking at the XML and MXF directly, everything seems to be good. I think the final product will be fine. Both create the caption...

HER: It's your tur...
Just..just wait a minute.

D-Cinema SMPTE 2014 XML from Subtitle Edit 4.0.8

<Subtitle SpotNumber="4" FadeUpTime="00:00:00:00" FadeDownTime="00:00:00:00" TimeIn="00:01:41:01" TimeOut="00:01:43:15">
<Text Vposition="14" Valign="bottom" Halign="center" Direction="ltr">HER: <Font Italic="yes">It's your tur...</Font></Text>
<Text Vposition="8" Valign="bottom" Halign="center" Direction="ltr">Just..just wait a minute.</Text>
</Subtitle>

DCP SMPTE MXF from DCP-o-matic (using above as input)

<Subtitle SpotNumber="4" TimeIn="00:01:41:01" TimeOut="00:01:43:15" FadeUpTime="00:00:00:00" FadeDownTime="00:00:00:00">
<Text Valign="bottom" Vposition="14"><Font Italic="no">HER: </Font><Font Italic="yes">It's your tur...</Font></Text>
<Font Italic="no">
<Text Valign="bottom" Vposition="8">Just..just wait a minute.</Text>
</Font>
</Subtitle>

Apparently Subtitle edit has a problem reading the Closed Caption SMPTE MXF also.

[Carsten]

https://files.isdcf.com/papers/ISDCF-Do ... ctices.pdf


'Closed caption displays use an internal device-specific font. These devices ignore the LoadFont and Font elements. Current devices also ignore font attributes such as Italic.'

[fredfred27]

Yes, only some devices recognize the italic tag and display it. Just to be safe (and consistent) I guess I will remove all of the italic tags for the closed caption version. Sad. Thanks for looking into it.

[Carsten]

The trouble is, the market for CC devices is so small. It may be that smartphone based display devices support text effects. Most classic hardware devices in the field use simple dot-matrix type displays, these are unable to display text effects.


I think CC display devices should render basic text effects in the future, as some of them can be very helpful for understanding the captions' context.