Basic subtitle format
This is the basic script without any formatting or screen position commands. Each subtitle exists on its own line and ends in a carriage-return. The subtitle string has the following format:
Where:
[id#] is a number to help you to identify the subtitle. It does not have to be unique or sequential, so if you insert a new subtitle in the middle of a script, you don’t need to renumber the subsequent subtitles.
[tab] is the tab character.
[start timecode] is the timecode where the text appears.
[end timecode] is the timecode where the text stops displaying.
[text] is the subtitle string.
[cr] is the carriage return.
For example:
1 00:02:17:12 00:02:23:21 This is the subtitle text... 2 00:02:27:02 00:02:35:18 ...and here is more text. 3 00:03:12:14 00:03:22:10 But wait! There's more! . .
Timecodes always use the hh:mm:ss:ff format, even if the video contains drop-frame timecode. If you create the subtitles by reference to the source videotape’s timecode, you can add a Tape Offset command to account for the difference between the tape timecode and the movie’s timecode (which always starts at 00:00:00:00). See Display commands for details.
Subtitle timecodes must not overlap. If you create a script where one subtitle starts before the previous subtitle finishes, DVDit Pro will not import that subtitle.
To make a subtitle text block that contains two or more lines, you can either use “|” characters (Shift+backslash) to represent the carriage returns, or use carriage-returns and start the next line with a tab character.
For example:
is the same as:
If you want a “|” to be displayed instead of being interpreted as a carriage return, place a backslash in front, like this: \|