DVD Studio Pro 3: In the Studio

Adding Subtitles to Video Tracks

Even without the intention of supporting multiple languages, you might end up subtitling some projects for use in bars, airports, or other loud, public spaces, or for assisting the hearing-impaired. We'll tackle getting several subtitle tracks onto our newly narrated video clip. Just to prove it works, Figure 5-48 shows our clips with Japanese subtitles active.

Figure 5-48. Japanese subtitles in action

Subtitles can go a long way toward internationalizing your video. Even without alternate soundtracks, you can have multiple subtitle tracks and expose your work to a wider audience. Plus, DVDSP 2 made some great leaps forward in helping you create good-looking subtitles quickly. All the same great features are in DVDSP 3, too.

To add subtitles to your DVD, you have two options:

• Do it all in DVDSP.

• Create an importable file in some other application.

We'll look at both approaches. After all, we're going to write subtitles for four languages!

First, let's tackle English using DVDSP directly. This is amazingly simple and only slightly tedious. (Well, slightly tedious is like saying Mount Everest is only slightly tall, but hey, we're trying to put a positive spin on this!) The good news about doing this in DVDSP is that you can get away with little to no planning.^[2] You just jump in and do it.

Note

We need to start the subtitles section by asking forgiveness ...