Subtitling Workflow

Hi all!

I have an HD 1080 24P feature, NDF timecode, that needs to be subtitled in French in Final Cut 6.0.2. Our translator will be working from an Excel spotting list that has TC in and TC out of each shot with its English dialogue. We will end up with a spotting list that has TC in and TC out with the french dialogue.

I am not savvy with regard computer science or code. I can edit in Final Cut but don't know much about final finishing in Final Cut. But I DO know I don't want to have to copy, paste, place, adjust, and add transitions for each subtitle by hand using the FCP text generator.

How can I create, from my Excel document, a document that can then be imported into FCP to place subtitles? I have read the couple of subtitling threads in here (Nick Meyers's and Andreas's) and see reference to Bell Nuit, Subbits, TextExchange... but a) I find myself very confused about how to use these - I don't even know what a macro is (though I just looked it up on Wikipedia) and b) I don't see anything about bringing an Excel file into those programs

Is it possible to, and how would I,
--Import the info from my Excel file into one of these programs to lay out all the subtitles according to the in and out timecode (placement will be to length of shot, which will have to be adjusted later, but it's a big start)
--Format my subtitles (create settings for color, drop shadow or outline, 10-frame fades at head and tail)
--Export the subtitles to FCP for further adjustment/timing/translation fine-tuning?

I suspect this is going to have something to do with XML (which I have never worked with) and would be EXTREMELY grateful for anyone who can hold my hand and show me the way.

Many thanks in advance!

hi, nick here.

thre are a few apps that can take subtitle information if it's presented in a specific way,
and create an FCP XML.

i think InkScribe can do that,
certainly Andreas's Title Exchange Pro (TEP) can

you'd have to look at those apps and see what formats they work with.

i think you should be able to somehow wrangle the xml doc to conform to one of these formats
you could than use TEP to create a Final Cut Pro XML.

i'm very vague on this, as i haven't done it this way myself.
hopefully Andreas will chime in.


nick

So here I am ...

The nice thing about LAFCPUG is that there are people from around the world so it's a 24/7 forum.

It's not that difficult to get data from Excel into TitleExchange and from ther into Final Cut Pro (even into Final Cut Express).

On the first glimps it looks a bit complicated but it's easy.

As there are obviously only TC in and subtitles this doesn't match any standard format for subtitles. But there is a trick. Use my free markerTool to create/add sequence markers to a Final Cut sequence XML using a "TC <tab> Title" file which is exported from Excel.
Now import this XML into TEP using the Marker XML to XML option and check the "Always calculate Speed" option within the XML settings. This allows you the pre-assign a dynamic length of the subtitle based on a user defined "read speed".
Within Final Cut Pro you can setup a generator of your choice as a template for all subtitles. That one can be used by TEP.
I would recommend the TextUp generator which comes with TEP for free. TextUp allows all basic settings you need for subtitles - but, as often with some of the free stuff, it doesn't give you some extended often useful options. One of these useful options is automatic line break. So you have to double check your converted subtitles. To get this option you have to buy the TextUp Pro generator.

Hope this little description helps.

Andreas

Some workflow tools for FCP [www.spherico.com]
TitleExchange -- juggle titles within FCS, FCPX and many other apps.
[www.spherico.com]

There are lots of great things about LAFCPUG!

Thanks, you guys!

Okay, so I know this is possible. That's huge. Now I just need to figure out how to do it.

I took my Excel file and renamed the columns
InTC OutTC DurationTC Name Comment

Then I saved the .xls file as "Text (Tab Delimited)" - which changed the extension to .txt

Then I downloaded markerTool and clicked "Import Plain Text Tab Delimited File"

And I got an error message:
AppleScript Error
In file: file://localhost/Users/dylannelson/Desktop/Shot 2252032ia &#62264;&#49151;&#30952;&#51200;%&#2178;&#23808;"&#54697;&#37035;&#288;"&#4272;&#38373;potting2ab2est.txt

So, first thing first, I need to figure out how to reformat my Excel document properly to create a usable text document. I have Microsoft Office X release 1.

Thoughts??

Once I (if I?) do that - I export as XML... then import into my FCP project... and it will set markers at the appropriate timecode in and outs? Then I export that XML and import it into TEP?

I'm sorry, I just don't understand XML at all.

But first things first... How do I reformat my Excel document so it's readable by MarkerTool?

OK I have been messing about and I succeeded in getting a test bit of text from Excel into FCP!!

Step 1 convert Excel to tab delimited file
Step 2 use TEP >Tools>TextConvert to convert Tab Delimited to STL
Step 3 import STL file to TEP (make sure using correct generator template) and export to XML
Step 4 import XML to FCP project

*Timings seem random and don?t correspond to TC in STL document
*Text placement and line breaks and fades set up in my generator template are not there
*Drop shadow set up in my generator is not there
*But text is in FCP!!
*Can fix placement and drop shadow with ?paste attributes? in FCP ? will affect all selected titl clips
*Will have to adjust line breaks manually (or figure out the auto wrap function in TEP)
*Have not yet tried using markerTool with my new STL file to create correct timings

But even if this is ALL I can figure out... it's saved me days of time!!

Just wanted to give an update.

Nope, still can't get text file into markerTool. So Andreas, would very much appreciate some insight and help with that

Hi,

It doesn't matter what version of Excel you have as long as you export tab text format. you also don't have to rename the column headers. Important is that there is a column each for In, Out , Duration, Name and Comment.
If Excel exports the column headers remove them with TextEdit.

So the export will look like:
00:00:00:00<tab><tab><tab>text 1
00:00:05:00<tab><tab><tab>text 2 + 1 word
00:00:10:00<tab><tab><tab>text 3 + 1 word + another
00:00:15:00<tab><tab><tab>text 4 + 3 words, word, word
00:00:20:00<tab><tab><tab>text 5 + number 5 in first line<tab>and number 6 in second line where <tab> stands for a real tab

In Final Cut create an empty sequence and export as XML.
In markerTool press "import plain text tab delimited file", then on prompt import the empty sequence XML and save.
For the generator template create a sequence (with the correct setup) and a generator: this generator has to be a PLAIN generator with NO effects applied using Filters or the Motion tab. If you need a drop shadow from the Motion tab you can apply it later or use a generator which does support drop shadow.
Export this sequence as XML as well.

In TEP set up the conversion to XML Marker -> XML and make sure you don't have set an internal template.
Import the "modified empty sequence" and then the "template XML" and save the result. Double click this resulting XML and it will open in Final Cut with all your subtitles at the correct timecode.

Regards
Andreas

There is a little folder with sources and results here.

Some workflow tools for FCP [www.spherico.com]
TitleExchange -- juggle titles within FCS, FCPX and many other apps.
[www.spherico.com]

I am SO CLOSE!!

Andreas, thank you HUGELY for the incredibly helpful step-by-step.

My text tab file doesn't seem to have the extra 'words' after the text you describe... However, I am now able to import it to mTool, along with the empty sequence XML, and get the contents to list in your markerTool main window! There it all is - track (listed 0), name, comment, seq in, seq out, duration. All data where appropriate.

Only problem is, it won't let me save. 'Save XML' is grayed out. Help!!

I have created a text generator using TextUp Pro and all I need now to be ready to celebrate is... to be able to save my modified empty sequence XML. Any ideas what could be wrong?

Again, many big thanks for this help (and for the terrific program).

Wait wait wait... I got it to work!! It was on 'Autosave' in the preferences of TEP. Once I unclicked that, it allowed me to save and it worked! It worked! It worked!

THANK YOU!!