Japanese subtitle file import problem, please help.

Question

Level 1

49 points

Japanese subtitle file import problem, please help.

My customer sent me an STL file saved in Unicode UTF-16 format with Japanese characters. When I import into DVDSP it tells me that it has imported 417 subtitles and then I get this error:

"Some subtitles could not be imported, The video asset timecode may not match some of the subtitles or the subtitles are not in chronological order."

I know for a fact that all the subititles are in order. My contact in Japan has checked each line. I went ahead with the project and sent a check DVD to my contact in Japan. She found that there are numerous Japanese characters missing and as the program progresses, the subtitles become out of synch with the video.

Has anyone had experience working with Japanese subtitles or this same problem that I'm having?

Any help with this frustrating problem would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks.

Posted on Oct 11, 2005 1:31 PM

Reply

Answer 1

mesky

Level 1

115 points

Oct 11, 2005 11:52 PM in response to Vince Clore

Check very carefully the timecodes of the STL. Most likely one of the subtitles timecode is off or it overlaps onto another, thus causing the subsequent subtitles to be off.
Is it in sync upto a certain point, then it becomes out of sync.
If you look at the subtitle timeline in the track you can usually tell where it starts to get messed up. Usually one of the subtitles will be really long or missing.

Reply

Answer 2

Oct 12, 2005 12:58 AM in response to mesky

As mesky says you will need to check the subs carefully probably sub by sub. We have ahd ssubtitles that were prepared by professional ssubtitling houses that have had mistakes in the timecodes (all it takes is a comma instead of a fullstop in the timecode and that throw things off).

What we do if we get this message is print out the STL file (you can open it with Text Edit) and then either watch the film and read at the same time or zoom into the timeline so you can see the subs in the subtitle line (if you "zoom" in you can usually actually see the first few characters of the subs in the yellow boxes that appear in the timeline). Scroll through this whilst referencing the print out and you'll soon see where the problem is. Usually it's minor and you can edit it in Text Edit and re-import.

Another quick check to do is on the print out count the number of lines (the ones with a time code at the beginning if it wraps when you print it out) and see if the number of lines corresponds with the number of lines SP is reporting...

Good luck

Steve Kirkham

Reply

Answer 3

Vince Clore Author

Level 1

49 points

Oct 12, 2005 9:17 AM in response to Steve Kirkham

Thanks for the advice. I did go back and check each line. I did, indeed, find a timecode error. I fixed the error, re-imported and I no longer recieve the error message. HOWEVER, there are still Japanses characters missing all over the subtitle timeline. Any idea of why this would still be happening?

Reply

Answer 4

Oct 12, 2005 9:32 AM in response to Vince Clore

Did you get these characters missing on the first import? What did you use to edit the timecode error. If you used Text Edit check the prefernces are set to UTF 16 (assuming that is the encoding type you need)

Good luck

Steve

Reply

Answer 5

Vince Clore Author

Level 1

49 points

Oct 12, 2005 9:35 AM in response to Steve Kirkham

Yes. The characters were missing on first import. I am using UTF 16 as well (in TextEdit).

Reply

Answer 6

Oct 12, 2005 9:43 AM in response to Vince Clore

Not sure then (never actually done any Jap subs before just English on foreign movies). Is it a font issue?

Steve

Reply

Answer 7

Vince Clore Author

Level 1

49 points

Oct 12, 2005 9:51 AM in response to Steve Kirkham

I'm not sure. I installed the font that my Japanese contact sent me. Oh well, I'm going to have to go through every line and do a "copy/paste" from text edit into DVSP. Fun!

Thanks for your time.

Reply

Answer 8

Oct 12, 2005 9:55 AM in response to Vince Clore

So the missing characters show up in Text Edit but not in SP?

Steve

Reply

Answer 9

Vince Clore Author

Level 1

49 points

Oct 12, 2005 10:00 AM in response to Steve Kirkham

That is correct.

Reply

Answer 10

Oct 12, 2005 10:03 AM in response to Vince Clore

So is SP using the same font as Text Edit?

Steve

Reply

Answer 11

Vince Clore Author

Level 1

49 points

Oct 12, 2005 10:16 AM in response to Steve Kirkham

I'm not really sure. How would I check?

Reply

Answer 12

mesky

Level 1

115 points

Oct 12, 2005 10:21 AM in response to Vince Clore

A lot of the times DVDSP will not interpret the font correctly from an STL. Most likely it is using the wrong font.
What you should do is go in and check the font of one of the subtitles. Double-click the subtitle, make sure the words are highlighted, then do "Show Fonts"(apple+T). Choose the correct font, Click on the subttitle on the timeline, then in the formatting section of the subtitle inspector hit "Apply to Stream". This will change the font for the rest of the subtitles in that stream.

Reply

Answer 13

Vince Clore Author

Level 1

49 points

Oct 12, 2005 11:04 AM in response to mesky

Oh my. I found out what I was doing wrong. I feel a little silly right now, although much relieved. In my STL text file, I did not have a space between the end timecode comma and the beginning text line. You guys were right, all it takes is one little thing to throw everything off.

MUCH thanks for getting me through this problem! If you folks were near me, I'd buy you a beer!

Reply

Answer 14

Oct 12, 2005 1:18 PM in response to Vince Clore

Phew... so you're all sorted now. It is amazing how just alittle glitch in the STL file will cause problems (even ones supplied by big subtitling houses sometimes have glitches)

Steve

Reply