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SubTitler - Demo Release v2.02
(c) 1996-1997 Ott M. Aaloe
Release date 13. October 1997
------------------------------------------
This document tries to explain in brief all functions and features of the
SubTitler. In order to understand it all you should at lease have some
basic knowledge of the Amiga and video work.
In this doc you will find a term 'VTR Mode' - this means the mode where
Time Code is read from RS-232 (i.e. from VTR).
For quick start, you could load the demo subtitle file that came with
SubTitler and play it back with Player mode to get the basic idea of
what the SubTitler is, and what it is not capable of.
NB! Some parts of the SubTitler (especially Displayer mode and functions
connected with external Time Code) won't work exactly like described here.
For example, in Player mode, if VTR mode is used, normally subtitles are
synced to the external timecode (and also this docs claims it) but due to
fact that this IS a limited demo version syncing is not actually possible.
So in other words all features described here work in full version but
*may* not work with demo.
1. Installation and Setup
1.1. Connecting Amiga to VTR
Amiga is connected to the VTR with standard serial cable. Be sure to turn
the power off before you connect the devices to each other. There are two
different methods depending on the VTR you're using. The following table
illustrates cables for Sony and Panasonic.
Amiga Sony Panasonic
1 1 1
2 3 2
3 2 3
Pin # 4 N/C 4
5 N/C 5
6 20 6
20 6 N/C
7 7 7
As you can see, the main difference is that Sony uses flipped TXD/RXD
and DSR/DTR. So you just have to be sure which cable you need, otherwise
your Amiga won't receive any data from your VTR.
1.2. Installing the SubTitler software
If you don't have Hard Disk, copy all files from archive to a disk
and start SubTitler by just booting from it (NB! You should have
diskfont.library and reqtools library also on that disk). Otherwise you
should install SubTitler to Hard Disk by running HDInstall script.
The installation procedure is quite simple. Just follow the onscreen
instructions (such as where and what to install).
1.3. Setting up
Setup can be altered by opening a menu with the 'Right Mouse Button'
from the upper left corner of the screen and choosing your desired menu
item. As Setup is saved to SubTitler.info file there is also the
possibility to change the setup manually. To read more about manual
Setup editing and settings that can only be altered by editing
SubTitler.info file, refer to Chapter 1.3.5.
1.3.1. Editor Setup
Work dir Set the default directory for your subtitle files.
Backup dir Set the default directory for your backup files.
Backup level Set how many backups are made (0-5). Set 0 if
backups are not needed.
Editor warn Lets you specify how many characters can be shown in one,
single row. If you enter more symbols than defined here
then the editor outputs red coloured symbols instead
standard black ones (to warn you that characters won't
fit in row in displayer mode).
1.3.2. Displayer Setup
Show preview If set, preview of the next page is shown during
Recorder mode.
Show Time Code If set, the current Time Code is shown during Recorder
and Player mode.
Center titles If set, all subtitles will be centered.
Screen Mode Set screen mode for Displayer. Available modes are
HiRes-4,HiRes-8, Super HiRes-4 and SuperHiRes-8 (Number
means number of colors). Last mode available only on
AGA Amigas. NB! Be sure to have enough free memory to
use 'Super HiRes 8' mode as it requires ca 900K free
Chip RAM.
Select Font Set font for Displayer. Note that fonts that come with
SubTitler are grouped as Standard and Super Hires
(SH extension). So be sure you set the font according
to your Displayer Screen mode.
NB! Due to a technical reasons, in demo, you can choose
font only from Tool Types (SubTitler.info file)
1.3.3. RS-232 Setup
Enable Parity Checking If set parity checking is enabled.
Odd Parity If set, Odd Parity is used. Otherwise Even Parity
is used.
Disable XON/XOFF If set, XON/XOFF is disabled.
Set Baud Rate Set needed baud rate for serial (most devices work
with 9600).
Default settings for Sony and Panasonic are shown in following table:
Menu Setting Sony Panasonic
Enable Parity Checking Set Set
Odd parity Unset Set
Disable XON/XOFF Unset Set
Baud Rate 9600 9600
NB! Sony uses 8 data bits while Panasonic uses 7. You should run 'Serial
Preferences' to change this parameter (from SYS:Prefs drawer).
1.3.4. Time Code Setup
Available Time Code modes follow:
Simulated Choose, if you don't need external Time Code.
Sony UVW For Sony Betacam VTR.
Panasonic For Panasonic SVHS VTR.
1.3.5. Tool Types Overview
All SubTitler settings are saved to SubTitler.info file. To change
settings manually, go to WorkBench, click on the SubTitler Icon once
and choose Icon > Information from WB's menu. NB! Settings marked
with (*) can be changed only by hand.
Overview of the Tool Types recognized by SubTitler:
TITLEDIR = Default work directory.
BACKUPDIR = Backup directory.
PALETTEFILE = (*) Name of the file to load palette from. If file
cannot be loaded default palette is used.
CENTREX = Displayer's screen Center coordinate - all subtitle
centering is aligned to this coordinate.
DISPLAYERMODE = 1 - HiRes 4, 2- HiRes 8, 3-Super HiRes 4, 4-Super
HiRes 8
DISPLAYERFONT = Name of the font for Displayer.
DISPLAYERFONTSIZE = Displayer font size.
LINEX = X coordinate of the subtitles.
LINEY = Y coordinate of the first line.
LINESPACE = Space between lines in pixels.
LINEUPY = (*) Y coordinate of the first line if lineup
effect ([1]) is used.
PREVIEWX= = X coordinate of the Preview box in Displayer mode
PREVIEWY= = Y coordinate of the Preview box in Displayer mode
SHOWPREVIEW = TRUE / FALSE. Preview is shown in Displayer if set to TRUE.
TIMECODEMODE = 0 - simulated, 1 - Sony, 2 - Panasonic.
EDITWARNING = Number of visible characters in row.
BACKUPLEVEL = number of backup levels.
CENTRETITLES = TRUE / FALSE. All subtitles are centered if set to TRUE.
SERIALBAUD = Baud rate for serial port.
SERIALFLAGS = Settings for serial port.
PICTUREDIR = (*) Default graphics directory.
CLOSEWB = TRUE / FALSE. If set to TRUE SubTitler tries to
Close WorkBench (too get more free memory).
2. Using SubTitler
2.1. Editor
Text editing part consists of three fields. The middle one is the editable
area, above and beneath it are preview sections. To edit the text, click
to the middle area. Each page can have max three lines. Cursor can be moved
around with the arrow keys or by clicking to your desired location.
Pages can be scrolled up or down by clicking onto the upper or lower
preview area of the editor, using slider gadget on the right of the
editor area or using up and down arrow keys. Special effects can be
achieved using special in-text commands:
[1] Line is output to upper are of the screen
[2] Starts Italic text.
[3] Stops Italic text.
[4] Line is centered.
[5] Picture is loaded for background.
To understand the in-text commands better study the demo subtitle
file that comes with SubTitler. Note that the 'Line - up'
effect ([1]) can be added by simply activating the gadget at the
beginning of the line.
You can add subtitles to the page even if effect [5] is used (i.e.:
a picture is loaded for background). Obviously, the picture's palette
is used so you just have to be sure that picture's and font's palette
match. Also note that the effects [2] and [3] (italic text start/end)
can be anywhere in text while effects like [1], [4] and [5] must be at
the beginning of the line, effect [1] being the leftmost. So if the text
has to be up and centered then just start the line with '[1][4]' and
after the effects add the text itself.
The printing of the subtitles in Displayer is adjusted in a way that
that lowest line is always filled. So even if you enter text to the
line 1 and 2 it will be output to the place of line 2 and 3.
2.1.1. Gadgets overview
Load File
Loads subtitles from disk. After the subtitles have been loaded,
SubTitler also tries to load the Time Code. Time Code file have
the same name as subtitles but has ".tc" extension. By default,
the file requester won't show Time Code files but if you want to
see them you can always edit the pattern field of the file requester.
After file is loaded, it will be processed. Lines will be spread to
different pages and all ASCII character will be remapped. Please
note that the characters are remapped only once, and only if
subtitles were not edited with SubTitler's editor. This is assumed
by missing Time Code file. After you save file, remapped characters
are saved and also a Time Code file is saved (even you haven't
recorded any). So if the Time Code file is available this means
characters are already remapped and further remapping is not done.
ASCII remapping is needed to make MS-DOS text files compatible with
SubTitler.
Keyboard shortcut: L
Save File
Save function is disabled in demo version.
Current page
Jumps directly to any page in memory. Enter the page number you wish
to go and press Enter.
Keyboard shortcut: C
Start Player
Starts the Displayer in Player mode. More about Player mode in
Chapter 2.3.2.
Keyboard shortcut: P
Start Recorder
Starts the Displayer in Recorder mode. More about Recorder in
Chapter 2.3.1.
Keyboard shortcut: R
Time Code I / O
Refer to Chapter 2.2.
Keyboard shortcut: I, O
VTR controls
With VTR control keys you can command VTR to Rewind, Play, Fast
Forward, Stop and Pause.
Keyboard shortcuts: F6, F7, F8, F9 and F10
Tape Pre-Roll
This gadget makes the VTR to rewind tape 3 seconds before the
current 'In Time Code'. If the previous page's 'Out Time Code' is
less than 3 seconds before the current page's 'In Time Code' then
the tape will be 'pre rolled' to just after previous page's
'Out Time Code'. Pre Roll helps to continue work if you must stop
during recording. An example: Something went wrong - you inserted
a subtitle a bit too early. Now exit the recorder (by hitting the
Escape key). Choose the page that got shown too early, press the
'Pre Roll' gadget (tape will be rewound 3 seconds) and lastly press
the Recorder gadget to return to the Recorder again. The tape starts
to play and you will be about 3 seconds away from the place you made
the mistake. Note! If Simulated Time Code mode is used then instead
of Tape rolling, internally generated Time Code will be set to 3
seconds before the current 'In Time Code'.
Keyboard shortcut: T
Test TC to end
Tests Time Code accuracy from current page to the end. If an error
situation occurs during the test, the editor will jump to the page
error was in, and a warning message is displayed. So to be sure
everything is ok, test your subtitles before the air/final recording.
Keyboard shortcut: E
Insert Page
Inserts an empty page before the current page. Empty page will become
active and current one moved down.
Delete Page
Erases current page from memory.
Picture
Adds picture to the current page.
Search
Searches for string entered to upper string gadget.
Keyboard shortcut: A
Replace
Searches for string entered to 'Upper string gadget' and if found
waits user's confirm to replace it with string entered to 'Lower
string gadget'.
Search / Replace
The cycle gadget selects the Replace mode. If 'Search' is selected
replace mode searches for single matches and waits for confirm to
replace or search next. If 'Replace All' is selected all 'found'
matches will be replaced.
2.2. Time Code
As mentioned earlier, if 'VTR Mode' is not used the Time Code is
simulated by your computer. Otherwise, the Time Code is read from VTR.
Time Code gadgets in Editor are grouped as In and Out. 'In Time Code'
represents the time after what showing of the current page is started
and 'Out Time Code' is the time current page showing is ended (clear
page is shown). If you edit the Time Code manually then use Enter key
to move to the next Time Code field. If 'Show Time Code' is set from
Settings menu then current Time Code is displayed during Recorder and
Player mode. The displayed Time Code may stop for a moment or flicker
during the page swapping. This is normal as the next page is generated
in background and at this moment no Time Code is output (internally the
Time Code counts normally). So this is like indicator showing that the
next page is ready to show. Useful if pictures are loaded for background
as this takes a bit time. For technical reasons the Time Code is not
shown on pages where the background picture is used with effect [5].
Functions selectable from Time Code menu:
Time shift Enables shifting Time Code n seconds (+ or -).
Reset Sets the internally generated Time Code to zero.
Not needed if 'VTR Mode' is used.
Clear current Resets current page's Time Code to zero.
Clear all Resets Time Code for all pages.
Load Let's you load Time Code from file (form backup
file for example).
At the moment SubTitler can't handle negative Time Code. It will be
added in the future versions if there is demand for this feature.
So be sure you reset the VTR's counter (SVHS) or set the VTR's Time
Code mode to TC (SONY) before you start the recording/playback.
2.3. Displayer
Displayer part handles the actual subtitle showing in SubTitler.
To exit back to Editor mode press 'Escape' key or click the left
mouse button. Displayer can be started in two modes:
2.3.1. Recorder
In Recorder mode the actual Time Code is recorded to pages. If
'VTR Mode' is used then the 'Play' command will be sent to VTR and
Time Code is read from VTR, otherwise Time Code is generated
internally. The following keys control subtitle appearing in Recorder
mode:
Space Pressing space will display subtitles in current page.
Hold down 'Space' as long as you need the current subtitle
to be shown. After you release 'Space', an empty page will
be shown. The next time you press 'Space' the next page
will appear and so on.
VTR control You can control the VTR like in Editor mode with F6, F7,
F8 and F9 keys.
Escape Returns you to the Editor screen. If 'VTR Mode' is used
then before returning to the Editor a 'Stop' command is
sent to the VTR.
Keypad keys Keypad arrow keys (numbers 4,8,6 and 2) change the position
of the subtitles. Note that you must also hold down the
'Space' key in order to change position. If you hold down
'Space' and press the arrow keys then X and Y coordinate
of the output tiles are changed. If also the 'Ctrl' key
is held down then 'Up-Arrow' and 'Down-Arrow' keys change
the line spacing, 'Left-Arrow' and 'Right-Arrow' keys
change Center position. To align centering be sure to
use 'Center' command in some of the lines otherwise you
won't see changes. To change the upper line Y coordinate
you should alter LINEUPY Tool Type (more about Tool Types
in Chapter 2.3.5). If you want to store the subtitle
position settings you made then just exit to Editor mode
and select Save Setup menu at upper left corner of the
screen. Do not try to change subtitle's position if you
use background with effect [5]! To speed up the moving
of the subtitles while setting coordinates, the movement
updating is very jerky and leaves trails behind. So don't
mind, just set the position and the next page is updated
correctly with the new coordinates.
2.3.2. Player
In player mode SubTitler runs in slave mode. In other words; playback
of the subtitles takes place according to the current Time Code (read
either from VTR or generated by computer). If the current page's 'In
Time Code' matches the Actual Time Code then the page is shown. If
VTR mode is not used, the showing starts with an empty page and is
held until you click the left mouse button. After that first page
is shown and internal Time Code generation starts from current page's
'In Time Code'. In 'VTR Mode' Player waits for the VTR to be in Play
mode and after that, checks the Time Code from VTR. If needed, scans
through pages in memory to mach current Time Code. So if you, for
example, rewind the tape or search for certain part in the middle of
the Player mode then the Player is always in sync with current Time
Code. Until VTR is not in Play mode an empty page is shown. Normally
between pages an empty page is shown but in case the pause between
pages is less than 3 frames (0.12 seconds) the empty page will be
skipped and going over to the next page is instant. This is useful if
you display pictures on every page (slide show like) as change from
one page to the next takes place in one frame without any flickering.
If you need to show subtitles without empty page between two pages then
the latest page's 'In Time Code' should be equal to earliest page's 'Out
Time Code'.