5 Checks that make a difference in quality captioning
When you are working on a subtitling, SDH or closed captioning project, there are small fundamental checks that make a big difference in the quality that you produce and deliver.
Below are some of the essentials:
Video Frame rate
Make sure that the right video frame rate is correct and always time code your captions according to the video frame rate.
Check names
Consistently check the names of the people and places to avoid misspellings and typos.
Songs
Do not add punctuation to the song lyrics, only question marks and interrogation marks are common practice. Don’t forget that there should be a space between the musical note and the song lyric.
Position of subtitles
Unless otherwise specified, position your captions center bottom. Captions should not cover any onscreen text. If you have any on-screens conflicting with the captions, they need to be raised to the top of the screen.
Character ID’s and sound effects
Avoid unnecessary IDs when the speaker is on-screen. Only caption background sound effects when they are essential to the plot. Not every sound must be communicated. If the viewer can clearly see what is happening in the video, it is not necessary to caption obvious sound effects.
