“Captioning is the process of converting the audio content of a television broadcast, webcast, film, video, CD-ROM, DVD, live event, and other productions into text and displaying the text on a screen or monitor. Captions not only display words as the textual equivalent of spoken dialogue or narration, but they also include speaker identification, sound effects, and music description.“ (DCMP)

Just like in SHD, all audible information is expressed in writing: dialogs, voice inflections, on-screen and off-screen sound effects, music and lyrics, etc. But closed captions have a different look, and the texts and sound effects are placed close to the person who spoke it or the source of the sound. They allow the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities to access the material, and it is also used to aid those learning to speak a second language.

True Subtitles can produce offline captions in two styles:

Roll-Up (2,3 or 4 lines)

Great for religious sermons, conferences, interviews, documentaries, newscasts. Ideal for non-fiction and single-speaker content. The texts are displayed justified to the left of the screen and each new line “rolls up”, shuffing the previous one above.

Pop-On

Ideal for fiction, where there are a lot of audible nuances to express: sound effects, voice inflections, different accents, moods, music, etc. The written dialog of each character is placed in the area of the screen where the actor appears or from where the audio comes from.

Why trust True Subtitles to produce your closed captions? We train our team of captioners to put themselves in the shoes of a deaf person and identify which sound effects are plot-pertinent, what IDs are necessary to understand who is speaking, what music description is essential to fully enjoy the video content. And we are also very rigorous with our writing quality: each comma, colon, and full stop is expertly placed to ensure seamless comprehension.