User Guide

434 Chapter 13 Creating Subtitles
Subtitle Stream Basics
There are several aspects of working with subtitle streams that apply whether you
create them in DVD Studio Pro or import them.
Working With Subtitles in DVD Studio Pro
Working with subtitles in DVD Studio Pro involves using the Track Editor, the Subtitle
Inspector, and the Viewer tab.
All subtitles, whether created with text entered in DVD Studio Pro, as individual
imported graphics files, or as a subtitle file containing multiple subtitles, are based on
subtitle clips in one of the 32 subtitle streams. In general, you work with the subtitle
clips the same way you work with audio clips in the Track Editor. You can drag the clips
to change their position and drag their edges to change their length.
The Subtitle Inspector provides the settings you use to configure each of the subtitle
clips. Even the subtitle clips you import as part of a subtitle file can have their settings
modified in the Subtitle Inspector.
The Viewer tab serves the Subtitle Editor function. When you double-click a subtitle clip
in the Track Editor, its playhead jumps to the subtitle clip’s start, with the subtitle
appearing over the track’s video. You can enter and position subtitle text directly in the
Viewer tab. It also contains the tools you use when you create subtitles configured for
buttons over video.
How Subtitles Switch Streams
When the viewer switches from one subtitle stream to the other, two things must
happen before the second stream’s subtitles appear:
• The subtitle clip currently showing must reach its end. No subtitle actions, including
switching streams and turning subtitles off, can occur until the DVD player finishes
showing the current subtitle clip.
• A clip on the second stream must start. If a subtitle clip on the second stream starts
before the subtitle clip on the first stream ends, it will not appear, and instead, the
next clip on the second stream will be the first from that stream to appear.
For most standard subtitles, this happens relatively quickly and the viewer quickly starts
seeing subtitles from the selected stream. At most they might miss one subtitle clip.