Timed Text
Release: 1.4 | August 24, 2022
PrintClosed Captions (CC) and Subtitles (SDH) are both accepted for delivery into the Warner Bros. Discovery Media Supply Chain. Please reach out to your Warner Bros. Discovery contact for more information on whether your should deliver CC, SDH, or both.
Technical Specifications
| Description | Application (Closed Captions, Subtitles, or Both) |
|---|---|
| The full duration of the program, including end-credits, must be covered. | Both |
| All dialogue, including all foreign-language critical to the understanding of the plot, must be fully transcribed. | Both |
| Any original songs lyrics or any song lyrics critical to the understanding of the plot must be fully translated. | Both |
| All events must have a minimum duration of one second. | Both |
| All events should be one or two lines of text with a maximum of three lines. As an exception, where speaker identification required or when the text will not fit into two lines and the content does not allow enough time to split into two events. | Both |
| All files must be synchronized within two (2) frames to the primary audio/video. | Both |
| For Closed Captions or Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired, all non-dialogue sounds/effects must be included if they are critical to understanding the plot. | Both |
| Where more than one line is required ensure that the top line the longer of the lines. | Both |
| Default placement should be lower third, only raise subtitles to upper third to avoid on screen text or critical action. | Both |
| All SMPTE Timed Text files and Scenarist Closed Caption files must line up with the start timecode of the program. | Both |
| SMPTE Timed Text (.xml) files must use “media” timeBase and have a framerate matching source video using a multiplier of “1000 1001” for non-integer frame rates. | Both |
| SMPTE Timed Text (.xml) files containing media time values must be in the format of HH:MM:SS.sss (3 places microseconds) or HH:MM:SS:FF. | Both |
| Closed Captions must be C608 compliant and delivered as either Scenarist Closed Captions (.scc) files or SMPTE Timed Text (.xml) files in accordance with SMPTE 2052-1. Delivery of a QuickTime Closed Caption Track is not supported. | Closed Captions |
| Closed Captions must be “pop-on” style, files delivered as “roll-up” or “paint-on” style will be rejected. | Closed Captions |
| Scenarist Closed Captions (.scc) files must deliver as 29.97 frame rate with appropriate drop frame type. Specifically: 29.97ndf must be used for 23.976 content, 29.97df must be used for 25 content. SCC files containing Drop-Frame timecode must be in the hh:mm:ss;ff format and those containing Non-Drop-Frame timecode must be in the hh:mm:ss:ff format. | Closed Captions |
| Captions delivered as SCC must be formatted for CC1. | Closed Captions |
| Captions delivered as SMPTE TT must be targeted for CC1, which is denoted by setting the captionService attribute of the SMPTE element to “F1C1CC” in the metadata section. | Closed Captions |
| Closed Captions must not exceed 32 characters per line including spaces and punctuation. | Closed Captions |
| Subtitles must not exceed 42 characters per line with a preferred length of 34, including spaces and punctuation. | Subtitles |
| Subtitles must be delivered as SMPTE Timed Text (.xml) files in accordance with SMPTE 2052-1. | Subtitles |
Expected Deliverables
| Description | Application (Closed Captions, Subtitles, or Both) |
|---|---|
| If the Original Production Language is English, Closed Captions (CC) or Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired (SDH) must be delivered with the master. | Both |
| Additional Language(s) CC or SDH files must be delivered as required by region. | Both |
| Additional Language(s) Full and Forced subtitles must be delivered as required by region. | Both |
Release History
v1.4 August 24, 2022
- Added requirement for subtitles and closed captions: "SMPTE Timed Text (.xml) files containing media time values must be in the format of HH:MM:SS.sss (3 places microseconds) or HH:MM:SS:FF."
v1.3 July 29, 2022
- ' Closed Captions must be “pop-on” style, files delivered as “roll-up” or “paint-on” style will be rejected. SMPTE Timed Text (.xml) files must use “media” timeBase and have a framerate matching source video using a multiplier of “1000 1001” for non-integer frame rates. ' was previously a single requirement. It has been broken out into two seperate requirements. The first sentence applies only to closed captions, while the second sentence applies to closed captions and subtitles.
v1.2 April 13, 2022
- Changed "Warner Media" to "Warner Bros. Discovery"
v1.1 May 14, 2021
- Added "Captions delivered as SCC must be formatted for CC1" to the Technical Specifications table