subtitles – Latest News from MediaStorm

MediaStorm Guide to Creating Subtitles in Premiere Pro

Post author:Eric Maierson
Post published:May 15, 2013

This article is part of a new series of posts with tips and tricks from our producers' experience working with Adobe Premiere Pro after years of working in Final Cut Pro. To read more about why we made the switch, check out this post. Today's post was written by MediaStorm producer Eric Maierson. There’s a critical difference between the title tool in Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere Pro. In FCP, one could slice a title that’s already in the timeline, open it in the Viewer window, then change the contents so that you now had two distinct titles. This does not work in Premiere Pro. In Premiere Pro each title is a distinct instance. So, if you splice a title in the timeline then change its content, you will also change the content of the first title as well. Both titles will say the same thing. The only way around this…

Finishing is the Hard Part: The Details

Post author:Eric Maierson
Post published:April 9, 2013

In a previous post, I described some of the psychological challenges of finishing a project. Just as we're ready to be done, we must once again see our work hyper-critically in order to complete the final stages of production. In revisiting this topic, I'd like to offer a more detailed list of the steps we follow once the picture edit is complete. Keep in mind as you move through these steps that finishing a project is a non-linear process. You may be mixing audio when you discover an image that needs recropping. It’s OK to make that change, but try to stay on task as it’s easy to get distracted. Audio Mixing Audio generally requires less render time than video so it's a good place to begin. Add tone between interview bites Mix interview, tone, b-roll, and music Add one frame dissolves to the head and tail of all audio bites Fix…

Multiple language subtitles now available in the MediaStorm Player

Post author:Jessica Stuart
Post published:November 23, 2010

We've been rolling out some updates to the MediaStorm Player, and one of the features we're most excited about is the ability to show subtitles in multiple languages. The subtitles work both on our site and on the embedded version of our player. English subtitles are available for all of our projects. Foreign translations are currently available for the following projects: Undesired: Hindi and Spanish Intended Consequences: German Black Market: German Kingsley's Crossing: Chinese We're often asked why some of our projects have forced subtitles, while others don't. MediaStorm Producer Eric Maierson has put together a Guide to Using Subtitles that gives some insight into our thought process, and also some technical tips for creating those subtitles in Final Cut Pro. We're working on getting additional projects and languages online, and will be adding those as we get them finished. If you're interested in volunteering to help us translate our projects into…

MediaStorm’s Guide to Using Subtitles

Post author:Eric Maierson
Post published:November 23, 2010

Sometimes the most difficult challenge regarding subtitles is deciding whether to use them or not. Subtitles present obvious aesthetic challenges—from inevitably covering the most important part of an image to turning a visual experience into a written one. If at all possible, avoid them; the obvious exception being when someone speaks a language other than that of the intended audience. Then subtitles are essential. So how do you know if you need English subtitles for someone speaking English? It’s often difficult for a producer to make this call. After listening to the same clips again and again, we learn a speaker’s cadence and nuances and they become clearer to us. Probably the best method to make this determination is to play your project for a group of people who haven’t seen it yet and see if they can understand the narration without subtitles. With fresh ears, they’ll quickly let you know if…