TitleExchange - a simple tool to transfer subtitles from FCP to DVD Studio and get titles into FCP

How to convert your Digital Heaven subtitles (or others) to DVSP.

Unfortunately that's not an one click operation and requires some knowledge and typing. And it requires to be be an owner of TitleExchange Pro - though you can still take the ideas below and make it work yourself.

The DH Subtitle plug-in allows nice settings for drop shadow and boxes. All the rendering for that is done in the FCP color space which allows 8 bit RGB handling. DVDSP only allows four shades of gray - so it is a little bit complicated to match these title styles.
But here are some tricks to make "Drop Shadows" and "Boxes" work. We can use AppleScript, PhotoShop scripting and XML to convert it and fake "Drop Shadows" or "Boxes".
And finally with the below you even don't need DH Subtitle, but it's always a good idea to keep video and DVD version somehow the same visual experience.
And yes - you even don't need a STL created by TEP.

The drop "Drop Shadow" tutorial
You need TitleExchange Pro to convert from FCP XML to a STL (Spruce Text List) from the DH titles. The STL does not include any "shadow" settings. So you have to rebuild those settings manually.

What you need:

The TEP AppleScript (as registered TEP user please send a request)
PhotoShop
PhotoShop scripting installed.
A STL

First make sure everything of the above is available.
Then open the supplied AppleScript in Script Editor.

Within ScriptEditor you have to make some changes:

Change font name to the font you want to use (this might a little bit tricky, since PhotoShop scripting might use a name spelled a little bit different from that one displayed in the application itself - there will be some help script soon)
Change font size etc to the values you need. It's a good idea to render out one frame from FCP and take that as template in PS and experiment a little bit. This may take some time as well.
Change the document size according to your video size - 720 x 480 for NTSC or 720 x 576 for PAL etc..
Change layer size, which is just the maximum box size for the text. Be aware of title save regions.
Change x, y position set the x,y position of the box, in the current script that has been calculated by (720 - 640) / 2 = 40 to get the layer centered.
The final thing is to adjust the horizontal scaling to match the pixel aspect ratio.

Within PS

you need to create a style, which is somehow similar to the layer style of the PSD which comes with your TEP script archive. You have to name it "ShadowLine" or replace that name in the script with the name you used for the style.

Within DVDSP

Before doing anything with the script, import your PSD into DVDSP, drag it into a subtitle track and find a good color setting. SInce subtitles only support four colors that may be a bit tricky depending on the picture background.
Below a screen shot of what might work. It's always a good idea to take a bright picture and a dark one to find the best compromise.
Make a note of these settings since DVDSP might forget them.
As you see this is far away from that nice drop shadow you get with the DH Subtiltle, but it looks much smoother than the white and black outline you will get with standard conversion - even on the bright background.
But this kind conversion also has the advantage not have rendering errors on kerning, like it might happen with DVDSP.

Within TextEditor

Now the last thing to change. Open the STL and remove all comments and instructions from the beginning and save (as).

Back in ScriptEditor

After this setup you could run the script. It will ask you for the STL and for a location to save the files. Create a new folder for those files.
The script will run a while PS is creating the files, don't disturb PS while working on it - though it runs in the background.

After PS has finished you got a bunch of PSDs and a new STL in your target folder. ALWAYS keep this structure intact!

Back again in DVDSP

Import the new STL which is normally at the end of the files.
Apply the color settings from above to the stream (you can still change that for fine tuning individual titles).

The big advantage going thru this procedure is that the PSDs are editable and so you can make text changes anytime, which will be updated in DVDSP after saving them. Understanding the script and its settings you may even decide to "re-render" all subtitles, without destroying the current ones. Using the TEP text conversions you are even able to convert several languages from a data base into subtitles.

Some final note. The subtitle file names are created by removing the dividers from the timecode, so 00:08:12:17 will create a name 00081217. This is what the STL refers to:

$SetFilePathToken = <<Graphic>>

00:08:12:17 , 00:08:15:19 , <<Graphic>>00081217_base.psd
00:08:24:01 , 00:08:27:18 , <<Graphic>>00082401_base.psd
00:08:28:00 , 00:08:29:12 , <<Graphic>>00082800_base.psd
…

If you make time changes try to keep that relation intact as well - it helps.

Hope this helps to get your titles done.

The "Box" tutorial
Coming soon

The "Text table" tutorial
Coming soon

The "Merging STLs" tutorial
Coming soon


	TitleExchange Lite/Pro Script Tutorials

	How to convert your Digital Heaven subtitles (or others) to DVSP. Unfortunately that's not an one click operation and requires some knowledge and typing. And it requires to be be an owner of TitleExchange Pro - though you can still take the ideas below and make it work yourself. The DH Subtitle plug-in allows nice settings for drop shadow and boxes. All the rendering for that is done in the FCP color space which allows 8 bit RGB handling. DVDSP only allows four shades of gray - so it is a little bit complicated to match these title styles. But here are some tricks to make "Drop Shadows" and "Boxes" work. We can use AppleScript, PhotoShop scripting and XML to convert it and fake "Drop Shadows" or "Boxes". And finally with the below you even don't need DH Subtitle, but it's always a good idea to keep video and DVD version somehow the same visual experience. And yes - you even don't need a STL created by TEP. The drop "Drop Shadow" tutorial You need TitleExchange Pro to convert from FCP XML to a STL (Spruce Text List) from the DH titles. The STL does not include any "shadow" settings. So you have to rebuild those settings manually. What you need: The TEP AppleScript (as registered TEP user please send a request) PhotoShop PhotoShop scripting installed. A STL First make sure everything of the above is available. Then open the supplied AppleScript in Script Editor. Within ScriptEditor you have to make some changes: Change font name to the font you want to use (this might a little bit tricky, since PhotoShop scripting might use a name spelled a little bit different from that one displayed in the application itself - there will be some help script soon) Change font size etc to the values you need. It's a good idea to render out one frame from FCP and take that as template in PS and experiment a little bit. This may take some time as well. Change the document size according to your video size - 720 x 480 for NTSC or 720 x 576 for PAL etc.. Change layer size, which is just the maximum box size for the text. Be aware of title save regions. Change x, y position set the x,y position of the box, in the current script that has been calculated by (720 - 640) / 2 = 40 to get the layer centered. The final thing is to adjust the horizontal scaling to match the pixel aspect ratio. Within PS you need to create a style, which is somehow similar to the layer style of the PSD which comes with your TEP script archive. You have to name it "ShadowLine" or replace that name in the script with the name you used for the style. Within DVDSP Before doing anything with the script, import your PSD into DVDSP, drag it into a subtitle track and find a good color setting. SInce subtitles only support four colors that may be a bit tricky depending on the picture background. Below a screen shot of what might work. It's always a good idea to take a bright picture and a dark one to find the best compromise. Make a note of these settings since DVDSP might forget them. As you see this is far away from that nice drop shadow you get with the DH Subtiltle, but it looks much smoother than the white and black outline you will get with standard conversion - even on the bright background. But this kind conversion also has the advantage not have rendering errors on kerning, like it might happen with DVDSP. Within TextEditor Now the last thing to change. Open the STL and remove all comments and instructions from the beginning and save (as). Back in ScriptEditor After this setup you could run the script. It will ask you for the STL and for a location to save the files. Create a new folder for those files. The script will run a while PS is creating the files, don't disturb PS while working on it - though it runs in the background. After PS has finished you got a bunch of PSDs and a new STL in your target folder. ALWAYS keep this structure intact! Back again in DVDSP Import the new STL which is normally at the end of the files. Apply the color settings from above to the stream (you can still change that for fine tuning individual titles). The big advantage going thru this procedure is that the PSDs are editable and so you can make text changes anytime, which will be updated in DVDSP after saving them. Understanding the script and its settings you may even decide to "re-render" all subtitles, without destroying the current ones. Using the TEP text conversions you are even able to convert several languages from a data base into subtitles. Some final note. The subtitle file names are created by removing the dividers from the timecode, so 00:08:12:17 will create a name 00081217. This is what the STL refers to: $SetFilePathToken = <<Graphic>> 00:08:12:17 , 00:08:15:19 , <<Graphic>>00081217_base.psd 00:08:24:01 , 00:08:27:18 , <<Graphic>>00082401_base.psd 00:08:28:00 , 00:08:29:12 , <<Graphic>>00082800_base.psd … If you make time changes try to keep that relation intact as well - it helps. Hope this helps to get your titles done. The "Box" tutorial Coming soon The "Text table" tutorial Coming soon The "Merging STLs" tutorial Coming soon