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March 13, 2017
Question

Exporting Closed Captions from ProRes Source

  • March 13, 2017
  • 1 reply
  • 1580 views

I have a workflow that takes ProRes files are 101 Mb/s recorded on an AJA KiPro Ultra with embedded captions, and saves them out at MXF OP1a files in XDCAM HD 50 720p/60, using embedded captions.

The ProRes file has both 608 and 708 captions.

The MXF is only coming out with 608 captions.

How can I get both sets to carry over? Would I have to export an MCC sidecar, and then drag it to the timeline? Or is that just a bug?

I did find that it was possible to:

  1. Drag the file into the Adobe Premiere timeline.
  2. Choose File > Export > Media…
  3. Set Format to MPEG4.
  4. Uncheck the Export Video box.
  5. Click on the Captions tab.
  6. Set
    1. Export Options to Create Sidecar File
    2. File Format to Scenarist Closed Caption file (.scc)
  7. Click Export
  8. Drag the SCC file you created to your timeline. Adjust the captions so they line up with the audio track/existing captions.
    1. In the Project tab, select the SCC file.
      1. Right-click on the SCC file, and select Modify > Captions from the menu
      2. Change Standard: from CEA-608 to CEA-708. Leave Stream as Service 1.
      3. Click OK.
      4. Choose File > Export > Media…
      5. Set
        1. Export Options to MXF OP1a
        2. File Format to XDCAM HD 50 NTSC 720p60
        3. Click on the Captions tab and Select
          1. Export Options to Embed in Output File
          2. Click Export

  This will give you an MXF file with both CEA-708 captions for normal playback, and CEA-608 captions for outlets that downconvert to SD formats. But it's sure not pretty or user friendly.

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    1 reply

    March 15, 2017

    Tried a different ProRes file from a different source, this one with 608 and 708 text tracks in the package.

    Again, content imported and showed on the timeline, with 608 and 708 captions available in the captions tab.

    However, this time on export of an MXF file with embedded captions, the resulting file didn't have any captions. The workaround, with exporting SCC sidecars, dragging them on the timeline, and exporting, didn't work either (though the export did).

    Finding the captioning workflow bewildering. Is there any detailed documentation on what will and won't work? And why an SRT shows up but doesn't allow any kind of conversion or embedding?