Nested captions: Can I export rather than burn in?

Report · Mar 21, 2023

I have a number of completed episodes with their own captioning data, and multiple audio tracks. So each episode is a multi-track sequence.

Those sequences are nested (and chopped up) in my Editing Sequence, where all the episodes are being re-edited into a shorter version of the story.

I can see the captioning in my Editing Sequence. (Disappears if I enable multi-cam on the nested video assets, but I don't need that so multi-cam is ONLY on for audio.)

Everything seems to work great, if I only wanted to burn-in captions. But I'd like to export them instead. The captions toggle does not turn on.

I can't copy/paste the caption data from episode sequences because the episodes sequences are not where the editing takes place... the captioning data would not align with the Editing Sequence.

Report · Mar 21, 2023

Gordon,

The simple option is just to transcribe and create captions for the editing sequence. And you can check the result by comparing the visible captions from the nest sequences with the new captions in the editing sequence.

With multiple audio tracks, this would work best if the dialogue audio is always in the same audio track. There may be a way around that by using in/out transcription and merging the results to build the full transcription.

In the public Beta, they are working on a way to transcribe clips, and the transcription follows the clips as they are edited in multiple sequences. But in the end, you transcribe the final edit to get a transcription to use for captions.

Stan

Report · Mar 21, 2023

> In the public Beta, they are working on a way to transcribe clips, and the transcription follows the clips as they are edited in multiple sequences.

It sounds like that is exactly what I'm looking for? Sorry could you elaborate on that a bit more or direct me to a summary of the beta feature? I'll probably install it to check it out myself, but if you know it will NOT do what I want I won't bother.

Report · Mar 22, 2023

It's going to be a huge workflow help, and there's a chance it will be just what you need. But the devil is in the details, and the Beta is just that - bugs come and go.

The UI changed a lot since the earlier tutorials that described the 3 point edit (working from the Source monitor and insert/overwrite to the sequence) and the Sequence based (place the clips on the timeline and lift/extract to edit). The essential feature is selecting text in the transcript and that automatically marking in/out for selecting edits. You have the option to transcribe all your clips in the background from the beginning.

The Beta can be installed independently from your production version(s).

See the Beta FAQs:
https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/creative-cloud-beta.html

This is a more recent thread regarding what they are calling "Text-Based Editing" and in the earlier thread "Assemble Rough Cuts From Transcripts." Staff are still actively working this, and would love your feedback. This includes a link to a tutorial:
https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-beta-discussions/now-in-beta-introducing-text-based-edit...

The original thread:
https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-beta-discussions/text-panel-enhancements-part-2-assemble...

A thread that adds import of a corrected transcript:
https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-beta-discussions/text-panel-enhancements-share-a-transcr...

Stan

Report · Mar 22, 2023

Tried the Beta, it doesn't have any mechanism to precolate the captions up from a nested sequence. Guess I'll feature-request it.

Report · Mar 24, 2023

Right. What "percolates" is the transcript for the included clips.

Stan

Report · Mar 26, 2023

Thank you. I didn't see that happen becuase i don't have a transcript, only captions. That sounds like a very useful feature though.

Report · Jan 18, 2024

I have a silmilar problem. Our main timelines are for broadcast TV and so have captions. Then we generate alternate edits for smaller cable outlets by nesting the main and cutting it up. PROBLEM - the nested sequence will burn in the CC. I can't imagine a single situation where this is a feature

In 2023 there were 135 timelines nested in over 300 sequences.

The only way I have found to stop it is to turn off the CC track in the source sequences before exporting the other versions. This is dangerous since accidentally exporting the main timeline for braodcast without CC will get us in trouble with the FCC.

Report · Jan 18, 2024

You'll love this solution... I bought some software and I OCR-ed my
burned-in captions.

I'm still hoping Adobe can make captions as versatile as transcriptions, as
far as how they can (not) percolate up thru nested sequences. OCR-ing
burned in captions in my own video was not a great experience.

Report · Oct 30, 2024

That isn't a solution I would have come up with on my own.

Did you get any further with this? The text I'm working with is the big white-on-black stuff designed to be easy to read, but nothing else. There is never any reason why I ever want that burned in!

For the last 6 months I've been taking the source timeline and nesting it into the broadcast timeline (with captions) and another "editable" timeline (without captions). It made one extra timeline per episode, but eliminated the danger of missing captions. The downside is if we edit the source, then I have to track those edits forward. But this only happens a couple of times a year.

Report · Oct 30, 2024

No, I have not mucked around with this any more. I'll try follow-up here
if/when I ever do, or if I'm made aware of a some sort of "right" way to
solve it once a project gets going this way.