1. General

2. Technical information

3. Positioning

4. Dual Speakers

5. Speaker IDs / Sound Effects

6. Censored words

7. Songs

1. General

Please ensure that a CC Style for your language does not already exist. If not, please notify tino.costa@pixelogicmedia.com and use this guide until one is created specifically for your language.

2. Technical information

1. Font: Courier New, White (use extended character set)
2. Type: Pop-on
3. Minimum duration: 1 second
4. Maximum duration: 7 seconds
   • 29.97 frames/second (fps) - 210 frames
   • 23.98 frames/second (fps) - 168 frames
   • 25 frames/second (fps) - 175 frames
5. Reading speed (include spaces and punctuation):
   
   • Adult programs - 20 characters per second (cps)
     HBO- 17 characters per second (cps)
   • Children's programs - 17 characters per second (cps)
     HBO- 10 characters per second (cps)
6. Frame gap: 2 frames minimum 
        Note: Frame gap should be 2 frames or at least 5 frames 
        All frame gaps of 3-4 frames should be reduced to 2 frames
7. Character limit: 32 characters per line
8. Max. Number of lines: 4 lines

3. Positioning

1. Events can be positioned in any location horizontally.
2. If there are multiple speakers in different locations on the screen, then positioning should be used to identify them. If the scene then continues the positioning should be maintained for each speaker accordingly.
3. The first speaker should always be above the second speaker so that the order of dialogue is clear.
4. Off-screen dialogue should also be positioned based on the direction it comes from. (e.g. if a mother calls a child and the child looks towards the left of the screen, then the mother's dialogue should be positioned on the left of the screen).
5. "Voice of God/Narration" is always center positioned.
6. Events can only be positioned within the top/bottom four lines onscreen.
7. Do not have an event with text at the top and bottom simultaneously.
8. All events should be left-justified regardless of horizontal position.
9. An event should be moved to the top if there is text in the lower third of the screen (e.g. credits)
10. In cases where the entire screen is covered with text, choose the option that causes the least disruption to the viewer.

4. Dual Speakers

There are a few ways that multiple speakers can be indicated in a Closed Caption file.

1. Centered with a hyphen without a space. Maximum number of lines allowed is 3 in this case.

-How are you?
-I'm fine. Thanks for asking.
 How are you?

2. Positioned according to the onscreen speaker with a blank line in-between. Maximum number of lines allowed is 4. 

How are you?

I'm fine. Thanks for asking 
How are you?

5. Speaker IDs / Sound Effects

1. Use [ ] brackets for speaker IDs or sound effects.
2. Use lowercase, except for proper nouns.
3. Only use speaker IDs or sound effects when they cannot be visually identified.
4. Before a speaker has been identified use a generic ID so as not to give information away ahead of time. (e.g. [man], [man 2], [officer], [doctor] e.t.c)
5. Use a generic ID to indicate and describe ambient music (e.g. [rock music playing on radio]).
6. Only include plot-pertinent sound effects.
7. Never italicize speaker IDs or sounds effects, even if the dialogue is italicized.

4. Exclamations

1. Include single utterances and exclamations (e.g. Oh, Um..., Wow!)

5. Foreign Dialogue

1. For foreign dialogue:
   • If translated – Use [in language] (e.g. [in greek] )
   • If not meant to be understood – Use [speaking language] (e.g. [speaking russian] )
   • Always research the language. Do not use [speaking foreign language] or [in foreign language]. 

6. Censored words

1. If a word has been censored in the audio use two hyphens to indicate the censored word.

Son of a --!

7. Songs

1. Translate songs only when instructed by Pixelogic and when plot pertinent.
2. Songs in which the lyrics have been altered or parodied for comedic effect can generally be titled.
3. Italicize lyrics.
4. Start each line with an uppercase letter.
5. Song lyrics should be enclosed with a music note (♪)
6. Use an ellipsis if the song continues in the background but is interrupted by dialogue.
7. Only question marks, exclamation marks and ellipses can be used at the end of a line. Commas can be used within the lyric line, if required.
8. Songs heard within the scene should be identified if possible.

   ["Hotel California" playing]