CPC and Avid to Deliver HD Closed Captioning for Media Composer

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CPC, the industry leader in closed captioning and subtitling software solutions, today announced development of a complete software-only HD closed captioning solution for users of Avid Media Composer™. This software-only metadata workflow will save Avid users time and money by eliminating the need for a dedicated external hardware closed caption encoder which can cost $8,000 or more, simplifying workflows for handling video with closed captioning data. Closed captioning is required by the FCC for virtually all TV broadcasts in the United States, and by the CRTC for most TV broadcasts in Canada.

Improves Workflow and Lowers Closed Captioning Cost

This new workflow allows facilities to complete the entire closed captioning process in-house, saving tremendous amounts of time and money, and without giving up quality control to a third party. For an upcoming Media Composer release, Avid has developed a robust workflow for working with high definition video metadata, including closed caption data. CPC’s closed captioning software is a full caption preparation suite, which lets users create or import a script, format and synchronize the text, and finally creates an Avid-compatible metadata file containing CEA-708 and CEA-608 encoded data. This file is then brought into Avid Media Composer and placed on a metadata track, which preserves the metadata when outputting via Avid hardware interfaces.

File Size and Format No Longer an Issue

CPC’s software generates a small captions file which takes less than 5 Megabytes per hour of video. Whether editing in full uncompressed HD, DNxHD, or any other codec, this file that carries the encoded caption data can easily be archived locally or transferred over the internet to any Media Composer user.

e-Captioning for Fast Delivery

Furthermore, this workflow is compatible with CPC’s e-Captioning technology (http://www.cpcweb.com/e-captioning) which allows closed caption service companies to simply e-mail closed captioning files to Avid Media Composer users, without the need to physically mail master tapes back and forth, and without the generation loss that was typically incurred by older tape-based hardware encoding technology. e-Captioning also makes it possible to edit and convert previously closed captioned videos without losing the captions, and to re-use and re-purpose closed captions for all other video formats, such as the web, DVD and Blu-ray, and tapeless delivery for digital broadcast and Video-on-Demand.

About Avid

Avid creates the digital audio and video technology used to make the most listened to, most watched and most loved media in the world – from the most prestigious and award-winning feature films, music recordings, television shows, live concert tours and news broadcasts, to music and movies made at home. Some of Avid’s most influential and pioneering solutions include Media Composer, Pro Tools, Avid Unity, Interplay, Oxygen 8, Sibelius® and Pinnacle Studio™. For more information about Avid solutions and services, visit www.avid.com, del.icio.us, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube; connect with Avid on Facebook; or subscribe to Avid Industry Buzz.

CPC – The Closed Captioning Software Leader

HD closed captioning for Avid is the latest feature addition to CPC’s industry-leading line of Macintosh and Windows closed captioning and subtitling software. Since releasing the first simultaneous closed captioning/teleprompting software in 1986, and revolutionizing the closed captioning industry with e-Captioning in 2001, CPC has continuously innovated new closed captioning workflows to meet the industry’s needs. CPC also operates an award winning captioning and subtitling service. For more information, please visit http://www.cpcweb.com