Size of subtitles and text formatting?

ro_max wrote on 5/5/2004, 11:10 AM
I am posting this again in the DVDA forum:

1) When DVDA is building video objects (DVD preview works just fine), I sometimes get the following message:

Warning: An error occured while writing a file.
The sub-picture or menu highlight graphics are too complex and exceed the DVD specification.

Sometimes this error seems to be due to the width of the subtitle, sometimes it's the font size. I can create a subtitle with 7-8 lines of text covering about 70% of the screen and that works and another one with a single line of text does not. What exactly are the limits or restrictions? Or is it a bug? Am I missing something basic here?

Any comments are appreciated.

2) Is there any way to put special characters into subtitles (I'm thinking of symbols for music) and to italicize single words. Apparently you can have the entire subtitle in italics and/or bold, etc. but not individual words. Bug or missing feature? If the latter, how about putting this into the next update?


ro_max

PS: I am working on a PAL project.

Comments

SonySDB wrote on 5/5/2004, 11:30 AM
1) Yes, there is a limit to the amount of text you can have on one line. The limit is based on how well the subtitle event data compresses. So, the number of characters allowed on one line is dependent on the font, font size, outline, etc. and even characters used.

From Troubleshooting section of the online help (Help | Context and Index):
"My project fails during the preparation stage

Disc preparation can fail if your project contains complex subtitles or highlight masks.

The DVD specification does not allow subpicture graphics that are too complex overall or on a horizontal line. Please check your project for complex subtitles or complex highlight masks that may prevent your project from being prepared.

If you have subtitles with large amounts of text, break the text into separate lines or events. Avoid using highlight masks with high levels of detail or simplify the mask images."

2) To italicize single words, you can create text with different formatting by having more than one text object for a subtitle event:
1. In the Timeline window, move the cursor to the subtitle event you want to edit
2. Insert | Subtitle Text
3. Edit, format, and position
ro_max wrote on 5/5/2004, 12:10 PM
@SonySDB

Thanks for the quick response.

Re 1: Is there any rule of thumb I could use to figure out when a subtitle becomes too complex? Or is it just trial and error?

It's a little frustrating to prepare a project for two hours only to find that one subtitle ends up being too complex. During my initial attempts at trying to figure out what went wrong (i.e. before posting here), I had a hard time finding the offending subtitle. Is there any way, DVDA (maybe in a future version) could let the user know, which subtitle text is the problem (e.g. by indicating a marker number or perhaps the time code of the video)?

Re 2: I'll give that a try. However, if I use several subtitle text objects in the some place, will that not increase the chances of the getting the too-complex error?
SonySDB wrote on 5/6/2004, 6:38 AM
In the next update of DVDA2, it will check and identify subtitle events that are too complex before the project is prepared. Before you ask, I can't say when the next update of DVDA2 will be.

The number of subtitle text objects in a subtitle event has no affect on the complexity of the subtitle; it's the total amount of text (and formatting) for a subtitle event that determines whether the subtitle is too complex.
ro_max wrote on 5/6/2004, 7:25 AM
Thanks for the info. I'll be looking forward to DVDA2 becoming even better.