posted 03-17-2004 07:37 PM                      

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I meant, before the print is processed.

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Yes it would be possible.
Trouble is, it would more than double the printing time , thereby increasing the cost of each print, as well as delaying the production.
The distributors have a very simple answer to that.


White is usually the best bet, even though more complex alternatives would produce a more readable result. (a) it's easier) and (b) the bottom of the frame is less often white than any other colour.

posted 03-18-2004 10:00 AM                       

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Subtitling Agencies & Software Manufacturers

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LASER ENGRAVING

PRINCIPLE
A laser beam that destroys the film emulsion and leaves the film’s base transparent does the engraving of the titles on the film. The letter engraved in this way will appear white in projection.

ENGRAVING
The film print, in order to be engraved, goes through a subtitling machine. This machine is piloted by a computer equipped with software that integrates the time-coded subtitle file obtained after the simulation, and positions the images that are to be engraved. The laser beam engraves each subtitle on 24 images per reading-time second. We may thus estimate that 80,000 subtitles are engraved for a standard film !




FILM PROCESSING

Polyester film prints need to be processed after laser engraving. TITRA FILM has developed a copyrighted subtitling process that includes an emulsion processing. The film passes through a special machine that immerges the film in different cleaning baths. These various treatments allow for better subtitle quality.

VIEWING

After these operations are completed, each film print is verified on a viewing table, or in a screening room. The purpose of this inspection is to evaluate the quality of the subtitles, and to detect possible errors before the film is delivered to the client.

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LSS-105 System Description

Ever since the delivery of the first Laser Subtitling System, IAI is setting the standards. We are continuously improving our systems to provide a higher output and/or to reduce the operational cost.

IAI was the first company to introduce the solid state diode pumped laser on Laser Subtitling Systems in the middle of 1997. This means that these Systems have proven their reliability in practice.

Our continuous development resulted in the fastest Laser Subtitling System that is available on the market. Subtitling with a speed of well over 300 subtitles per hour (on Polyester films) is NOT an exception.

Benchmarking proves that the LSS-105 Laser Subtitling System is at least 20% faster than what we believe is the fastest system of the competition.

The price / performance of the LSS-105 will result in the lowest cost per print, which is the most crucial factor in the subtitling business

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Costs

The cost of producing laser-etched prints is around US$2,050 for the first print of the movie and then US$1,150 for any additional prints. This is based on an average length movie with about 1,000 captions. This is based on information provided by Industrial Automation Integrators, a Dutch company that distributes the laser etching equipment.

The basic cost of producing the captions is $1,560 per hour ($2,340 for a 90-minute feature). This is a one-off cost no matter how many prints are made.

Therefore, a single print of around 90 minutes would cost about $6,000 to produce open captions (including freight and other incidental costs). Each additional print would be about $2,000.

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posted 03-18-2004 12:23 PM                       

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Therefore, a single print of around 90 minutes would cost about $6,000 to produce open captions (including freight and other incidental costs). Each additional print would be about $2,000.

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And that's for only one language! Imagine the cost of having to create a print inventory with subtitles for the entire world market.

Geez, with this cost model, any producer who doesn't put DTS code on his print would be foolish. Even if he's not using it for DTS sound, it seems like the DTS subtitling system would be the cheapest, most cost effective way to deal with the subtitling issue. One print, but it's good for as many different languages as you need. And of course it give the producer the great advantage of not having the nightmarish tracking issues associated with where prints are going. Any print could be used in any country with the great advantage that prints overseas could be recalled to the US in a pinch and used without any subtitles at all. In the afterlife, that would be a significant advantage to art houses since on any number of occasions the best condition prints can be found overseas. I've had to pay shipping from the UK to get a decent, playable print. But suppose there were no good prints in the UK either, if subtitling moved into the "off the print" realm of the DTS system, any print from any part of the world would play fine in my theatre and I wouldn't have to have Japanese or Croation subtitles across the bottom of my screen.

OK, so the rest of the world has to buy DTS systems and video projectors....not my problem.

posted 03-18-2004 08:43 PM                      

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Geez, with this cost model, any producer who doesn't put DTS code on his print would be foolish.

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OK, so the rest of the world has to buy DTS systems and video projectors....not my problem.

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Oh Great! Frank. What a wonderful idea. Theatres having to buy new equipment to show subtitles to save the distributors money. Have you entered into the debate about digital cinema yet - or the one about cyan soundtracks? YOu'll have some real fans on this list.

But why just the rest of the world? Don't US theatres ever show non-English language films? The rest of the (non-English-speaking) world freqently shows foreign language (i.e. American) films. They "have to have Japanese or Croation (sic) subtitles across the bottom of (their) screen".

Anyway, before long you'll probably all have to provide subtitles for the hearing-impaired, for legal anti-disability-discrimination reasons.

We supply prints of US features for many of the SE Asian countries, mostly subtitled: sometimes by overlay, sometimes they are lasered (not by us) in the destination country.