OT: Beta update for X-Title Extractor

Andreas, I just have to say that I love and need your software more than you would imagine, and here in Mexico everyone needs to put subtitles in there projects so at least hear you have a huge market.

Santiago,

Thanks for your encouraging words (and the financial support ).
Indeed X-Titles have been voted to be in the top ten "must have apps" on some French and Spanish websites and I got a lot of links from there. But most are happy with with the free versions, others complain about price saying it's only worth max 5 USD.

- Andreas

5 USD?!!!! No way!, I actually have the paid version, and though I didn't see it as "cheap" I do think is word the price, especially when you see all the hassle you can be safe from. Your software has actually made me win new jobs and make post-labs angry because they couldn't over charge me for doing it them selfs (the XML for the DCP je je je).

So I do think that a price range between 50 to 100 USD would be a good price, maybe you could make a Light version that just exports to SRT and nothing els, and a PRO version of us crazy people that prefer to make all of there own deliverables them selfs

sperezrleon wrote: ... maybe you could make a Light version that just exports to SRT and nothing els, and a PRO version of us crazy people that prefer to make all of there own deliverables them selfs

Making a "PRO version of us crazy people" would be a nice idea for an app for consumers. I would sell like crazy :lol:

Now serious, that sounds like a good idea.

For DCP you guys still have to wait a bIt.
After internal testing I figured out that many (probably all) players don't support some DCP specs. So the FCPX XML text entries had to be restructured completely. This took some time.
Font size and leading are another similar problem.
The people from Fraunhofer (easy DCP) kindly agreed to test the new DCP versions. I have to wait, can't make any pressure there to them. I want to have a more or less fool proof implementation.
In the meantime I work on a easy way for the user to calculate DCP font size and leading from FCP font size and leading.

- Andreas

Always the eternal question of selling "lots of apps at 10$ or few less at 50$", and I guess it's impossible to know in advance...

manoucho wrote: Always the eternal question of selling "lots of apps at 10$ or few less at 50$", and I guess it's impossible to know in advance...

You're right Manoucho.

But sometimes it's just the other way round. I had an app which easily allowed to import BWAV files into FCP and other app apps long before "Cold Montain". It was selling for 35 EUR, sales were low even after Apple declared in their white papers for film production that this app is a must have for film production.
Was kind of disappointing - I decided for a test to raise the prize to 135 EUR. Sales numbers (and win) were way better than before with 35 EUR.
I did the same with another app and against all expectations it worked the same way.

So you're right: it's impossible to know in advance

- Andreas

Interesting... Maybe it felt more like a premium product then.

Anyway, I hope you'll find a solution for X-Titles. It is definitely an important tool.

There is also a new version of XTI at www.spherico.com/filmtools/TitleExchange/XTI/XTI.dmg

I decided to release a new version of XTE as well, since I got some really positive feedback and some money.

The new version (hopefully) fixes a lot of little things for the standard export formats (except DCP interop).
dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63959366/X-T...%20Extractor.app.zip

DCP interop is still not working the expected way it should. I'm waiting for answers from some important companies.

Some resons why it's not working yet.

First player related things:
Pre-rendered subtitles are not supported by players.
Spanned subtitle entries (different styles inside a line) are not supported by players.
Right aligned text is not supported by some players.

DCP limitations:
DCP doesn't have any tracking/kerning information - therefore DCP subtitle lines will look always longer.
DCP support for right align of text seems to be broken - therefore in the current version it will be ignored.
DCP does use a special font size definition which only can be roughly calculated from "normal" font sizes. This affects line position as well.
There are more little things.

FCP limitations:
FCP doesn't support region settings for subtitle text. These are (often) needed for DCP.
FCPX XML contains no reliable information about vertical alignment of subtitles.
FCPX XML line spacing is hard to retrieve (default values aren't stored).
FCPX XML subtitle text information doesn't fit DCP in many cases.
FCPX below 10.1 XML doesn't have enough information to create a "styled" DCP.

Taking into account the above limitations the DCP conversion from FCPX XML will look like below.

I had no chance to test 4K DCP. It should behave like 2K.

DCP only supports FCPX 10.1 and above.

DCP Export will align all subtitles to bottom. Lowest line will be placed at the bottom of the 2K title safe area.
DCP Export horizontal region is the 2K title safe area.

Font will be "Arial" (DCP default).
Font size will be calculated by a formula which matches quite a good average of relation between font height, ascent and descent throughout available fonts. DCP default is 42.
DCP line position (not equivalent to FCP line spacing) will be calculated based on font size or on font size plus user entry. Default is 4.6 % of screen height (for default size 42) - this the same as 0 line spacing in FCPX.
With the used formulas size and position probably won't match perfectly for some fonts or languages like Japanese.

Settings for a test below.



- Andreas

This time a weekend update for DCP only.

There are still no answers to questions for DCP package creators using right aligned text, multiple styles per subtitle pars or image sequence sequences. Latter would solve a real lot of problems.
Regarding SMPTE DCP only easy DCP seems to support SMPTE XMLs. I'll try to work with Fraunhofer to solve some question.
All others require a MXF. This is not doable by me or will require a horrible lot of money for licensing costs.
But Interop should do it as well, but no other fps rather than 24.
Used font might be a problem with some DCP players. Ask upfront which fonts can be used within the cinema/organization.

Vertical alignment seems to be a long term problem of FCPX.

The current version supports all options offered in the preferences (it least it looks like it for me).
This causes trouble sometimes when a subtitle is used for a title.
Same is valid for FCPX XML positions of a subtitle/title.

Three things missing in this version:
No request for movie name and reel.
No settings for DCP effects (outline, shadow).
No settings for other res then 2048x1080, 1920x1080 (cause of title safe)

Again I need your feedback - was pretty poor within the last months

- Andreas

dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63959366/X-T...%20Extractor.app.zip

Will try a new DCP this week, will let you know what i found

I'm working on the title safe areas now and need some help:

www.fcp.co/forum/4-final-cut-pro-x-fcpx/...e-gurus-needed#64932

- Andreas

Hi,

A new version of Title Extractor for DCP is available.
It has several new features. One of them is the option to move the baseline up automatically to fit SMPTE letterboxes.

The new version is available here:
dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63959366/X-T...%20Extractor.app.zip

A simple SMPTE letterbox Motion template is available here:
dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63959366/Spherico%20Boxes.zip

- Andreas

Hi Andreas

I've just tried my shortfilm with the latest version (using DHsubtitle) but I still get the subtitles in the wrong order...

Hi Manoucho,

Have you placed your subtitles in project with subtitles only?

You additionally can send me your XML and I'll have a look.

- Andreas