Close captioning Embedding

Can anyone tell me how to embed an CEA 708 srt file into my video file for broadcast television?

There's a whole section on this in the user guide that start here.
support.apple.com/guide/final-cut-pro/in...ons-ver00e40835d/mac

Here's Ripple Training's very brief overview.

Hi BI,

CEA 708 and SRT are 2 different things.
SRT is not for broadcast usage and can't be embedded.
CEA 708 can be used with broadcast but not with FCP - you need external apps or Adobe PPro.

Do you know what external apps I need and which is the most affordable and easy to use. In addition, how do I create CEA 702 captions?

We use Rev.com to get our caption files, they'll let you download any format you need. I've always just embedded them in Compressor, but you can use FCP to embed closed captioning. Not external app needed. I do CC'ing for TV broadcast all the time.
support.apple.com/guide/final-cut-pro/im...ons-ver4185ef95a/mac

FCP can only create and embed the older CEA 608 standard. Here is a good short article to explain the difference to CEA 708:  www.3playmedia.com/blog/difference-cea-608-cea-708-captions/
You could check if your client allows you t use CEA 608 as It is still compatible. If yes all can be done within FCP. I've not had the case were a client specifically asked for a CEA 708 so not sure which software to use to either convert a CEA 608 created in FCP or to create a new CEA 708 from scratch.. 

So you get the CEA 608 file. Your export will be the same. Haven't met a broadcast or online system that didn't accept 608. I've been doing these for years.

We never mess around with captioning. We upload our master deliverables directly to VICAPS. www.vicaps.com/ . They send back a master with embedded captioning that is perfect every time. They also provide the SRT files. They are inexpensive, reliable and very fast turnaround.

How accurate are their transcriptions?
How much are you paying for that per minute?
And what if I need formats other than SRT?

BI wrote: Do you know what external apps I need and which is the most affordable and easy to use. In addition, how do I create CEA 702 captions?

To get a CEA 708 you need Telestream MacCaption and that's not really cheap, or as said PPro but that one is still buggy.

As the others said, ask whether they really need CEA 708 or if CEA 608 will be okay as well.
Additionally ask whether they will accept Apple ProRes - most stations will do.
If they insist on MXF ask whether they accept a sidecar file with the captions in 608. 
If they don't, use a service to create an embedded file. Probably it's easier and cheaper rather than buy/rent the above mentioned apps.

Inside FCP you can convert SRT or ITT to SCC (CEA 608) in case you have no .scc file. FCP does a pretty good job showing caption errors and making suggestions how to fix.
While the CEA 608 specs say 32 characters per line this is only true if there are no colors, style or special characters. So some stations say they accept only 27 characters per line. Ask for this as  well.
If positioning is important for you check the FCP manual about this.
Some time ago I made a generator for this. It's a visual helper for this:
  www.spherico.com/filmtools/TitleExchange...A_Grid_Installer.dmg

Ben Balser wrote: How accurate are their transcriptions?
How much are you paying for that per minute?
And what if I need formats other than SRT?

We have an account with them and usually receive a custom quote for captioning.  I checked a few of our last orders and typically we paid $100 for a .30s commercial with embedded FCC compliant captioning and we paid $50 for each 3 minute video with standard captioning SRT files.  For embedded broadcast that is roughly $200 per minute.  They seem willing to work within a provided budget.  Transcriptions have always been accurate for us.  On longer form video that is narrated we usually send along the script copy, but I don't know if they actually use it.  We have never had an issue with accuracy on any project and they guarantee that anyway.

I believe they have many formats but we have always used the same standard style for embedded broadcast and sidecar SRT's.

For us it's more about convenience, speed and not having to bother with doing it ourselves. It's also a service we mark up in the total project cost so we're not out anything by doing it.   We usually get the turnaround within a day or two.  Check them out and see what you think.

Yeah, that's quite a bit more expensive than Rev.com. I think I'd have a hard time talking my GM into that sort of money.

Well the way I look at it is that most of our broadcast work is .15s and .30s spots so paying $50 or $100 for those seems reasonable for embedded captions. SRT files for online work seems really cost effective. The process and relationship with the vendor has been great and that means a lot too. I’ll look into Rev and see if that’s a solution for us as well.

Thank you all for your input very helpful

So I found myself in the same boat. Our 3rd party captioning service suffered a security breach of their data and lots of clients' work has been lost. 1 episode for us. But here I am, trying to find out the same info as BI, the original poster. 

I was able to verify that both networks I submit to still take the CEA-608 analog standard. But I still have doubts about whether I can do this correctly, so I posted a topic here on FCP.co:

fcp.co/forum/4-final-cut-pro-x-fcpx/3792...or-closed-captioning

If you read those specs/instructions, it's sooo confusing with each acronym. I'm willing to bet it's not something I really need to pay attention to, that instead going through embedding CEA-608 using FCP...  that easy process you can find directions on how to do from apple.com will cover all the extra technical specs the network document provides us. Would I be crazy to think it's just that easy?

Never mind. I was able to get the network to confirm that CEA-608 embedded, by itself, is an acceptable form of captioning. 

Uh oh. Just read that FCP cannot embed CEA-608 into MXF file. Anyone know a work around?

Srfr4Life wrote:

Uh oh. Just read that FCP cannot embed CEA-608 into MXF file. Anyone know a work around?

You might be able to do it with Compressor...

I can confirm it DOES NOT allow CEA-608 to be embed. Deeply disappointing. When you go through the steps to embed 608, the interface doesn't even show the option for Captions when it's MXF. You do see the option when outputting many other formats though.