CapMate 101 – Caption/Subtitle Files Verification and Correction Solution

 

Introduction 

Many of our customers had been telling us that the process of validating and correcting closed caption files is tedious, time consuming and costly! And that they needed an innovative QC solution for caption and subtitle files, similar to what we have done for Audio/Video QC. We took that request to heart and have introduced CapMate, the first comprehensive cloud native caption QC software that provides verification and correction of captions and subtitle files.

In fact, CapMate is so innovative and bleeding edge that many are not even aware of such a solution category! Of course, there are a large selection of capable programs in the ‘captioning’ category that allow for creation of caption and subtitle files. However, until CapMate came around, there was NO solution to address the dire need for an innovative automated software for caption QC that could find caption related issues, much less fix them! Before CapMate, caption verification and correction was a painfully slow, manual, and error prone process.

And so starting with this blog post and following up with a series of short blogs, I would like to introduce you to this new category of software and tell you more about CapMate!

Let me start by giving you the highlights! CapMate:-

·        Is a cloud-native solution that can work with your local content or those in the AWS cloud

·         Has been in heavy production use for over a year and so it already is a robust and proven solution

·         Helps drastically reduce the amount of time needed to verify and fix caption files, improving operational efficiency

·         Supports all the major caption formats such as SCC, SRT, IMSC, EBU-STL, and many more

·         Has usage-based pricing (monthly/annual/ad-hoc) so you only pay for what you use

·         Can detect the most common and difficult caption issues, like Sync, Text Overlap, missing caption, and many more

·         Can also correct these issues, in most cases automatically, and allow you to generate a new clean caption file

You can see a short 1-min clip highlighting CapMate’s features here.

Be on a look out for CapMate 102, the next blog in this series where I will write about one of the key features of CapMate, its ability to accurately detect and correct caption sync issues! At any time that you think CapMate may be the subtitle QC software solution you have been looking for, contact us (sales@veneratech.com), and we are happy to give you a live demo of CapMate and set you up with a FREE trial account!

Originally Published at:- CapMate 101 – Caption/Subtitle Files Verification and Correction Solution

Introduction to Pulsar File based Automated QC software

 

Introduction

Automate your content QC operations with Venera’s award-winning Pulsar file-based automated QC solution. Pulsar helps you significantly improve the efficiency of your file-based workflows by automating your content QC operations. It can be used by traditional TV broadcasters, IPTV cable operators, over-the-top content providers, post-production companies, and archiving companies to ensure the quality of their content.

Pulsar is used worldwide by leading organizations that rely on Pulsar for their day-to-day decisions. These customers use Pulsar in their production environments, and we are proud to be a trusted vendor to them. Despite its rich functionality, Pulsar has been made so intuitive that our customers can become expert users quickly and effortlessly.

About Venera Technologies

Venera Technologies provides cutting-edge file-based QC solutions to the digital media industry, tailored to the evolving requirements of its customers and the industry. Venera’s mission is to improve the operational efficiency of professional content workflows by helping automate time-consuming, tedious content QC operations. Venera’s suite of QC solutions is used by some of the largest Media companies in the world, as well as a number of smaller boutique post houses and production companies.

Originally Published At:- https://youtu.be/Xfm4QgQog3s

Caption-Audio Synchronization issues due to editing: Automated QC & alignment

 

Introduction

In today’s fast-paced world of media entertainment, consumption of video content has reached unprecedented levels. Captions and subtitles have become essential to enable the content reach across different geographies. However, with the surge in demand comes the challenge of ensuring caption quality and maintaining an efficient delivery workflow. Service providers face various issues, especially when it comes to editing of content, which can lead to caption/audio sync problems.

Caption -audio synchronization refers to the alignment of captions with the audio in video content. When captions do not start or end at the intended spots where the corresponding audio begins or ends, it results in a time alignment issue. This can lead to poor viewing experience with captions appearing at the wrong time or not matching the audio segment being played.

 

Why is Caption-audio Synchronization important ?

Captions serve a two-fold purpose: improving accessibility for individuals with hearing impairments, and enhancing the overall user experience. They are also helpful for viewers with difficulties in comprehending the audio in its native language, and  for viewers in noisy environments or situations where audio cannot be played aloud. By synchronizing captions and audio, video content becomes more inclusive  allowing viewers (deaf or hard of hearing or others) to fully engage with the video’s message. Caption accuracy and its timing play a crucial role in delivering an optimum experience to the viewers.

While caption-audio synchronization issues can occur due to a variety of reasons, one of the common reasons is  content editing.

Sync Issue due to Editing

Before diving into the sync issue occurring due to content editing, let’s first understand the process of editing master content. The figure below provides an illustration of sync issue due to editing.

Once the  master content is prepared, it’s usually delivered to multiple platforms in various  countries. Each platform (broadcast or VOD) may have its own requirement in terms of frame rate, duration as well as head and tail sections. Also, certain content portions may need to be removed, added or altered based on the country-specific requirements. This requires editing of the master content to prepare a content version suitable for specific deliveries. These modifications affect the duration and timing of the segments in the derived content.

Caption files are normally created based on the original master content, with captions timed to match the dialogue, audio cues, and visuals in the master content. However, when this content is edited, the caption timings are not adjusted according to the derived content. As a result of segment modifications and unchanged caption timings, the captions no longer align accurately with the corresponding segments in the edited content. This misalignment can cause the captions to appear too early, too late, or even disappear in certain segments.

Since the master content can be edited at multiple places, the caption-audio sync issues will normally appear or amplify at such segment boundaries. Leaving these issues in the content can severely impact the viewer experience.

 

Fixing segment-wise sync issues requires precise adjustments for each segment which is a complex task. With manual QC, an operator first needs to identify all the segments with sync issues, measure the sync offset for each such segment and apply fixes on all the captions in each segment. This will require multiple iterations in terms of applying fixes and testing the fixes. The whole process can easily consume multiple hours, and if the issues are severe, fixing can take multiple days too.

 

Spotting and Correction

Spotting the exact nature and location of sync errors can be a daunting task using just authoring tools or caption players. This time-consuming process becomes a bottleneck, especially when dealing with a high volume of content. After spotting the errors, correcting them using existing tools can also be tedious and time-consuming. Basic tools may not provide the necessary functionality to quantify and correct these specific offsets accurately. As a result, a dedicated caption QC software solution becomes crucial in addressing this challenging problem.

CapMate

To address the sync issue caused by editing of video content, CapMate offers a powerful solution. CapMate can automatically detect all the captions with sync issues. Additionally, it can automatically align  the captions with the audio and visual elements of the edited video, thereby eliminating  the need for manual adjustment of the caption file. CapMate also offers an interactive review tool allowing users to review the sync issues and the corrected version easily. This saves content creators valuable time and resources that would otherwise be spent on spotting and correcting sync issues manually. The below picture depicts the detection and correction of segment-wise sync issue by CapMate.

Conclusion

By leveraging automated QC tools like CapMate, content creators can ensure precise caption-audio synchronization, and save  time and resources while delivering high-quality, synchronized captions for their videos

Originally Published At:- https://www.veneratech.com/caption-audio-synchronization-issues-due-to-editing/

Venera Technologies receives prestigious SOC 2 Security Certification

 

Introduction

A leading provider of cutting-edge Audio, Video and Caption QC solutions for the media and entertainment industry, is proud to announce that it has successfully achieved the SOC 2 (Systems and Organization Controls 2) Type I security certification. This significant milestone demonstrates Venera Technologies’ unwavering commitment to data security and compliance in its quest to deliver top-tier QC solutions to its clients.

About Venera Technologies

Venera Technologies provides cutting-edge file-based QC solutions to the digital media industry, tailored to the evolving requirements of its customer and the industry. Venera’s Quasar® the first native cloud-based QC solution, was developed natively for the Cloud environment with features such as dynamic scalability and usage-based pricing model, along with advanced QC functionalities. And Venera’s Pulsar™ automated file-based QC solution is for on-premise deployment, with the same QC functionalities as Quasar. CapMate™, the native cloud Caption/Subtitle verification and correction solution, is the first comprehensive solution for verifying caption or subtitle side car files that can accurately and quickly detect (and correct) and report on complex issues such as caption sync and Standards compliance. Venera’s suite of QC solutions is used by some of the largest Media companies in the world, as well as a number of smaller boutique post houses and production companies. www.veneratech.com

Originally Published At:- https://www.veneratech.com/news/soc-2-security-certification