RE: TT and subtitling

Neil Smith wrote:

>I tend to agree with the NOT-STYLE comment : With that "hidden-hover" tag 
>for example, the possibility should exist within a text stream for generic 
>markup : But it should not actually specify the screen representation : 
>that should be left to css.

Certainly screen representation should be left to css (or similar mechanism)
- but I also feel that markup along the lines of <Speaker1>, <Caption>,
<Title>, <Narration>, <Audio description> etc should **NOT** be enshrined in
the TT standard. These are context dependent and would have no relevance in
an airline flight arrivals system for example, or in a TT representation of
a data carousel (Teletext, dumb salesman, public information....)

So I would support the ability to define tags that correspond to specific
styles - but not predefine them :-)
e.g. <Style1> could be defined (within the TT file set - or overriden by a
user style sheet) as being Bold arial 20pt Blue etc...

Personally I see TT as lightweight - consisting of just text (with optional
styles), optional private semantic tags, and a timing mechanism. It should
be possible within the text to markup the grouping of words into larger
structures.

Basically IMHO how the text appears on the display surface should NOT be
mandated or implied by the TT format - but TT should provide mechanisms
(tagging) by which an author can suggest display style and also privately
categorise content - for use by a UA that is able to use those styles and
categories. The transfer of style and categories from author to UA should be
in parallel to the TT data. The separate style concept seems to already be
supported (HTML etc) but the categories must surely remain privately agreed
between the author and the UA? Style would include all positioning and
presentation (e.g. scrolling, fade in / out, pop on / off, rolls, slides
wipes etc.........).

regards John Birch

The views and opinions expressed are the author's own and do not necessarily
reflect the views and opinions of Screen Subtitling Systems Limited.

Received on Wednesday, 5 February 2003 10:59:36 UTC