Wohler, Nexidia Partner for File-based Closed Captions, Subtitles
Wohler Technologies is partnering with Nexidia to offer what the company’s say is the industry’s first solution that addresses the insertion, management, and quality control of closed captions and subtitles, all in the file domain. The solution combines Wohler’s RadiantGrid advanced media transformation and automation platform with Nexidia’s QC tool for automated caption, video description, and language verification, enabling broadcasters to validate captions and automatically check quality after transcoding — within one workflow, faster than real time.
“Our partnership with Nexidia means that for the first time, broadcasters can extract or insert caption data and validate legal compliance rapidly and efficiently all in one file-based system instead of having to rely on separate workflows,” said Kirk Marple, chief software architect for Wohler RadiantGrid. “The RadiantGrid and Nexidia solutions together allow users to process massive amounts of caption and subtitle data automatically for all forms of file-based content, helping to ensure higher quality while avoiding fines.”
The RadiantGrid solution extracts closed captioning from media sources and inserts the data back into the transcoded output file. It handles the insertion of SCC or other aligned caption data files into the VANC or VBI space, or produces new ancillary outgoing files such as SMPTE-TT or SAMI. Caption insertion and conversion can be done with or without transcoding of the video essence when using compatible video containers.
From there, Nexidia QC advances the process by verifying quality automatically to ensure that the right caption file appears against the right media in the right language, and that it is properly timed, all to ensure compliance. Nexidia QC can also repair misaligned caption files by comparing and adjusting the time codes of the words spoken in the audio track and the time codes in the caption file.
“Nexidia QC overcomes the challenge of ensuring content is being created, edited, and distributed in the right languages with the correct captions at the right times,” says Drew Lanham, senior vice president and general manager of Nexidia’s Media and Entertainment division. “Wohler’s automated captioning technology is a perfect complement to Nexidia QC because both automate manual processes, thus reducing operating expenses and avoiding errors that can lead to fines and viewer dissatisfaction.”