Collection: Video and Captioning

Captioning Software

The following is a list of captioning software products. Four software packages are available for IBM-compatible computers and two are available for the Macintosh. These packages are listed in order of price and by computer platform (DOS then Macintosh). As the educational demand for captioning systems has been steadily increasing, manufacturers are modifying their products accordingly and continuing to make their systems more affordable and more teacher- and student-friendly. (Information is accurate as of March 1, 1995.)

For basic information about captioning software, including what to look for when considering buying such a system plus information on the character generators listed below, click here for the companion resource: About Captioning Software. For more on how students and teachers use captioning in the curriculum, click here for Learning with Captioning.


For DOS and Windows Platforms:

QuickCaption (DOS). Bundled with QuickCaption School (below)
WGBH Educational Foundation
125 Western Avenue
Boston, MA 02134
617-492-9258 (voice & TTY), 617-782-2155 (fax)

Price: $175

Word Processor: Operates with WordPerfect. The captioning function is transparent, that is, text does not need to be reformatted before it is displayed on the video.

Pop-on or Roll-up Captions: Roll-up only

Synchronized or Manually Sequenced Captions: Manually sequenced only

Character Generator: EEG DE 352


QuickCaption School (DOS), bundled with QuickCaption (above)

Price: $175

Word Processor: Captioning function is built into a commercial word processor, Word Processing for Kids (WPK), designed for younger students or those new to keyboarding and word processing. Its main feature is extra-large text; there are no word processing functions besides cursor movements.

Pop-on or Roll-up Captions: Roll-up only

Synchronized or Manually Sequenced Captions: Manually sequenced only

Character Generator: EEG DE 352


CaptionMaker CPC-600 (DOS)
Computer Prompting & Captioning Co.
3408 Wisconsin Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20016
202-966-0980 (voice), 202-966-0886 (TTY), 202-966-0981 (fax)

Price: $1,995

Word Processor: Import text from your own word processor or use the built-in text editor. Has spell-checker and autoformatting (formats lines of text for caption display). Text editor and Preview mode are separate operations. Caption placement also occurs as separate operation.

Pop-on or Roll-up Captions: Either

Synchronized or Manually Sequenced Captions: Manually sequenced. Advanced users can simulate timecode by using the computer's internal clock; in that case, no timecode on the source tape is necessary.

Character Generator: EEG DE 352 or Chyron Codi

Note: A new system targetted to schools, with an expected price of $500, is scheduled for release in summer 1995. It will address the Hubcap character generator from SoftTouch, display roll-up captions only; display will be manually sequenced only.


Vidicaption (DOS)
Image Logic
6801 Brennen Lane
Chevy Chase, MD 20815-3255
(301-907-8891 (voice), 301-986-9015 (TTY), 301-652-6584 (fax)

Price: $2,740 (price includes built-in character generator)

Word Processor: Import text from your own word processor or use the system's built-in text editor. The software can control some tape decks.

Pop-on or Roll-up Captions: Pop-on.

Synchronized or Manually Sequenced Captions: Either. To produce time-coded captions, your source videotape must have timecode (which can be produced with a timecode generator) and your computer must have a timecode reader.

Character Generator: Built into software. Or can use Chyron Codi.

Note: ImageLogic has a new software package, Educap, which sells for $1,000 (including a built-in character generator). It works with any word processor, and displays captions manually only.


Ultech (Windows)
28C Great Hill Road
Seymour, CT 06483
203-735-5805

Price: $475, plus Ultech character generator at $3,500.

Word Processor: Built-in word processor, with editing features typically found in Windows applications.

Pop-on or Roll-up Captions: Either. Also can fade, paint on, scroll down, etc.

Synchronized or Manually Sequenced Captions: Either. To produce time-coded captions, your source videotape must have timecode (which can be produced with a timecode generator) and your computer must have a timecode reader.

Character Generator: Addresses Ultech's own character generator, which has several built-in fonts, or can display any True Type font that the user loads into the word processor.


For Macintosh Platforms:

CaptionWorks
CAST, Inc. (Center for Applied Special Technology)
39 Cross Street
Peabody, MA 01960
508-531-8555 (voice), 508- (TTY), 508 531-0192 (fax)

Price: In development and available to schools for Beta testing at no charge.

Word Processor: Built-in word processor (will be able to import text from other word processors). In addition to text of any size, font or color, users can import and incorporate graphics into captions.

Pop-on or Roll-up Captions: Pop-on only.

Synchronized or Manually Sequenced Captions: Presently, captions can be manually sequenced only. CAST is developing the capability for time-code synchronization.

Character Generator: TelevEyes, a video overlay box.

Note: Can use and display any font available for the Mac, as well as icons and clip art. Captions can be composed on the video monitor or on the computer screen.


FastCap
Silent Software
P.O.B. 40100
Nashville, TN 37204
615-832-8314

Price: $3,995 (multi-workstation packages available for educational institutions)

Word Processor: Create text with your own word processor; then paste captions into caption text editor. Software controls tape player.

Pop-on or Roll-up Captions: Pop-on.

Synchronized or Manually Sequenced Captions: Synchronized only; need serially controlled tape players.

Character Generator: Smart Encoder only (professional encoder for producing broadcast captions, available from EEG).

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Mardi Loeterman, National Center for Accessible Media, WGBH Educational Foundation, 125 Western Avenue, Boston, MA 02134. 617/492-9258 (voice & TTY)
e-mail: mardi_loeterman@wgbh.org

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