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In the past 11 years of my experience in this area of the industry, I have come to realize that the client really has 3 primary structures to choose from to meet their needs for captions and/or subtitles. First, use an outside vendor that specializes in this area, such as Captions and Subtitle Services. Second, implement a department within your organization to produce the captions and/or subtitles for your projects. Third, a combination of the first and second option, have an outside vendor produce the caption/subtitle files while you produce the final master in-house.

First, I believe, using an outside vendor is the most convenient option. In this scenario, you would send your elements to an outside vendor who specializes in this service and have them complete your caption and/or subtitle files for your video, DVD or webcast project. This assures you that experts complete the process and they know the guidelines and procedures to accomplish a professional looking product. You do not have to invest time or energy in this option, just a shipment of elements and your approval.

Second, if you have a myriad of projects that require captions and/or subtitles, perhaps implementing a caption/subtitle station would be more cost-effective. Would an investment of caption/subtitle software and personnel time be cost-effective for you? The most cost involved would be the personnel time. However, just like any other position, once they excel at their abilities, the cost to produce the project would decrease as their production and delivery time would increase. This option gives you total control over turnaround time, cost and quality control.

Third, you could meet your needs with an outside vendor halfway. For example, you would use an outside vendor, such as Captions and Subtitle Services to produce the caption/subtitle file. The investment on your part would be a computer and a video encoder that could record various caption/subtitle files on your video. The caption/subtitle encoding would be completed at your facility using your video decks. The primary advantage is the peace of mind of retaining your video masters on site and the assurance of quality control for your captioned masters.

These are brief overviews of the choices you have when it comes to captions and/or subtitles for your media products. Of course, as any other business decision, you must evaluate your needs and determine which option is the most cost-effective and beneficial to your organization’s structure.