Subtitle Files Submission Guidelines

General Information

• At least English language subtitles must be provided (further languages are welcome, but not mandatory). For accessibility reasons English subtitles are mandatory also for English-language films.
• The file will automatically appear in the player after a few minutes.
• If two files are provided for the same language, one of them must be Closed Captions (CC).
• Uploading or deleting files does not affect the entry status or the video status.
• Deleted files will be removed from the player automatically.
• Failed files will display an error message and will need to be deleted and replaced.

You can either add the subtitles when uploading the film file (in the Media Upload Container there is a Subtitles Section on the right hand side where you can add the subtitle files), or add them later, after completing the upload via the Media Library:

File Requirements

To ensure that your subtitle files are accepted and can be used seamlessly in BAFTA’s Electron player, please follow the guidelines below:

1. File Format: Currently only .VTT files are supported by BAFTA’s Electron system. .SRT files will be converted to .VTT files automatically. Thus .VTT (WebVTT) files are preferred. This is a standard format for captioning and subtitles used in HTML5 video players.

2. Encoding: Make sure your .VTT files are encoded in UTF-8 format, which supports a wide range of characters and ensures compatibility across different platforms.

3. Validity: Ensure that your .VTT files are valid according to the WebVTT standard as defined by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). You can use online validators or .VTT parsing libraries to check for syntax errors or formatting issues.

4. Timestamps: Your .VTT files should have accurate and synchronised timestamps for captions or subtitles, starting at “00”. The timestamps should be in the format of hh:mm:ss.milliseconds, where milliseconds are optional.

• “00:00:00.000” – hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds
• “00:00.000” – minutes, seconds, and milliseconds
• “00:00:00” – hours, minutes, and seconds
• “00:00” – minutes and seconds

It’s important to note that .VTT files require all timestamps to be in the same format throughout the file, and that the timestamps must be in ascending order. Any deviations from these requirements may result in errors when playing back the subtitles.

5. Cue Settings: Each caption or subtitle cue in your .VTT file should have appropriate settings, such as position, alignment, and style, specified using cue settings. Cue settings should follow the WebVTT standard, and any custom styling should be within acceptable guidelines.

6. Cue Text: The text content of your captions or subtitles should be grammatically correct, properly punctuated, and free from spelling or typographical errors. The text should also be clear, concise, and synchronised with the corresponding video or audio.

7. Line Breaks: Use the appropriate WebVTT line break syntax (“\n”) for line breaks within the cue text. Avoid using line breaks that may cause issues with the rendering or display of captions or subtitles in the bitmovin player.

8. File Naming: Please use descriptive and unique filenames for your .VTT files to avoid confusion and ensure easy identification and retrieval.

9. Testing: Before submitting your .VTT files, please test them in the bitmovin player to verify that the captions or subtitles are displayed correctly and synchronised with the video or audio. Check for any issues related to timing, formatting, or rendering.

Please note that if subtitles are sync in Chrome but not in the FireTV Native player or other browsers, the following should by inserted in the second line, just after WEBVTT, in the .VTT file:

X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:126000WEBVTT
X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:126000

0
00:00:00.500 --> 00:00:02.000
The Web is always changing

1
00:00:02.500 --> 00:00:04.300
and the way we access it is changing