Individuals working for a closed captioning service are responsible for the written closed captioned comments for television shows and videos. Video transcription services hire individuals to transcribe the script of the medium. To become involved in the closed captioning for video industry, individuals may benefit from a number of educational opportunities.

Regardless of your actual involvement with closed captioning and transcription, it's always best to be armed with as much education and training as you can find. The most popular closed captioning and transcription for video education and training programs and options include:

1. Research video transcription certification and college or technical school options which allow individuals a more formal education for this field.

2. A utilization of transcription video tutorials which can help an individual interested in closed captioning a video. Related tutorials can help provide additional training and support when it comes to video transcription.

3. Attendance in training courses for video closed captioning opportunities and related seminars. These types of programs will allow individuals the opportunity to become familiar with the skills expected of and opportunities available for a video transcriber.

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Enroll in higher education opportunities based on closed captioning and transcription for video

There are some specific certification courses designed to educate individuals when it comes to closed captioning transcription. Certification in specific courses can aid individuals as they learn how to complete a transcription of video tapes. In addition to certification courses for offline captioners, or those who will transcribe from video and not in real-time, there are training schools and college programs which provide an educational basis.

I recommend: For higher education courses which offer a degree or certification in the field of captioning, consider the Southwest Tennessee Community College, which offers a Court Reporting/Closed Captioning program. CourtReportingAtHome offers a certification course which allows individuals to learn the skills necessary to become either a court reporter or a closed captioning specialist, all within the same course.

Utilize available tutorials designed to assist those involved in video transcription services

Tutorials designed to assist those involved in video transcription services are available online. These types of websites can aid individuals who have specific questions or concerns about closed captioning for video or a specific video transcription software program. Many tutorials assist in the usage of transcription video software products.

I recommend: Layers Magazine offers a closed captioning for video tutorial on Adobe Flash. A Micromedia Flash tutorial for closed captioning in video is provided by Hi-Caption.

Become involved in closed captioning service training courses and seminars

Training courses for video transcription have been developed to improve upon the education that individuals already have with respect to video transcription services. There are training courses which have been developed both offline and online in order to meet the needs of the training course attendees.

I recommend: NJCaption offers a number of seminars, including an introduction to captioning, as well as a seminar on captioning hardware and software, which are important tools for many offline captioners. The same company also offers training courses from their site as well. Soundwriters.com offers closed captioning consultation services, including training and manuals.

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Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  There are a number of closed captioning software programs designed to assist individuals who wish to transcribe videos for closed captioning purposes. Some video transcription programs are free, but others do come at a cost. To find the best closed caption software or video transcription software for you as an individual, take advantage of free software demos or trial versions.

Closed captioning is not just a tool for the deaf. Many people are born with hearing disabilities, but often times your own hearing can be affected in a noisy environment. Closed captioning helps you concentrate on what is happening on the television in the noisy atmosphere of a restaurant or bar. It is also helpful in extremely quiet situations such as a doctor's office or the library or in busy environments like the gym.

Using a closed captioning service for your video content is not only a socially responsible thing to do, but it also gives an added value to your establishment.

To find the right closed captioning and transcription for video services for you:

1. Decide if you want to process your own video or have someone else handle the captioning.

2. Consider bulk pricing or long term relationships with your closed captioning service provider if you plan on producing multiple projects or shows.

3. Consider companies that offer multi-lingual closed captioning transcription if you have larger productions such as movies slated for international release or television shows with global distribution in mind.

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Find video transcription services and closed captioning service for your project

You can easily find video transcription and closed captioning service for your video project.

I recommend: SyncNow offers you automated web-based service that enables transcript synchronization and captioning of audio/video content. Use the quote calculator from DRTV Productions, Inc. Sky Caption does caption work for Internet, DVD subtitling, television or script transcription. Check out the caption and subtitle preparation services from Softel-USA.

Consider a multi-lingual closed captioning and transcription for video service

Consider the use of a video transcription and closed captioning service that offers multiple language translation.

I recommend: Check out the post production captioning/subtitling rates from Computer Prompting and Captioning Co. They offer video captioning service displayed in 32 languages. VITAC offers live or offline Spanish captioning.

Purchase video transcription software to process the files yourself

Consider using a video transcription software instead of hiring a service.

I recommend: Utilize a free trial of closed captioning software Camtasia Studio Screen Recording and Presentation from TechSmith Corporation. Take a look at CAPtivator NL from Cheetah International. It is a post-production Windows based subtitling and closed caption software. It allows you to choose between roll-up, pop-on or paint-on captions. You can also choose between a range of caption positioning, caption styles and text attributes for your video.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Televisions manufactured after 2002 are required by the Federal Communications Commission to have closed captioning display capabilities, so you can rest assured that your closed captioning for video will not go to waste through incapable hardware.

Closed captioning for video has become useful not only on television but also on the Web. To individuals with hearing disabilities, closed captioning provides a quality-of-life improvement that's otherwise missing in their lives. Knowing the terms and acronyms will help you better communicate with those in the field to meet your closed-captioning and transcription objectives. Closed captioning and transcription for video key terms include such items as subtitling, closed captioning itself, acronyms, software types and software capabilities. Being aware of what these terms mean will help you order these services for your business or use them in the industry.

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Closed captioning

Closed captioning refers to the transcribing of audio parts of television programs into text on screen for hearing-impaired viewers (or viewers not fluent in the language).

I recommend: Find out more about closed captioning from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Synchronization

Synchronizing your closed captioning means having your text content appear at relatively the same time as the audio would be heard by the viewer. This is of particular importance to help the viewer follow along with the conversation taking place on the screen.

I recommend: Find out more about synchronization and closed captioning from Web AIM.

Subtitles

Subtitling is used synonymously with captioning, but it is better than captioning because it takes advantage of proper capitalization, as well as fonts, colors and sizes to the purchaser's specifications.

I recommend: Learn more about subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing from Aberdeen Captioning.

ADA

ADA stands for the Americans with Disabilities Act, which is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability.

I recommend: Read the part of the Americans with Disabilities Act that pertains to closed captioning.

CAPtivator Online and Offline

CAPtivator Online is a Cheetah Systems software that offers real-time captioning, while CAPtivator Offline gives post-production captioning.

I recommend: Learn more about CAPtivator from Cheetah Systems. CAPtivator can help you create captions, format text and have time-code control.

Live-display captioning and real-time captioning

Live-display captioning and real-time captioning are done during a live broadcast by trained professionals. An example of this would be a news or sporting event, and it is of particular importance because of the high skill level it takes to perform this task.

I recommend: Find out more about live-display, real time captioning from Broadcast Captioning & Consulting Services.