Redesigning Subtitles: Because subtitles suck.
I'll admit, thats a pretty bold opening statement. But, it's (kind of) true. I was really bored one night, and decided to create a new, and maybe better, standard for subtitles that make consuming content better for everyone, not even just for people who use or need subtitles.
So, what is PC2?
Good question. PC2 is the name of the standard I created, with PC2 standing for Predictable Closed Captions. I picked PC2 over PCC and frankly, I just thought it looked better, debate me in the comments about it - just down to preference.
PC2 is in itself a set of rules for how to layout a file to be understood by a compatible playback device or software, and how a subtitle file should be structured. The base standard ships with a YAML styled template and is used to tell a playback device or streaming client how to render the subtitles, how and when.
The standard is not software to generate, create, modify or display subtitles, but merely rules on how subtitles should be created.
The standard is inspired by the European EBU Teletext standard/format, but has several key changes and additions, such as cast listings, advanced media metadata, etc...
Why should anyone care?
If your someone like me, who uses subtitles regulary to be able to understand and enjoy digital media, you can probably agree that while having subtitles substantuallty makes media easier to consume, as well as more enjoyable, most subtitles still kinda suck.
Most subtitles are just plain white text on a black background, with nothing to differenciate who is talking. This is especially annoying in scenes when there is more than one conversation.
And for the people who really don't care about others, theres even something for you. As part of the PC2 standard, information about key cast and characters is included in the metadata, which means that in supporting media players, you can quickly see at a glance the name of who is on screen, rather than having to Google it and figure it out yourself.
Ok, is anyone using it?
To my knowledge, no. There is currently no media or playback clients that support, or have probably even heard of PC2. And thats absolutley fine. What I wrote originally back in 2023, if someone attempted to actually use it, would probably find its hot garbage, and that kind of what I would expect. While I do plan to go back and revise the original spec, that was never really my hope for PC2. I hope that someone who knows what they are doing, and has the actual knowledge to use and implement it can adapt PC2 into a useable standard, and get people using it.
If you are someone genuinley in a positon like that, give me a shout (preferably on the GitHub repo via an issue)! I'd be happy to provide feedback and pointers from at least how I personally feel about it.
Where can I find the spec?
You can find the spec at https://github.com/whizbangpop/pc2-standard. Currently there is nothing there, as I have recently discovered I never actually published the spec, its just sitting on my hard drive at the moment.
I plan to try and rework the spec documents, and create some more examples and then publish them to the GitHub repo. I'll probably release an email/blog post when I do this, as well as any additonal notes I didn't include on the spec.
If you have any feedback or thoughts, leave them in the comments area, or on the GitHub if related to the technical/spec side of PC2.