Highlights of the Swift 5 System SP0405
This document notes some of the reasons why The Swift 5 System is the choice for professional caption
and subtitle preparation here in North America.
The Swift workstation is, without any question, the most proven solution available anywhere in the
world. The sample installed customer base in North America reads as a who’s who in the captioning
industry and includes:
Ascent Media / VisionText (Los Angeles)
Broadcast Text (Los Angeles)
“BCCS” – Broadcast Closed Captioning Services (Toronto)
Captioneering / Visual Data (Los Angeles)
CaptionMax (Los Angeles and Minneapolis)
The “CBC” of Canada’s Caption House (Toronto and all regional offices)
Closed Captioning Services (Los Angeles and ‘Michigan’)
Creative Captioning (Denver)
LNS Court Reporting & Captioning (Portland, OR)
Media Captioning Services (San Diego)
The Media Center at WGBH (Boston and Los Angeles)
Mijo (Toronto)
The “NCI” – National Captioning Institute (Dallas, Los Angeles, New York City and ‘Virginia’)
SDI Media (Los Angeles)
Team Group (Washington D.C.)
Technicolor Creative Services (Los Angeles)
Visual Sound (Los Angeles)
Vitac (Los Angeles and Pittsburg)
Voltage Video (New York City)
In total Softel-USA have supplied well in excess of 400 workstations into North America and a
staggering number worldwide! In addition, Softel-USA also supplies caption transmission equipment
to various US and Canadian broadcasters allowing for a streamlining of the whole caption
delivery/transmission process. As Swift TX becomes more prevalent throughout North America, so
does the desire of broadcasters and studios to be supplied through a Softel-USA system (some
major broadcasters now insist the Swift preparation is used in order to create files supplied to them!).
Full compatibility with all formats:
Line-21 closed captions (including both standard (EIA608) and high definition (EIA708) through
advanced transmission products)
Web captioning (EIA508)
DVD (with an impressive support for DVD export formats)
Open character generation (with full bitmap-CG capabilities, avoiding potential errors at
transmission time)
DVB (Digital captions and subtitles)
Teletext (WST standard, including the de Facto EBU .stl format)
The philosophy throughout the Swift 5 System is to ensure that captioner’s time is utilized to the
maximum extent, thereby offering every user the ability to turnaround jobs as fast as possible and
ensure every employee can add the most possible value.
True frame & timecode accuracy not just ‘pseudo timecode offsets’; both ‘back-offices’ support true
timecode which is automatically captured at time of digitization. A conservative estimate from
research suggests that ‘typical’ captioners can spend at least eight hours per year entering pseudo
timecode counters, when multiplied by a large group of captioners this figure becomes very
significant!
Swift’s code is entirely 32-bit, ensuring both performance and reliability.
The Swift 5 System is based on the latest professional-line Microsoft operating systems, either
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional or Microsoft Windows XP Professional. Generally both users
and support staff are familiar with the operating systems and therefore training effort is minimized.
It is possible to begin captioning a video clip within 4 seconds of starting the MPEG encode process,
saving valuable time (based on IPV back-office). With the Softel-NL back-office clips may be part
digitized to allow for faster ‘take-off’.
VFS (Video Frame Store) shows multiple frames to the user which greatly aids timing issues. The
strip of frames shows the user a break-down of the video picture for in-depth analysis.
The VFS shot-change manipulation facilities are now even more powerful. For example, the system
now shows the user how far it is to the next shot and how close to the previous shot the current video
frame is. Armed with this information they can make a quick decision on where to place the
timecode. The system is additionally able to very quickly jump to the previous or next shot.
Splitting video clips amongst subtitlers is easy with the Swift 5 System. This splitting of clips in
conjunction with the built-in merge facilities allows for faster completion of particularly urgent
assignments.
The Audio Analyzer™ presents the user with a graphical representation of the audio wave form. This
allows for fast and efficient timing of captions and subtitles based on audio attributes.
In conjunction with the Audio Analyzer™, Voice Detect™ can automatically select speech timecodes,
just as VFS offers the user shot-change times. Voice Detect™ also offers intelligent “snapping”
capability, so that the user need not stop to change timings, even if they weren’t exactly frame
perfect when they hit the timing key!
Type-Central™ provides a new enhanced editing mode, putting all of the key aspects of the system
around the central video screen and captions.
Full integration with the sophisticated TiGo™ system, allows for fully automated timing of both
captions and subtitles
“Live Import” allows direct import of external video clips straight into the workstation, with the Video
Importer now not necessary when time is tight
The Swift 5 System now supports a wider variety of video clip formats, including QuickTime and
Windows Media 9*
Local (non-server streamed) video is possible through working ‘freelance’, thereby allowing users to
work with video stored on their local hard drives, including on laptops or home computers.
Slider-bar fast navigation around the video via the mouse as well as through the keyboard. The bar
also eases ‘immersion’ into non-linear editing.
The Swift 5 System’s included specialist ergonomically designed engraved keyboard makes training
simpler and operation quicker. The system is also compatible with any standard PC keyboard, so
that accidental coffee spillage won’t lead you to miss your tight deadline!
The optional The Swift 5 System Ergo-keypad is particularly useful for left-handed operators, and
also may reduce the effect of RSI (repetitive strain injury) for all users.
The interface is fully configurable either on an individual basis or through ‘house’ preferences. It is of
note that The Swift 5 System is fully compliant with Microsoft Windows guides and standards for
interface design and use.
The Swift 5 System interface is shared between all formats so that training issues are minimized.
‘Iterative prototypical’ design has been harnessed throughout the development of the Swift 5 System,
with input from many of the world’s most respected broadcasters and captioning houses. The
resultant interface is both logical and extremely productive.
Softel-USA holds a comprehensive suggestion list which is freely available to Swift users. We aim to
offer a refreshing “totally open” approach. The Softel Interactive secured website is a fast and easy
way to update your system and provide feedback directly to the Care and development teams at
Softel-USA.
Intelligent use of random access non-linear video allows for enhanced productivity over other rival NL
systems. Both ‘skate’ and ‘jump’ modes are supported and keyboard control (including a “rewind-
and-play” key) offers fast navigation at the users’ fingertips.
Swift’s unique translation facilities are provided to help subtitle translation between languages. The
screen may be split in two and timecodes may be ‘locked’ to ensure the fastest translation possible.
Swift 4’s sophisticated Word template export allows non-captioner translators to type timecoded
translations on non-Swift PCs. This means that translators from anywhere in the world may help in
the completion of any given project, all they need is a standard copy of Microsoft Word!
Swift TransLite allows a facility to out source work, safe in the knowledge that only they will be able
to read the created file, the Swift TransLite solution also allows an inexpensive way to translate
without the need to tie-up a full Swift 5 System workstation.
In response to research, feedback is intelligent in order to allow greater efficiency in the production of
subtitles. Annoying dialogues have been suppressed in favor of a ”status bar” at the bottom of the
screen. Only urgent items will lead to the display of a pop-up dialogue, this means productivity is
higher and usability is improved.
The ‘Status List’ is an effective way to allow subtitlers to view information quickly & simply. For
example, it can be used to display all instances where a caption does not meet set ‘house rules’ and
criteria.
Advanced integrity checking with complete diagnostic facilities are included so that time is saved
during the review of subtitles. The system may also be totally personalized for various checks, this
includes clever profiling, so that systems can the checks can be tailored to individual client or
programmatical needs. Put simply, the goal is to allow the user to create consistent, high-quality
captions/subtitles that will be transmitted or laid to DVD or tape without a hitch.
Spell-check dictionaries are included for multiple Unicode languages, Swift uses Microsoft Word’s
proven multi-lingual dictionaries that are both robust and broad.
The Swift 5 System is supplied complete with both full technical manuals and thorough technical
support (or “Care” as it’s called at Softel-USA!).
Where applicable the internal use of the Unicode character set allows The Swift 5 System to be used
to prepare subtitles for virtually any language, whether Arabic, Asian, Chinese, Cyrillic, Hebrew, or
Latin.
“Roaming profiles” are fully supported meaning that any captioner can work at any desk, and still
enjoy all of their own individual settings.
Both Swift 5 System back-offices are fully compatible with NTSC (including drop and non-drop) and
PAL video sources.
Comprehensive file format support – It is our aim to offer completely open file formats and promote a
“level playing field” for competition amongst software vendors.
Tailored ‘Care Contracts’ offer complete peace of mind through professional post-sale care and
maintenance from a dedicated team of Swift 5 System-certified engineers.
Softel-USA is a United States corporation, enabling a fast, friendly and professional response to any
given situation.
Softel-USA is firmly committed to the future of the industry and continues to invest heavily in
technology to make the task of captioning/subtitling as productive and user-friendly as possible. It is
important to know that no other company has as many high-caliber, full-time software engineers
working on captioning/subtitling products as Softel-USA. Additionally, no other company offers the
number and quality of post-sale Care staff as Softel-USA. We believe that this investment is justified
in ensuring Softel-USA remains the first choice supplier to the industry.
