In the last video we set up a new project, and selected the voices we’ll be using from the Virtual Voice Manager. In this video we’ll learn how to create Audio Description Events in Closed Caption Creator.

Before starting, there are a few settings I would like to review. Let's start by assigning a few shortcuts to make creating new Events, and navigating our project a little easier. You can open the Keyboard shortcuts window by clicking the Keyboard icon in the secondary toolbar. Scroll down the list of available shortcuts until you find “Insert Event Below”. When you select the shortcut, the key command input will automatically be selected. All you need to do is enter the key command you wish to use. I’ll set mine to the tab key.

I’ll also set shortcuts to toggle playback, and to navigate events using the Ctrl-Up and Ctrl-Down keys.

Next, we’ll go to the Editor Settings in the options window. Click the settings icon in the secondary toolbar, and select Editor from the navigation menu on the left. Ensure you have Insert Start TC on Insert, and Auto Trim Event Time enabled. These settings are saved automatically, so all you have to do is close the options window when you’re done.

Let's start by creating our first Event. Click Play to watch a section of the video. When you’re ready to write your description, hit your shortcut key to create an Event. Mine is set to Tab. You’ll notice the Event is created on the timeline wherever the playhead is set. I can click and drag the event around on the timeline to set the In and out points. Next I can write my description. I’ll also want to assign a voice to my first event. When creating new Events they will inherit the voice settings from the previous event by default. Finally, I’ll want to render my event. This will convert the text to audio. Let’s playback our event to see how it sounds. You can adjust your event using the timeline until it starts exactly where you like.
Let's create another Event. Here we have a title screen that will need to be described. Place the playhead at the beginning of the title screen and create a new event. Enter the text you see from the title screen. You will want to use a different voice for title screens and subtitles. Assign the new voice and click render.

Let’s keep going. Try and avoid having your descriptions overlap with the program dialog. If you’re having trouble hearing the dialog, or voiceover track, you can adjust the volume by going to the volume controls under the media player.

Sometimes you’ll have short sections that need to be described. This is where you’ll want to think more about word economy in order to describe things in as few words as possible. Other times you’ll have more time to offer a description. Remember, not everything needs to be described. Sometimes allowing the music and effects track to come through offers a more immersive experience to viewers.

If you do need to shorten or lengthen a description, and you’re not sure how, you can use the integrated AI tools. Select an Event, click the AI icon, and select Rephrase - Shorten, or Rephrase Expand. Remember, you will need to re-render the audio anytime a change to the text is made.

Finally, I want to go over the rest of the button options you see in your Event List whether you choose to use them or not. The Play-Preview button will automatically preview and stop the player based on the event times. I prefer to use the Media Player controls so that I’m able to preview multiple events at once, but this can be a helpful option as well. The Scissor icon is for automatically setting the outcode of an Event based on the Audio duration. I have this enabled by default anytime an Event is rendered. If you prefer to run this process manually you can turn off the Auto Trim option in the Editor settings.

The last thing to note is you may find it awkward to have the Event List locked to Video. Meaning, anytime you click on an Event, the video player will jump to the start time automatically. You can change this behaviour by turning off the video lock button located in the transport controls. The same option is available for the text overlay. You can choose to toggle the text overlay on and off using the Eye icon next to the video lock option.

Continue watching back the video and creating new events for each description. In the next video we’ll show you a way to automatically generate your AD Events using AD Templates.