Subtitle
From CCCP
Subtitles are text captions that are usually displayed at the bottom of the video, translating the dialogue between the characters in the movie or anime.
Hardsubs and softsubs
- Hardsubs refer to subtitles that have been hard-encoded into the video stream. You get all you need in one package, but you cannot separate the video from the subtitles — it is like a program binary.
- Softsubs are subtitles that are rendered during playback by a DirectShow filter (under Windows). They include subpacks.
Subtitle formats
Whether they're hardsubbed or softsubbed, they are usually one of the three major formats used by anime groups:
- Subrip (SRT): The simplest format, usually not adequate for anime, due to confusion when multiple characters talk at once or when there are signs on-screen.
- Advanced Substation Alpha (ASS): An advanced subtitling format allowing for formatted text, typesetting signs, advanced karaoke effects and much more. Sometimes you also see ASS referred to by the name SSA 4.0+, which is the format ASS was developed from.
