Integrating dotSUB

In order for content to reach a truly global audience, it should be localized. For video content, dotSUB is the fastest and easiest way to accomplish this goal. DotSUB is a popular destination site for subtitled content, but it also contains a content management system geared specifically for timed content and quality control of translations, and a collaboration environment allows for the possibility of crowd sourcing translations at a lower cost.

Once a transcript has been produced in the desired language(s), the content can be distributed to multiple destinations. Some of the possibilities include mobile video, DVD, and web based transcripts. By far the most common distribution method today, however, is web based video using Flash (.flv or H264).

There are numerous ways to integrate dotSUB into your existing website or Flash video player, so the first step is deciding what type of integration scenario is best suited to your requirements.

  1. You have a website, and require to post only a few videos on your site.
  2. You are using a free or open source video Flash video player.
  3. You have an extensive video library, and have already built your own video to serve the content.
  4. You are using a video hosting and delivery platform, like Brightcove, or Longtail Video

While other scenarios are possible, these four are the most common. Let’s quickly examine each one to get a general idea of how dotSUB can be integrated.

1. You have a website, and require to post only a few videos on your site.

In this case, your solution is simply to embed your video using the typical IFRAME html notation found on most video sites. With this option, you can control options, like the size of the player, and what the default language should be. For more information, see THE DOTSUB EMBED SCHEMA EXPLAINED

Example:

2. You are using a free or open source video Flash video player.

If you wish to use another player that is able to display standard caption formats, you can export the appropriate format from dotSUB and call the subtitles from your local file system. Several players, such as the JW FLV Media Player, or the standard players packaged with Flash 8 or Flash CS3 have the capability to display files using the Timed Text format.

It is also possible to integrate the subtitles into your own player, but the effort required usually makes this option practical only for scenario 3:

3. You have an extensive video library, and have already built your own video to serve the content.

With an enterprise account, your will gain access to our Project Management tool, our Restful API, and our Flash API for integration into third party players. For an experienced Flash programmer, integration can be completed in a matter of days. For more information, see Furthermore, all video files and metadate can be accessed programatically from any language, such as PHP, .NET, Ruby on Rails, and Java through our RESTful API. For more information, and example of fully integrated custom players, see INTEGRATING DOTSUB INTO A FLASH VIDEO PLAYER. To get started with this option, please contact Ed Zad in our corporate sales department.

4. You are using a video hosting and delivery platform, like Brightcove, or Longtail Video

Dotsub has built plugins for popular commercial platforms like Brightcove.

For more information, and to request a demo, please contact Ed Zad.