The film manuscript importer's primary purpose is to enable import of manuscripts to Sub Machine, but due to the sheer number of formats and lack of proper standardization this feature cannot guarantee proper importing of every conceivable format. Therefore we have currently limited the import to three different types of manuscripts that seem to have widespread usage. These formats all share some common traits. For instance they require that the order of subtitle data is arranged like this:
Text number / in cue (in feet) / out cue (in feet) / duration (in feet) / <Paragraph1 start> Subtitle text <Paragraph1 end> (optional indentation) <Paragraph2 start> Subtitle notes <Paragraph2 end>
Every “/” is a separator that can be one of three different formats:
1.The separator is a simple tab character, and every part of a subtitle is divided by them.
2.The separator is a simple tab character, but every subtitle resides in an autonumbered list.
3.The separator is a separate table cell, and every subtitle resides in a large table.
The subtitle text is always the last paragraph on the line, and if there is a second paragraph on the next line (optionally with extra indenting) and the paragraph lacks any cue information, then that paragraph will be treated as a Subtitle note.
All feet to frames conversion will depend upon the current FPS (frames per second) setting in Sub Machine, so if Sub Machine’s current FPS is set to 25, then every foot will be converted to 16 frames and automatically mapped into 25 Frames per second.
August 2014: Now also with added support for import of normal time code format.
Examples of formats:
1) Tabulator is used as separator
2) Tabulator is used as separator but each subtitle resides in an autonumbered list
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3) Tables cell is used as separator and every subtitle resides in a large table
Example of successful import:
This is the original manuscript ...
... and this is how it looks in Sub Machine after the import.
The format has to be .docx, so if you get a script in the old Word .doc format (or any other format), convert it. It might still work. Pdf files are hopeless, though. Even if you save the contents as .docx, it does not work. So if you get your scripts as pdf files, ask your employers for a doc or docx file. They probably have them.
Even if the columns of the manuscript are arranged in a different way, eg. with the time codes after the dialog and/or containing information you don't need, you can still cut and paste the columns and rearrange them. We have tried it in Word 2007, and it works like a charm. Here's an example:
This is the original combined continuity ...
... and this is the modified copy with one column deleted and the others swapped.
Save it as .docx, and it can be imported.
The framerate conversion is determined by what framerate is chosen when you make the import.
It's a manuscript jungle out there, but if you get a document that can't be imported, please mail it to us. Maybe we can do something about it.