[theora-dev] using Kate for WebVTT encapsulation

ogg.k.ogg.k at googlemail.com ogg.k.ogg.k at googlemail.com
Sun Apr 17 04:33:15 PDT 2011


> Well, it's the same for SRT in Kate. But is it really worth creating a
> new text track format to encapsulate WebVTT in Kate? I think Kate
> would be the easiest.

It'd certainly be the easiest.
I see SRT and WebVTT differently in that regard though: SRT maps to
a particular case of a Kate stream: styling is the empty set. For example,
if you create a Kate track from SRT input, you can then edit the track to
add styling, and the text will inherit that styling. WebVTT is different in
that it has its own styling information in the text payload, and any Kate
styling will need to be ignored - hence the baggage.

>> and support in
>> various software already,
>
> Other than for the simplest SRT-like construct, I doubt that's true.

I meant that various software can get the demuxed/timed text from a Kate
track already, not that they'd be able to display WebVTT-in-Kate already.

> I hesitate to do that, because it means we have multiple means of
> encoding text tracks in Ogg. I'd much prefer if we can use Kate tracks
> as the solution for encapsulating them all. The header will tell what
> it actually is. Do you think that's a bad idea?

The category was intended for things like this: to allow software to know
the semantics of a particular track. Actually, I'd set the markup type (how to
interpret the text contents) to a new WebVTT type, and set the category
to something like a "WV:" prefix and whichever WebVTT kind the stream
is for.
Apart from a general idea that it feels like shoehorning, I don't really have
a strong opinion on whether it's a good or bad idea, it has pros and cons.


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