SubStation Alpha
SubStation Alpha, abbreviated SSA, is a subtitle file format created by CS Low that allows for more advanced subtitles than the conventional SRT and similar formats. It is also the name of the popular, now discontinued tool used to edit subtitles.
This subtitle format is frequently used in anime fansubs, either to overlay subtitles onto video while it is being encoded, or to store subtitle data alongside video data, often in a Matroska container. It's not commonly used professionally except for Crunchyroll.
The current version of SSA is v4.08. There are many [|freeware and open source subtitling applications] that support the SSA format.
Principal sections in an SSA subtitle
A basic SSA subtitle:
; This is a Sub Station Alpha v4 script.
; For Sub Station Alpha info and downloads,
; go to http://www.eswat.demon.co.uk/
Title: Neon Genesis Evangelion - Episode 26
Original Script: RoRo
Script Updated By: version 2.8.01
ScriptType: v4.00
Collisions: Normal
PlayResY: 600
PlayDepth: 0
Timer: 100,0000
Format: Name, Fontname, Fontsize, PrimaryColour, SecondaryColour, TertiaryColour, BackColour, Bold, Italic, BorderStyle, Outline, Shadow, Alignment, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, AlphaLevel, Encoding
Style: DefaultVCD, Arial,28,11861244,11861244,11861244,-2147483640,-1,0,1,1,2,2,30,30,30,0,0
Format: Marked, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: Marked=0,0:00:01.18,0:00:06.85,DefaultVCD, NTP,0000,0000,0000,,Like an angel with pity on nobody
Advanced SubStation Alpha
Advanced SubStation Alpha is a script for more advanced subtitles than SSA. It is technically SSA v4+. It is able to produce anything from simple texts to manual graphic editing used in karaoke. There are few programs designed to create these scripts.The main feature of ASS is it has more specifications than normal SSA, like in styles programming.
For example, the above script changed into ASS:
; Script generated by Aegisub
; http://www.aegisub.org
Title: Neon Genesis Evangelion - Episode 26
Original Script: RoRo
Script Updated By: version 2.8.01
ScriptType: v4.00+
Collisions: Normal
PlayResY: 600
PlayDepth: 0
Timer: 100,0000
Video Aspect Ratio: 0
Video Zoom: 6
Video Position: 0
Format: Name, Fontname, Fontsize, PrimaryColour, SecondaryColour, OutlineColour, BackColour, Bold, Italic, Underline, StrikeOut, ScaleX, ScaleY, Spacing, Angle, BorderStyle, Outline, Shadow, Alignment, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Encoding
Style: DefaultVCD, Arial,28,&H00B4FCFC,&H00B4FCFC,&H00000008,&H80000008,-1,0,0,0,100,100,0.00,0.00,1,1.00,2.00,2,30,30,30,0
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:01.18,0:00:06.85,DefaultVCD, NTP,0000,0000,0000,,Like an Angel with pity on nobody\NThe second line in subtitle
Software support
Authoring software
Subtitle encoding software
Software tools to encode subtitle files into video containers :| Title | Platform | License | Notes |
| FFmpeg | Windows, Linux, Mac OS | FFmpeg can also encode and convert subtitles in video containers including for plaintext files and special characters | |
| iSubtitle | MacOS | Encoding of soft subtitled movies for Apple gears | |
| HandBrake | Windows, Linux, Mac OS | HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform video transcoder | |
| MKVToolNix | Windows, Linux, Mac OS, BSD, OpenIndiana | MKVToolNix is a collection of tools for the Matroska media container format. See also , a part of MKVToolNix, which is often used to attach/merge subtitle and/or audio files to a video file. | |
| XMedia Recode | Windows | XMedia Recode is a free All-In-One video converter and audio converter tool | |
| Mac OS | Subler is an open-source GPL-licensed for the MP4 media container format. It is used to attach/merge subtitle and/or audio files to a video file. |
Players and renderers
| Title | Description |
| Avidemux | Open-source video editing and processing software product |
| DirectVobSub | a DirectShow codec for displaying SSA subtitles in Windows Media Player or other Directshow player. |
| DivX | The proprietary DivX Plus software supports this subtitle format |
| GStreamer | Open-source multimedia framework that supports SSA subtitles through its plugin architecture |
| HandBrake | Open-source video transcoder that can process SSA subtitles |
| KooRaRoo Media | A media server and organizer for Windows. Supports rendering external subtitles as SSA on devices that don't support external or embedded subtitles. |
| Open-source library used by Aegisub, Avidemux, GStreamer, HandBrake, MPlayer, Totem, VLC media player, XBMC, and many other open-source programs to render/process SSA subtitles | |
| Media Player Classic Home Cinema | Open-source self-contained media player for Windows |
| MPlayer | Open-source media player that runs on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, *BSD, Solaris, BeOS, Syllable, AmigaOS and MorphOS |
| mpv | Open-source media player that runs on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and *BSD; originally forked from MPlayer. |
| PS3 Media Server | Media server that works with PlayStation 3 systems |
| Totem | GNOME's default media player that can render SSA subtitles via GStreamer |
| VideoPad | Video editing program from NCH Software that support.ssa subtitles |
| VirtualDub with the subtitler or textsub filters | Open-source video capture/processing utility for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows platforms |
| VLC media player | Open-source media player for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, BeOS and Syllable |
| PotPlayer | Media player for Windows, with a huge number of features and customizations, allowing screen recording, podcasts, and many user friendly shortcuts including global hotkeys |
| Kodi | Open-source cross-platform Media Center program |
| xy-VSFilter | a DirectShow codec for displaying SSA subtitles in Windows Media Player or other Directshow player, included in the Combined Community Codec Pack and the K-Lite Codec Pack |