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Did you know that there is an easy way to automatically add subtitles in DaVinci Resolve? This is a simple tutorial that will save you a lot of time and energy when editing your videos. You will need: Step 1Open … Continue reading
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This post will hopefully help you to get a general understanding of what coding a TEI file in XML language is and what it’s good for. Please note that I am definitely not an expert on this topic, and I … Continue reading
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Searching for nonexistent Errors The task is fun Should be easily done Fifteen mistakes Waiting to be found Happy to partake I start this round. …….. Going through every line This header looks fine. Searching for errors In this faulty … Continue reading
by Lara Wenisch In our second session of this seminar, we learned about the Konkomba people, their story telling and performance tradition. For me it was the first time to hear and see a Konkomba folktale performed and I was … Continue reading
Demarginalizing a Konkomba Folktale Introduction In the summer term of 2023, I participated in the seminar `Demarginalizing Orature’ – a class unlike any other I had taken before. Not only did I learn new aspects about African culture and acquired … Continue reading
Introduction Going into my first session of the Demarginalising Orature class I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I knew it was going to be something quite different from what I’d done before, and I was excited to learn something … Continue reading
During our last session on July 13, 2023 each student group presented the final results of the projects we have done during the course of this semester. It was a great way of getting a better understanding of the individual folktales besides the ones we were working on ourselves. Together we took a look at the different video editing and coding experiences as well as talked about our individual difficulties during the process.
In the beginning of this semester most of the students, myself included, struggled with the coding part of this class. The most common mistakes were such as:
At least for me it was a foreign experience and way beyond my “academic comfort zone”. Nonetheless it was an experience that greatly benefitted me in the end.
This class wasn’t the first time I used video editing programs but I never worked with DaVinci Resolve before. Since I missed both tutorial sessions I had to figure the works out by myself but thankfully our instructors provided us with a detailed step by step guide. Nonetheless there were a few things that really proved difficult in the beginning:
These were all things that most of the students struggled with and together we came up with helpful suggestions how to solve any of the before mentioned problems, e. g. the use of additional editing programs or to create the videos in multiple steps to avoid the shifting of the subtitles. In the end most of us felt confident in using DaVinci Resolve again with considerably less effort.
At the end of our last session we talked about the class in general and gave feedback on our individual experiences and accomplishments. Personally I am really glad that I had the chance to participate since I gained a lot of new skills and insight into the Konkomba culture.
In this week’s class we had our group presentations on the videos we had to edit and subtitle at home. We looked at what we have done so far and the problems we have had during the process of subtitling and the editing with the program Da Vinci Resolve.
The biggest problems that were mentioned had to do with the title, the timestamps and the software.
Also, as a community, we made some changes and discussed improvements to be made.
Title -> One person only had an audio about the telling of the folktale and not a video. She had a black screen at first but then figured it out and used a lot of pictures matching the audio. She encountered problems when putting the title before the audio so the subtitles were already shown in the title.
We also used the English titles of the folktales rather than the original ones because we decided to use those in the class before.
Timestamps -> The timestamps are displayed in seconds and milliseconds and this made it difficult for some of us to convert them directly into Da Vinci Resolve since it happened that the video shifted in the program because of the title. That is why some had to listen to the presenting voices (even without understanding Likpakpaln) to fit the subtitles to the spoken. Others put the subtitles first and added the title afterwards but that also caused some videos to shift. Some timestamps also were not that accurate so people went with their gut and listened to some key words. Therefore the question arose if we should rather focus on the exact timestamps or the characters per second.
Software -> For some it was difficult getting used to the software. One person did not know how to cut the video in the end before the credits but she received help and fixed it. We also noticed that after we finished editing the video quality got worse, probably because of the adjusted frame rate.
One folktale had a song and the editor changed the subtitles to another color to make it more clear when they were singing. The storyteller was also speaking very fast so he had to put the number of the characters per second down and left no gaps between the subtitles.
Other things that were mentioned were those, that the presentation on video-editing and subtitling was very helpful when problems arose.
We also decided to add “Düsseldorf – HHU“ to the credits after the “Centre of Translation Studies“ to make them more accurate.
The pyramid form when subtitling is highly preferred.
The word Ulambidaan was no translated because there was no good English translation for it. It is a common noun in Likpakpaln and it describes a psychological or medical condition, similar to a hyperactive kid that also takes joy in teasing and making fun of other people.
The word Ubor was also not changed because it means chief or political leader of the people and is very known and common.
Often folktales are being told while other community activities are happening to keep them entertained, such as cracking shells manually. The folktale and video “The Monitor Lizard nearly floors the Hyena in a wrestling match“ is a good example for the occasion where folktales are performed.
Other than that, we were told that a few things were added to our codes for our final presentation next week where we will present everything we have done throughout the semester with the help of powerpoint presentations we are preparing.
This week we presented the codes we did for homework and talked about difficulties and problems. Some of the problems mentioned were: making sure that all the tags are closed, finding quotes in the text so it can be properly coded and the order in which the divisions need to be closed.
We also decided that we are going to use the English terms for the animals in the folktales in the titles, to make it more accessible for readers who don’t understand the Likpakpaln language. In the stories themselves the Likpakpaln words will still be used because we don’t only want to share the folktales but also the culture that they originate from.
During the session on May 25, 2023, the focus was on group work. Prior to this session, we were divided into groups and each group was assigned a different folktale to code. Before diving into the group work, Michael took some time to discuss common mistakes and areas for improvement in the codes.
An example of an improvement discussed during the session was to include an empty row at the start and end of a song. This can be represented by the XML tags <row><cell></cell></row>. Including this empty row helps to enhance the visual clarity and organization of the XML file, especially when it is converted into a PDF format.
Here is an example.
This is what it looks like when you include an empty row at the beginning of a song:
In contrast, this is what it looks like when you exclude the empty row:
The focus of this week’s session was on group work and highlighting the importance of small details that significantly enhance code readability and structure. By incorporating these relatively simple elements, we ensure that our final code is visually pleasing and organized.