Filename extension .ssa, .ass | Developed by Kotus | |
SubStation Alpha (or Sub Station Alpha), abbreviated SSA, is a subtitle file format created by CS Low (also known as Kotus) that allows for more advanced subtitles than the conventional SRT and similar formats. This format can be rendered with VSFilter in conjunction with a DirectShow-aware video player (on Microsoft Windows), or MPlayer with the SSA/ASS library. It is also the name of the popular, now discontinued tool used to edit subtitles.
Contents
- Principal sections in an SSA subtitle
- Explanation
- Advanced SubStation Alpha
- Subtitle encoding software
- References
This subtitle format is frequently used in anime fansubs, either to overlay subtitles onto video while it is being encoded (hardsubbing), or to store subtitle data alongside video data in a Matroska (MKV) container (softsubbing). Hardsubbing is irreversible but does not require VSFilter or other special resources for playback. Softsubbing allows the end user to choose whether subtitles will be displayed, and makes it possible to include multiple subtitle streams in the same video file.
The current version of SSA is v4.00.
There are many freeware and open source subtitling applications that support the SSA format.
Principal sections in an SSA subtitle
A basic SSA subtitle:
[Script Info] ; 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 (neutral Spanish) Original Script: RoRo Script Updated By: version 2.8.01 ScriptType: v4.00 Collisions: Normal PlayResY: 600 PlayDepth: 0 Timer: 100,0000 [V4 Styles] 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 [Events] 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,,{pos(400,570)}Like an angel with pity on nobodyExplanation
‹ó
displays Sora kanji). With Hebrew characters, it can be set to 177.{letters invoking command(parameters separated by comma)}
, like in {move(80,80,200,200,150,300)}
. Commands with only a single parameter do not need parentheses (ex. {kf89}
). Strange parameters:
Two exceptions:
{ord8e1}
Advanced SubStation Alpha
Advanced SubStation Alpha (ASS) 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 Info] ; Script generated by Aegisub ; http://www.aegisub.net Title: Neon Genesis Evangelion - Episode 26 (neutral Spanish) 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 [V4+ Styles] 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 [Events] 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,,{pos(400,570)}Like an Angel with pity on nobodyNThe second line in subtitleSubtitle encoding software
Software tools to encode subtitle files into video containers (mkv, mp4, mov, ...):