Our Remote Theatre Captioning Technical Installation

The Captioning Studio can provide its theatre captioning service remotely, thereby negating the need for us to fly our staff to the various locations of theatres and, as such, reducing costs.  Our pricing for a standard duration performance includes preparation of the caption file.  Should a theatre wish to have subsequent captioned performances of the same production, a reduced charge applies for each additional performance.

To facilitate our remote captioning service, The Captioning Studio supplies specialised hardware devices - one to be located onsite at the theatre and the other to be located at The Captioning Studio’s offices.  The function of the device is to carry audio from the theatre back to our captioner.  Captioning data is sent back to the display software at the theatre via the internet.  The time delay on transfer of audio and data is negligible and the audience is completely unaware that the captioner is located offsite.  We currently provide remote captioning of television programs, conferences and meetings, and many theatre performances each year in this way.

So what’s required from the theatre and producer? In advance of a captioned performance, The Captioning Studio would request an electronic copy of the script if available and, if possible, a video or DVD recording of the performance so that we are able to see actor locations on stage and thereby position our captions on screen accordingly.  The DVD recording could simply be a locked-off shot of the stage throughout the performance.  We need to receive the DVD/video recording a few days before the actual captioned performance to allow time for the captioner to makes any necessary changes to the captions.  Each captioned production requires approximately one week of preparation.

For the captioned performance itself, our captioner requires a feed of good quality audio from the stage, which we would receive via a telephone line. This should ideally be a direct feed from the audio mixer.

The theatre needs to supply a basic PC on which to install our Go-Theatrical!™ display software. An internet connection is used for transmission of caption data and is also useful for provision of remote technical support, if required.

The theatre also supplies one or more plasma television screens (50” or larger). Smaller theatres typically install two 50” plasma screens which are positioned on either side of the stage.  The screens are usually covered in translucent black material to avoid any reflections.

The Captioning Studio can provide advice to theatres on equipment selection and positioning.

Caption users generally prefer seats at the side of the auditorium, which theatres often find more difficult to sell, so that when reading the captions they can avoid large head movements to switch between looking at the stage and the caption screen.