What is Pockitle Live?

Pockitle Live is SurtitleLive's workflow for captioning speech that cannot be prepared in advance. It creates original-language captions from one fixed spoken source language and can add up to three machine-translated caption streams for audience phones and venue screens.

Does Pockitle need a prepared script?

No. Pockitle captions live speech as it happens. Use prepared SurtitleLive captions instead when wording, translation, line breaks, or timing must be reviewed and rehearsed before the event.

When should a theatre use Pockitle Live?

Use Pockitle for unscripted speech such as improvisation, readings, talkbacks, artist conversations, panels, workshops, and audience Q&A. Test the actual speakers, audio route, room, network, phones, screens, and every promised language before the audience arrives.

Can Pockitle translate live captions?

Yes. Each run uses one fixed spoken source language and can provide the original captions plus up to three machine-translated caption streams. It does not automatically switch source languages, and live translations can be delayed, incomplete, or wrong.

Is Pockitle a replacement for professional CART captioning?

No. Pockitle is machine-generated live captioning and does not promise professional CART, guaranteed accuracy, certified accessibility, or legal compliance. Use qualified professional services when accuracy, attribution, accessibility, or compliance requirements demand them.

Can one production use both prepared captions and Pockitle Live?

Yes. A scripted performance can use prepared SurtitleLive captions, then use Pockitle for a post-show discussion or audience Q&A. Keep the content, review, operation, audience information, and fallback responsibilities for each service explicit.

Pockitle Live or Prepared Theatre Captions? Choose…

Short answer

Pockitle Live captions speech that cannot be prepared in advance. Use it for talks, Q&A, improvisation, and other unscripted moments; use prepared SurtitleLive captions when the text can be reviewed, translated, rehearsed, and timed before the event. A production can use both workflows when scripted and unscripted parts need different caption services.

Pockitle Live and Prepared Captions Solve Different Problems

The labels sound close, but they can describe different responsibilities. Prepared theatre captions or surtitles follow an authorised text through rehearsal changes, translation or access review, delivery, and live recovery. Speech-to-text captioning responds to spoken language as it happens. Neither service is automatically more accessible, accurate, or ethical simply because of the tool used.

Pockitle Live is SurtitleLive's separate workflow for the second job. It listens to one fixed spoken source language and delivers original-language captions plus up to three machine-translated caption streams to audience phones and venue screens. See the Pockitle overview for the product workflow.

Decision Table: Prepared SurtitleLive Captions or Pockitle Live?

Decision	Prepared SurtitleLive captions	Pockitle Live captions
Text source	Approved script or prepared caption text	Speech as it happens
Review	Wording, translation, line breaks, and access information can be reviewed before the event	Machine-generated captions appear live and can be delayed, incomplete, or wrong
Timing	An operator advances rehearsed cues with the performance	Captions publish after speech recognition commits the text
Languages	Prepared, human-reviewed language versions	One fixed spoken source language plus up to three machine translations
Best fit	Scripted theatre, opera, translated performance, and prepared speeches	Improvisation, talks, panels, workshops, talkbacks, and Q&A
Audience output	Projection, audience phones, or both	Audience phones, venue screens, or both

When a Prepared Theatre Service Is the Right Question

The text is scripted, approved, translated, or written for access rather than generated from open speech.
Rehearsal cuts, rights, names, language versions, and editorial decisions must be traceable and reviewed by qualified people.
The production must explain who can read what, where, in which language, and with what support—without overpromising access.
The operator needs rehearsed ways to recover after a missed advance, changed performance, or unavailable display.
Preparation, review, front-of-house guidance, operation, and recovery have named, paid ownership rather than invisible extra work.

When a Theatre or Event Should Use Pockitle Live

The event centres on unscripted speech, questions, discussion, or presentation rather than a prepared dramatic text.
The team has considered the accuracy, delay, vocabulary, speaker identification, privacy, and correction expectations of that service.
People who use captions know what is offered and can obtain ordinary support without disclosing a diagnosis or language need.
The service has appropriate human expertise and a recovery plan; automation is not presented as a substitute for access provision.
Where audiences need both prepared text and live speech captions, the content, review, delivery, and support responsibilities are explicitly separated.

Do Not Let a Product Category Decide the Promise

Ask people affected by the service and relevant specialists what is usable in the actual venue. Explain how feedback will be used, obtain informed consent, keep participation voluntary, collect only necessary information, and fairly compensate requested time and expertise. Do not require a diagnosis, proof of disability, language need, or unpaid labour in return for ordinary support. Test the advertised route with the real audience information, staffing, and likely failures; narrow the promise when it cannot be sustained.

Connect the Decision to the Actual Setup

SurtitleLive supports a prepared-text theatre workflow: review the script, choose the audience display, and advance approved lines live. It does not turn open speech into captions.

For live speech, start with live captioning for theatre or live captions for events. Check the current spoken and translated language lists, then use the Pockitle Live Quick Start to test the actual voices, microphones, room, network, phones, and venue screens.

Pockitle is machine-generated live captioning, not professional CART. Neither product supplies caption writers, translators, accessibility specialists, venue connectivity, audience devices, or live operators, and neither certifies accessibility or legal compliance. Pockitle is not intended for singing, sustained overlapping speech, or automatic source-language switching. If the main issue is terminology, continue with Theatre Captions vs. Surtitles. If the issue is broader planning, continue with How to Evaluate Theatre Captioning Software, then plan Subtitle Backup and Fallback for Live Performance.

Pockitle Live or Prepared Theatre Captions? Choose the Right Workflow