About Spot Software

Spot Software BV, based in Amsterdam, Holland, is run by its partners Martin Cleaver and Jean Offenberg. Software development is largely the responsibility of Portugal-based Mark Raishbrook.

We've been developing subtitling software since 1997. Because we're subtitlers ourselves, we know which tools you need to get the job done as quickly and as accurately as possible. And because we're a small company, we're approachable: if you think a feature is missing from our software or you have a suggestion for a new one, we'll add it if we can.

The Spot subtitling system was initially developed in 1994, one of the first on the market to allow film translators to subtitle in the comfort of their own home. By the summer of 1996, WinSub (ouch!) had become the much improved (though not in name) TCLite, following the chance meeting of Mark and Martin on the sci.lang.translation newsgroup. Jean joined the effort six months later and in 1997 Spot Software VOF came into being.

The Y2K bug came and went, as did TCLite, now cunningly renamed SpotOn. And then a miracle occurred - one of us had a brainwave. "Let's just call it Spot!" And so we did. In April 2003, as VHS made way for VOB, we went digital and launched Spot 4. Spot 5 followed in 2010 and now, 23 years after the first few tentative lines of subtitling code were written in a dark and dingy apartment in central Portugal, we have released Spot 6, without doubt the best Spot ever. Despite the name and version changes, our aim remains the same: to provide quality subtitling software at the best possible price.

Spot wouldn't be what it is without our faithful band of merry Spotters, all of whom have helped shape our software in one way or another. The list includes, but is not limited to, Leo Reijnen; Bartho Kriek; Martijn Bijwaard; Stephen Ford; Adrian Richmond; Rob Woning; Rob Petersen; Peter Bosma and Hans de Jong at Broadcast Text International; Frank Lekens; Gerard van Loenhout; Rubén Delgado; José Manuel Canário at BLIT; and Tobias Trummer. Sincere thanks also to Geraint Davies at Geraint Davies Consulting Ltd for all his expert advice, MVP Chris Parsons for his much appreciated support, and closed caption guru Dan Glisson. Oh, and Spot the Dog, of course.