What is the CCSL file? Is that the dialogue list?

No. The CCSL (combined continuity and spotting list) is the fuller document: it describes every shot of the finished film and includes all the dialogue, spotted into subtitles. A dialogue list is only the transcript of what is said, with timecode. If your schedule asks for a CCSL, a dialogue list won’t meet it.

Is a CDSL the same as a CCSL?

No, though schedules mix them up. A CDSL (combined dialogue and spotting list) has the dialogue and the subtitle spotting. A CCSL has both of those and a cut-by-cut description of the picture. If the wording on your schedule mentions shot descriptions, picture action or continuity, it is asking for a CCSL, whatever acronym it uses.

Is a dialogue continuity list the same as a CCSL?

Yes. Dialogue continuity list, dialogue continuity script, Dialogue & Action Continuity script and D&C spotting list are all names for the combined continuity and spotting list. Our guide to the dialogue continuity list covers it in more detail.

Which one costs the least?

All three are priced by runtime, and a dialogue list costs the least because it has the least in it; a CCSL costs the most. The table above shows each one’s price per minute and the price of a 90-minute feature, and the instant quote on each service page prices your exact runtime.

Can I order more than one for the same film?

Yes. Start an order for one and add the others to it; the quote updates as you add services. Closed captions can be added to the same order too.

CCSL vs CDSL vs Dialogue List: Which Do You Need?

CCSL vs CDSL vs Dialogue List: What’s the Difference?

By Khurram Suhrwardy · October 27, 2026 · Last updated November 4, 2026

A CCSL, a CDSL and a dialogue list are all post-production scripts made from your finished film, and delivery schedules often name them loosely. The short version: a dialogue list records what is said, a CDSL spots that dialogue into subtitles, and a CCSL adds a shot-by-shot description of the picture. The table compares them line by line.

CCSL vs CDSL vs Dialogue List compared
	CCSL	CDSL	Dialogue List
In short	The whole film, cut by cut: picture action plus every line of dialogue, spotted into subtitles	Every line of dialogue, spotted into subtitles	A transcript of every spoken line
Shot descriptions	Yes, every cut: shot number, shot type and action	No	No
Dialogue	Every word, with narration, lyrics and speaker sound effects	Every word, with narration and lyrics	Every word, with narration, lyrics and speaker sound effects
Speaker IDs	Yes, on or off screen	Yes, and who is being spoken to	Yes, on or off screen
Timecode	Time in for every shot; time in, time out and duration for every subtitle	Time in, time out and duration for every subtitle	Time in, time out and duration for each line
Subtitle spotting	Yes	Yes, with line breaks to subtitling conventions	No
On delivery schedules	Combined Continuity and Spotting List, dialogue continuity script, Dialogue & Action Continuity script, D&C spotting list	Combined Dialogue and Spotting List, dialogue spotting list, spotting list	Dialogue list, dialogue transcript
Who asks for it	Distributors, sales agents and broadcasters; also used for censorship and copyright filings	Distributors, and the subtitling and dubbing teams making foreign versions	Festivals, distributors, and caption, subtitle and dubbing vendors
Format	Editable Word document, with Excel and PDF copies	Editable Word document, with Excel and PDF copies	Editable Word document, with Excel and PDF copies
Price	$15/min	$8/min	$3.95/min
90-minute feature	$1,350	$695	$355
Regular turnaround	7 to 10 business days	7 business days	6 business days
	CCSL service	CDSL service	Dialogue List service

Which one does my distributor want?

Go by the wording on your delivery schedule, not the acronym: distributors use these names loosely. Paste the script and caption items from your schedule and we’ll show which of our services each line asks for, and why.

A dialogue list: what was said

A dialogue list is the most basic post-production script. It is a transcript of the finished film: every spoken line, who says it, whether they are on or off screen, and the time in, time out and duration of each line at accurate time code. Narration, song lyrics and sounds a speaker makes (a sigh, a scream) are included, because translators and caption writers need them.

Festivals screening a film abroad often ask for one, and it is the starting point for closed captions, foreign subtitles and dubbing. What it doesn’t have is any description of the picture, or subtitle spotting: it tells you what is said and when, line by line, not how it should be broken into subtitles. For more on how it is made and used, see what is a dialogue list.

A CDSL: dialogue, spotted for subtitles

A CDSL (combined dialogue and spotting list) takes the dialogue and “spots” it: each line is broken into subtitles that follow subtitling conventions for line length and line breaks, and each subtitle gets a time in, a time out and a duration. Speaker IDs note who is speaking and who is being spoken to.

That makes a CDSL the document a subtitler or dubbing studio works from when they build a foreign-language version. It still has no shot-by-shot description of the picture.

A CCSL: the whole picture, cut by cut

A CCSL (combined continuity and spotting list) is the fullest of the three. Alongside the spotted dialogue, it records every cut in the finished film: a shot number, the time it starts, the shot type (close-up, wide shot) and a short description of the action. Music starts are logged too, and lyrics are marked with the ♪ symbol.

Because it describes the film exactly as released, a CCSL is used for more than subtitles. Distributors and sales agents ask for it in the delivery package for international sales, and it serves as a legal record of the picture for censorship boards and copyright registration.

Why the names get mixed up

Delivery schedules are written by different distributors, often from old templates, and the acronyms drift. One distributor’s schedule that we quote on our CCSL page asks for a “CDSL” and then, in the same sentence, describes “a cut by cut description of the Picture action”. A cut-by-cut description of the action is what makes a CCSL, so that schedule is asking for a CCSL under a CDSL name.

The safest rule is to read the description, not the acronym:

Shot descriptions, picture action, continuity, “cut by cut”: you need a CCSL.
Subtitles or spotting (subtitle-sized lines, line breaks, who is being addressed), but no picture description: a CDSL.
A transcript of the dialogue, with no spotting or picture description: a dialogue list.

Older schedules sometimes ask for footage and frame counts instead of timecode alongside a cut-by-cut description. That is still a CCSL.

If the wording still leaves you unsure, ask the distributor which document they mean before you order, or paste the line into the checker above and we’ll show which service it points to.

Does a CCSL cover a CDSL or dialogue list request?

A CCSL contains everything that is in a CDSL and a dialogue list, so a distributor may accept one in place of the others. Don’t assume it, though: a distributor that asks for a CDSL may want that exact layout for its subtitling team. The reverse never works. A dialogue list or a CDSL can’t stand in for a CCSL, because neither describes the picture.

What is a dialogue list? covers how dialogue lists are made, used and formatted.
What is a dialogue continuity list? goes deeper into the CCSL under its other common name.