Settings & parameters for SUBTITLE-EDIT

[FCW]

Hi,

Desperately looking for someone or tutorial to help with understanding and setting parameters in SUBTITLE-EDIT, in particular regarding shot changes and gaps between subs.

I need to find out how to make subs start at shot changes and terminate 4 frames before a shot change, needless to say without having to do it manually!

Cheers

[BorisVictor]

Sub Timings Beautifier

This tool automatically aligns the timings (or "cues") of subtitles in subtitle files (e.g. SubRip/.srt) to the exact frame times. It also automatically snaps cues to nearby shot cuts (or "scene changes") for a spot-on sync, and makes the gaps (or "intervals") between subtitles consistent, resulting in a more uniform rhythm in the "flashing" of subtitles. This will sophisticate the overall subtitle and provide a better viewing experience.

I created this tool because the most common freeware subtitle files (such as SubRip) and most freeware subtitle editing tools (such as Subtitle Edit or Subtitle Workshop) are based on milliseconds, whereas videos are based on frames. Some software can be configured to show frames, but it's not always that accurate. When I create subtitles, I often had subtitles going 1 frame over a shot cut due to rounding. This makes sure everything is spot-on.

I realize this tool is quite niche, but I really like the resulting subtitles. I use this tool as a final step for all my subtitles.

Key features

• Align all cues to the exact frame times, based on the video
• Detect shot cuts and automatically snap cues for a spot-on sync
• Make gaps consistent
• Several adjustment options, taking shot cuts into account
• Automatically extend all subtitles, taking shot cuts and gaps into account
• Fully configurable

This tool is made by Flitskikker and can be found here: https://github.com/Flitskikker/SubTimingsBeautifier

Great tool, but you have to play a bit for the best configuration. I use for threshold most of the time 0.15 as parameter.

 

[FCW]

Thank you so much, Victor. I had indeed found the Sub Timings Beautifier but that’s as far as my technical understanding goes! I am stuck at how to configure it! Hence my request for a demo of some sort - ideally a video tutorial.... I guess I will keep playing with it. May I come back to you for further enlightenment regarding this pretty cool feature? 

[BorisVictor]

I still use the first (very simple version) of this software. A complete manual here: https://github.com/Flitskikker/SubTimingsBeautifier/wiki/How-to-use-Sub-Timings-Beautifier

If you download the software please don't forget to add  FFmpeg and FFprobe binaries in the same directory as SubTimingsBeautifier.exe, as Sub Timings Beautifier uses it for extracting timecodes and detecting shot cuts. You can download these from here: https://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds/

After running SubTimingsBeautifier, you copy/paste the .srt into SE. I quess it will take some trial and error to find the best results for you.

 

[kinglouisxx]

Thanks, @BorisVictor

That software caught my attention the first time you mentioned it sometime ago, but never really took the time to give it go.

That's now a done deal.

Subtitles overlapping shot cuts by a few frames wasn't something I paid much attention to, or even cared about for that matter, in my early years of subbing.

But over the years, gaining experience, and knowledge on subtitling standards, that became something deeply irritating to my eyes.

And yet, with the many shows we deal with, manually hunt all of those would require time we don't have.

That's when SubTimingsBeautifier comes in handy.

I tested it on a couples episodes so far, and after a first go resulting in a semi-fail (at least the result wasn't as good as expected), the following attempts were more conclusive. Satisfying I would even say. I guess unticking the "Extend only" boxes is essential to get a conclusive result.

Of course, we can't expect it to be 100% perfect, and the result heavily relies on how good was the sync in the first place, but it fixes like a good 90% to 95% of those issues. And the adjustment of intervals between sequences is also appreciated. All of this is beneficial to the viewing experience. 

As a conclusion, SubTimingsBeautifier really is a software deserving to be known.

Give a shout-out to Flitskikker, if he's part of your translation team. He made quite a great tool.

[turiator]

Hi,

 

could somebody help me out using SubTimingsBeautifier? It seems to be a wonderful tool, but unfortunately it crashes constantly when I try to analyse a video. I'm using the most recent 64-bit bin versions of ffmpeg and ffprobe extracted them into the same directory as the SubTimingsBeautifier files.

Thanks!