Interactive video subtitle syncing software?

[north3rner]

"MPC HC" lets you push F1 or F2 to speed up or delay subtitles by 500 ms. This is good for interactively adjusting subtitles but doesn't save new timings (¤1). Ideally after each adjustment the currently visible single subtitle timing should be saveable with a single click or button push.

I've searched for years for a program that can do this. It seems such an obvious application.

The best tool I found is "Easy Subtitle Synchronizer" which still falls far short of what should be possible. This software also only has a small thumbnail screen and is abandoned.

~

¤1) I'm aware saving subtitles in MPC HC saves new timings but F1 F2 affects all subtitles. I'm also aware of the CTRL-6 Subresync window, but again, this is not nearly as convenient (single action) as it could be.

[north3rner]

Probably, years ago. I could try it again if I didn't get it the first time.

Can it do what I outlined? Advance or delay timing of a single subtitle with the option to instantly save the timing with another button push?

I found a youtube tutorial "visual sync", but it doesn't look like it does what I'm looking for.

~

There are multiple ways subtitles can be out of sync.

1) Simplest. All subtitle are delayed or forwarded. Advance / delay all. Very simple.

2) Frames per second differ (fps). Also very simple. Find the first and the last subtitle and readjust fps.

3) Video has been re--cut for time and or advertising. Chunks of time are missing or added. Extra complicated if fps is wrong as well.

In the 3rd case an interactive tool would be so useful. Just keep tapping F1 or F2 while watching and continuously save new timings.

 

[BorisVictor]

To synchronize there are many ways in SE but prefer another method in SE 

1. Open video and .srt file
2. Create wave
3. Go to Video – Generate scene changes (use e.g. 0.2 sensitivity)
4. Start in the wave and place with mouse click where you want to start the new .srt file
5. Use adjust in left bottom square and touch F9. All lines will be offset
6. Right mouse Click in the wave “Seek Silence”. This is very often the cut for advertising
7. Do steps 4 and 5 when needed
8. Rename the new synchronized file

[north3rner]

Ok, thanks. I'll need a while to use & familiarize myself with SE. Then I'll go back and try to understand above.

[BorisVictor]

@north3rner: I have a 50 pages Dutch manual for SE -more about how to translate- in raw English. Some various ways (other than above) how o synchronize. Just let me know and I send it to you.

[north3rner]

Finally tried it seriously.

The waveform is very useful. If I could assign keys to menu option synchronization-move-selected-lines-and-forward show-earlier/show-later then I might able to, sort of, do what I opened this thread asking for.

I wish there was a way to do everything with mouse drags. Specifically I can't drag all lines forward of currently selected line. I wish there was hold-/shift/alt/ctrl-while-dragging something, that dragged all lines forward of the currently selected one.

 

[BorisVictor]

Hopefully I understand your issue. Why would you want to select all lines? With the F9 you shift all lines in one go. There is no real need to use the mouse?

 

[north3rner]

I recognize I need to learn more, like what exactly does F9, F10 do but what I was / am looking for is:

Doing all synchronization with mouse click / dragging. One hand on the mouse and the other hand on the keyboard SHIFT / CTRL / ALT quadrant modifying mouse behavior so the mouse cursor never leaves the wave form editing area.

~

Why would I want to "select all lines"? I don't, most of the time.

I do, most of the time, want to move all unsynchronized lines, all lines "to the right" including selected line (currently edited).

Often big chunks of lines are correct relative to each other but they all need to be delayed or shown earlier. TV episodes with "good" 10-20 minutes chunks of lines but differently cut commercial breaks in between.

If I can't drag all lines "to the right", I have to uneccesarily edit every single line in the chunk instead of all at once.

Edited August 3, 2021 by north3rner

[north3rner]

Can new hotkeys for Subtitle Edit be defined? Maybe via a third party program on top of Subtitle Edit?

I'd love to assign four hotkeys:

synchronization-move-selected-lines-and-forward show-earlier 500ms

synchronization-move-selected-lines-and-forward show-later 500ms

synchronization-move-selected-lines-and-forward show-earlier 100ms

synchronization-move-selected-lines-and-forward show-later 100ms

then I could watch and keep tapping to adjust on the fly.

Edited August 3, 2021 by north3rner

[BorisVictor]

Go to Options-Settings-Shortcuts. Section Video

There you can add/change your desired shortcuts for the mentioned hotkeys.

I'm not sure if this will change the subtitle as well, but give it a try.

If you want to change blocks of subtitles (no hotkey) use Synchronization-Adjust all times and fill in the data. 

[north3rner]

Options-Settings-Shortcuts

I've looked at that. That's a limited list of predetermined actions with no option to add new actions. The only thing that can be edited is the hotkey combinations for the predetermined actions. The actions I wanted:

synchronization-move-selected-lines-and-forward

aren't listed.

Predicting all actions a user might want is next to impossible. Therefore it would be great if the users could define their own macros.

Options-Settings-Shortcuts isn't it.

To clarify. By "macro" I mean the option to define a set of keystrokes and assign them to a hotkey.

Edited August 4, 2021 by north3rner

[BorisVictor]

SE is an open source. Maybe you contact nikse and ask if he can help? https://www.nikse.dk/

[north3rner]

Waveform is ... was great. For some reason waveform doesn't sync with audio, even when creating new waveforms.

Tried "Options Settings Waveform / Spectrogram -> Empty Spectrogram and waveform" and creating anew. Didn't help. Now all new waveforms created seems off.

May have begun after I first used point Sync.

Hate to have to try full reinstall. Whatever it is, is probably in the data under Roaming so maybe I try to wipe that first in some orderly fashion. Just brute "delete" Roaming/Subtitle Edit is probably not a good idea

Edited August 8, 2021 by north3rner

[north3rner]

This is weird. Uninstalled Subtitle Edit and deleted Appdata/Roaming/Subtitle Edit. Does Subtitle  Edit store data anywhere besides Roaming (that I didn't manage to wipe)?

Week old files I now recreated still works (waveform seem synced with audio) but the new episodes I, again, tried to edit, audio is still unsynced with waveform. Tried a wholly different video file I never used Subtitle Edit on, it worked. Would indicate Subtitle Edit just doesn't work with some video files.

On starting video from 0 time, the moving waveform cursor moves, then halts for a few seconds and  moves again. Only on some files (or only sometimes). Thought occurs that's where it gets unsynced?

 

Edited August 8, 2021 by north3rner

[north3rner]

In Aegisub the waveform is synced with the audio for the troubled video (ran Aegissub for the first time ever). Can very clearly see how audio sync with waveform in Aegissub.

[north3rner]

Sticking with Subtitle Edit for now. Only a few(?) files doesn't work and it has a lot more (and convenient ) features than Aegisub (at a quick glance). Only the waveform doesn't work and I can still sync them by ear.

[north3rner]

(Edited out "I caused it", happened anew on untouched (by me) file)

It happened again.

First, pattern confirmed? When starting to play from zero, again the waveform cursor halts a few seconds and restarts (*1).

******************

Tried to wipe "everything" and try to recreate.

Subtitle Edit stores temp files at "C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Subtitle Edit". I ensured everything there was empty. Every folder, every file. I even deleted the "Settings.xml" (Suntitle Edit settings) and "mpv-1.dll" (apparently the MPV player). So now top folder was empty too.

I recreate waveform and it's still unsynced. But the time point for video start survived the wipe. How could that be when everything was wiped? Is Subtitle Edit storing temp stuff somewhere else (other than "C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Subtitle Edit")?

********************

I searched for a Subtitle Edit specific forum without success. Is there one, somewhere?

********************

*1) Waveform cursor temporary halting. Does that happen "normally"? That seems like something that could happen if the actual videofile was corrupt.

Edited August 9, 2021 by north3rner

[north3rner]

Tried redownloading the video file. No joy, same.

Tried using FFMPEG (checked the box and clicked "download" in settings). No joy, behaves the same.

Can't see an option to choose MPV or VLC.

*******************

Leaning towards videofile corruption. Yet AEGISUB manages to display it correctly.

Edited August 9, 2021 by north3rner

[north3rner]

Update. I've been using Subtitle Edit for a while now and it is the best program so far. It has a lot of options that I expect to keep finding for some time to come. Anyway, what I asked for in opening post:

Quote

 

"MPC HC" lets you push F1 or F2 to speed up or delay subtitles by 500 ms. This is good for interactively adjusting subtitles but doesn't save new timings (¤1). Ideally after each adjustment the currently visible single subtitle timing should be saveable with a single click or button push.

I've searched for years for a program that can do this. It seems such an obvious application.

 

I find I can do the Shift + CTRL leftclick on the waveform to do something different that achieves essentially the same thing. A little more involved but still somewhat quick and efficient.

Edited November 13, 2021 by north3rner