How To Resync Subtitles Using Subtitle Edit

[DrJackson]

Hi there,

As you may have probably already noticed , what's happening lately on the scene has managed to make our lives miserable.
No matter how many subtitle versions we can provide, there will always be someone asking for another version, but I don't want to discuss the reasons of why that is happening.
So, I'll show you how to resync a subtitle, using Subtitle Edit.

First of all, you'll need SE, of course.
You can download it from HERE. (is good to check w w w.nikse.dk page for new releases )
Unzip it to the desired folder, (and even though it is optional, it's better to do it inside the SE folder), then make a subfolder labelled (for example) "ToDo" or "In Progress" or whatever, it's your choice.

When you open SE for the very first time, it will look like this (more or less, because I already have it ):




What you'll have to do next is click Show / Hide Video icon and the Adjust tab, as shown in the screenshot bellow (a small correction here - first you have to click Show/Hide then Adjust, sorry ):



Ok, the next step is to open the .srt file that we want to resync.
I'm sure there is no need to mention that, but let me remind you that you must rename the .srt file in the same way the video file is labelled !
Also, it's much easier if you have both .srt and video file into the subfolder I mentioned at the beginning of this tutorial

So, go to File tab menu, choose Open, then search for the .srt file, select it and open it.

SE window will look like this:



What you need to do right now is to click the Play / Pause button and listen and watch the subtitle line displayed on the player.
If the spoken words and the displayed line are matching, you'll have to scroll down until you'll reach the first delayed or out of sync line.
If the spoken words and the displayed line do NOT match,

1. click the Play / Pause button at the very first spoken words,
2. then be sure that the first line is selected,
3. then click the Go back 0.500 button, and finally,
4. click the Set start and offset the rest button:



Next step is to seek for the next out of sync line.
This is a must-have-attention work, because you may not get that out of sync line at first try, so, you'll need to seek up and down around a presumed moment (time).
Ok, after 3 hrs of seeking , you'll get the right line.
That means you'll have to follow the same steps I mentioned above:



For the next out of sync lines you'll repeat the same procedure.
That was one way to resync a file.

You can do the resync job using the Wave Form feature, a feature that will allow you to seek much easier any out of sync lines.
BUT, you must have installed the VLC player in order to have the Wave Form working.
So, Go to download page and proceed with VLC installation.
After that, on main SE window (we assume that you have started SE and opened an .srt file, right? ), click the Show / Hide wave form icon:



Strange things will begin to happen : the player field is moving and some creepy field will take its place!
"Oh GOD, Why did I choose to resync instead of downloading another video version!" will probably be in many users thoughts!
Don't worry, just do what is written in the new field, that means to click inside the Wave Form field.
A message box will be displayed with the message "Generate wave from data". Wait a while for the Wave Form to be generated and when it's done, it will appear as you can see bellow:



Now, assuming that the first line is out of sync, you'll follow these steps:
1. Press Play / Pause button, to start playing the video and at the very first spoken words, press Play / Pause button again.
2. I guess you already noticed a small line that is moving along the wave form. You can set the position of that line by clicking on the appropriate place on the Wave Form ( I mean where the spoken words start).
3. Be sure you have selected the appropriate line.
4. Click Set start and offset the rest.



After that, you'll have to seek for the next out of sync line. A tip here: you can increase zoom on wave form - and I recommend to do that - in order to have a better view.
For that,
1. Use the Seek cursor from the Wave Form till you'll see a FLAT LINE between wave peaks. That means you get the next out of sync space.
2. Click Play/Stop when you hear the spoken words.
3. Look for time and seek for the corresponding line, then select it.
4. Click on the appropriate place on Wave form.
5. Click Set start and offset the rest.




Proceed in the same way for the next out of sync line.

Well, right now I don't know if there is much more to say.
All you have to do is practice a little, that's all.

I hope you'll find this tutorial helpful.

doc.

[Alex1969]

Great tutorial

Thx a lot, Doc :D

[GeirDM]

Great Doc! Thanks! :)

[anissaka]

Yeah thanks Doc. :) :)

[viviangong]

hi, i have a question. so how to use subtitle edit to resync a subtitle of TV play. Such as homeland, The Blacklist and so on?

It seemed subtitle edit only support video.

 

[kinglouisxx]

Here are some specificities concerning the WEB-DL resyncs, network by network:

First, a little reminder on how to proceed. You'll see that my method is a bit different from DrJackson's.

So, I'll assume you read DrJackson's post and know how to start on Subtitle Edit.

You have clicked on the "show/hide video" button, the "adjust tab" one, and the "show/hide waveform", then generated the waveform.

Now, let's get started.

Right click on the waveform. You'll have that menu, select "Seek silence..."

It will give you that. By default the search direction is set on "Forward", no need to change this, unless you find it fun resyncing backwards 

1. But you need to change the value on "Silence must be at least (seconds)". I chose 0.1, it's the setting you'll get the maximum breaks with. I can't remember what the default value was, but you'd miss many breaks.

2. Then comes "Volume must be below". As the breaks are most of the time silent, it will help locate them. I chose 1, because some other moments in an episode could be silent-like, even if it's rare. [EDIT: In the latest version of SE (3.4.11), "Volume must be below: 1" is obsolete, choose 0,10 instead. 0,50 might be needed for Syfy shows]

Once you've located your break (represented by a flatline), adjust the sync.

Select the first line of the block, then select the rest. Right click on those selected lines, you'll have that menu. Select "Show selected lines earlier/later...".

You'll have this. Set it to 0,100 seconds. It will be easier to manipulate the sync if it's not accurate enough the first time, and you'll can resync while playing the video and see if it matches well. Depending on how the original subtitle was synced, a line can start early, late or be spot on, so resyncing only with the first line of the block would be hazardous. You'll have to "+ 0,100/- 0,100" the timings to find the best match. Moreover, you'll stay closer to the original sync than  with "Set start and off-set the rest". You'll have to click more, I'll give you that, but you'll get used to it. 

Repeat that action as much time as necessary. The number of breaks varies according to the network, there will be between 4 and 6 sync breaks (opening title included) for a 40 min show. 4 is rare, usually it's 5 or 6.

When Subtitle Edit can't find the breaks, you'll have to find them yourselves looking through the video. It takes more time, but it's not that hard when the delays are significant. But as you'll see below, on some networks there's both breaks Subtitle Edit won't find, AND short delays. In that case, you'll have to keep your eyes sharp. 

NB: You also have to check on the opening title of the show, there's often a delay after too. Most of the time, there's the syncer credits here, so it's easy to find. Press on the magnifying glass button at the top left hand corner, then enter a key word such as "sync" and it will find the line for you

 

SPECIFICITIES BY NETWORK

  Probably the network's shows I prefer to resync. The delay between the breaks is significantly noticeable, so are the breaks using the waveform.

* Break localization: ★★★★ 

* Delays: Easily noticeable

  Very often resyncing an ABC show will be a nasty job, you'll have to do it line by line due to what is called "framerape" (The removal of video frames in broadcast television to conserve bandwidth). Otherwise, the delays are often quite short, 0,200 seconds give or take. So it's not always that easy to locate these delays if you do it looking through the video, because some lines might fit despite everything. But it's not an exact science, it can be more. Nonetheless, Subtitle Edit will locate the breaks well enough. It can be easier to correct the raw CCs attached to the video file than doing a line by line. On ABC shows the CCs sync is good enough compared to some other, but not always perfect.

NB: Some ABC shows are broadcasted in Canada on CTV simultaneously. And sometimes the Scene uses their feed for their releases, then you won't have to worry about that framerape thing (well, it seems I'll need to revise that truth. Had to do a line by line resync even if HDTV was from CTV).

* Break localization: ★★☆☆

* Delays: Variable delays, but rather short ones

  Not much to say about. Like FOX, the delays & breaks are easy to detect.

* Break localization: ★★★★

* Delays: Easily noticeable

  You might encounter the same problem than with ABC's shows, even if less often. The delays are about as short as ABC's, so you have to be careful and check on several points.

* Break localization: ★★★★

* Delays: Rather short ones / Variable

  Probably the most unpredictable. iZombie, for example, just need to be resynced one time at the begining and that's it. Some shows can almost be done with a one time resync (Ex.: Arrow, The Flash...). It works pretty good, but let's say if you're fussy it's best to do it on each break. The delays are short also, and not always easy to detect. The 100 will have a delay 0,200-0,500 seconds give or take. On the other hand,  the delay on Beauty and the Beast is more like a FOX one, 1,000-1,500 seconds. So each show will be a surprise. The breaks are detected well by Subtitle Edit.

NB: Fun fact is all of DC's shows on The CW have that one time resync thing.

* Break localization: ★★★★

* Delays: Variable

  You can call ABC the worst, but sure thing is Syfy is not part of the easies. Not only the delays are faint, but the breaks are most of the time hardly detectable by Subtitle Edit due to the way the episode was edited.

* Break localization: ☆☆☆☆

* Delays: Very short delays

  From what I can recall, the delays are quite short and the breaks not that easy to locate.

* Break localization: ★☆☆☆

* Delays: Short delays

 Short delays; breaks rather easy to detect. (often doesn't contain the "Previously" parts)

* Break localization: ★★☆☆

* Delays: Short delays

  Breaks hard to detect (because non-silent most of the time), short delays.

* Break localization: ☆☆☆☆

* Delays: Short delays

  Probably... No, THE easiest of all. Given there is no breaks, only need a one time resync.

* Break localization: -

* Delays: -

   Not much to say about. The delays & breaks are easy to detect.

* Break localization: ★★★★ 

* Delays: Easily noticeable

  Not much to say about. The delays & breaks are easy to detect.

* Break localization: ★★★★ 

* Delays: Easily noticeable

 Not much to say about. The delays & breaks are easy to detect.

* Break localization: ★★★★ 

* Delays: Easily noticeable

 Just resynced one show from that channel, Texas Rising, and the delays were short and the breaks hard to detect. But on Vikings the breaks are easily detectable with the Seek silence feature, and the delays seem around 0,500 seconds.

 Can't say much about it, I just resynced Your Family or Mine on that network and I can't remember. But I wasn't traumatized, so it might be in the norm 

[...]

*Feel free to share your experiences, I haven't done them all and shows for a same network can have different specificities.

[KamHywor]

Yes, same here Im on Win 8.1 x64 and Quicklaunch bar disappears after restart and is reset to original settings, except the shortcuts I put in it, which are still there. Any solution, please?

[Alphard]

First of all, thanks for the tutorial... Usually, I use the Wave. Best invention ever! I resync by blocks easily. But lately, some shows videos (The Blacklist, for example) are captured from de original network instead a Canadian network, which as the usual before. I can't sync by blocks as before, the sequences gradually outed of sync. I have to do it almost sequence by sequence. Both videos have the same FPS. I mention the fact of the network because I have no problem with others shows or the videos captured from Canada. Any ideas, please?

[kinglouisxx]

Hi, @Alphard

The answer is right above.

  Very often resyncing an ABC show will be a nasty job, you'll have to do it line by line due to what is called "framerape" (The removal of video frames in broadcast television to conserve bandwidth). Otherwise, the delays are often quite short, 0,200 seconds give or take. So it's not always that easy to locate these delays if you do it looking through the video, because some lines might fit despite everything. But it's not an exact science, it can be more. Nonetheless, Subtitle Edit will locate the breaks well enough. It can be easier to correct the raw CCs attached to the video file than doing a line by line. On ABC shows the CCs sync is good enough compared to some other, but not always perfect.

NB: Some ABC shows are broadcasted in Canada on CTV simultaneously. And sometimes the Scene uses their feed for their releases. Then you won't have to worry about that framerape thing.

 

  You might encounter the same problem than with ABC's shows, even if less often. The delays are about as short as ABC's, so you have to be careful and check on several points.

​

[Alphard]

Hi, @Alphard

The answer is right above.

​

​I don't have access to raw CC's, but thanks for your quick reply...

[Warin West-El]

I'm an experienced video editor.  Have been using Sony Vegas since 2003.  For the past three years I've used Subtitle Edit to fix subs that I watch myself.  Decided it was a waste to delete those subs and decided to upload them for the benefit of others.  Recently have been experimenting with creating a precise method.  Turns out this tutorial confirms the exact method I developed on my own, even the choice of 0.100 as the unit of gradation.

The two major breakthroughs were 1) discovering you need to rename the subs to match the video file name.  2) Subtitle Edit generates waveforms just like Sony Vegas.

IMHO, Subtitle Edit lacks some of the sophistication of Sony Vegas.  It's not as easy to move the timeline back and forth.  Also I find myself pressing shortcut buttons that don't work in Subtitle Edit.  But certainly, if one is serious about doing subs, using waveforms is the way to go.

THANKS FOR THIS TUTORIAL, DOC !