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Subtitle Edit Tutorial: 1. Installation

This document provides a tutorial for using the Subtitle Edit program to create subtitles for videos. It outlines how to install the necessary programs, set up Subtitle Edit, open a video file, generate a waveform, and write and format subtitles. Key steps include choosing VLC Media Player as the video player, adding a waveform, setting subtitle length and position using the waveform, and tips for character limits, time between subtitles, and merging or splitting subtitles.

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hans_lbs
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575 views

Subtitle Edit Tutorial: 1. Installation

This document provides a tutorial for using the Subtitle Edit program to create subtitles for videos. It outlines how to install the necessary programs, set up Subtitle Edit, open a video file, generate a waveform, and write and format subtitles. Key steps include choosing VLC Media Player as the video player, adding a waveform, setting subtitle length and position using the waveform, and tips for character limits, time between subtitles, and merging or splitting subtitles.

Uploaded by

hans_lbs
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Subtitle Edit Tutorial

9th of July, 2012


1. Installation

You will need these 3 programs:

1. Subtitle Edit

You can download it here. Choose either the installer in your language
or the first link.

Download the zip-file and extract. Run the installer, set the language
you want and you can just press next until you get to install. Then
install it.

2. K-lite codec pack

Install this to make sure you have all the codecs you need to play your
videos. Download it here. Download the FULL pack and install it. Make
sure you don't install the toolbar and browser they offer. Just check the
'No thanks' box.

3. VLC Media Player

This is needed to display the video which you are going to subtitle
within Subtitle Edit. Download it here and install. Again, make sure you
don't install any additional software.

2. Setting up Subtitle Edit

1. First you will need to set up the video player. Go to Options >>
Settings >> Video Player and choose VLC Media Player.
2. Go to Video and click Show/hide waveform and Show/hide video. Your
screen should now look like this:
3. Next you should open the video you want to subtitle. Go to Video >>
Open video file.
4. Now you will need to generate the waveform. Just click where it says
'Click to add waveform' and wait. Depending on your computer, this
could take some time.
When it's done, you should have this:

The waveform shows the audio that is being played in the video
player. This will help you with setting the position and length of
subtitles. Zoom the waveform to 100% and you are ready to start
writing the subtitles.

3. Subtitles

1. Click the Create tab on the left. This will show the menu for creating
subtitles.

It looks like this:


1. Creates a new subtitle.

2. Plays video from just


before the selected subtitle.

3. Goes to the beginning of


the subtitle.
2. The easiest way to set up how long and when the subtitle is being
displayed is to use the waveform. The grayed area shows when the
subtitle is being displayed.

You can adjust the subtitle by moving and stretching it.

3. Write the text in the text box in the middle. Here you can also
adjust the length and position of the subtitle.
Don't make the subtitles too long. You can change the maximum
single line length under Options >> Settings >> General, but 43
characters is the recommended value.

If the single line is more than the maximum length of characters,


split it into two lines. The bottom line should be longer than the top
line, for aesthetic reasons.

If the subtitle is displayed for too long, or if it contains too many


characters, this will be marked by the program by changing the
subtitle color to orange and red. You can split the subtitle by Right
click >> Split either on the text box or in the waveform.
4. Pro tips

It is best to put some time between the displaying of subtitles, I


typically use some 100ms, for this is just enough for the viewers to
register that the new subtitle is being displayed.

You should make sure the viewers will have enough time to read
the subtitles, to accomplish this the subtitles shouldn’t display more
than 25 characters per second, but it is better to keep it lower, it
should normally be around 10-20 chars/sec.

You can merge the subtitles by Right click >> Merge with
previous or Right click >> Merge with next.

Look in the Settings to find shortcuts, change colors of the


waveform or subtitles and manage the toolbar.

To avoid losing work set up auto-backup in Settings >> Options


>> General.
To have the program open your work from last time, check the
‘remember your recent files’ checkbox in Settings >> Options >>
General.

More help is available on the personal page of the good man who
created this free and open program -
http://www.nikse.dk/se/Help.aspx#main

Also, if you have questions and suggestions for this tutorial,


please send an email to [email protected].

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