Using the Limecraft Subtitle Editor, anyone can create high quality subtitles in a heartbeat. It can be operated automated (using AI) or manually. Configurable spotting rules ensure that the subtitles are synchronised with the video and optimised for optimised readability.  

TABLE OF CONTENTS



Accessing the Subtitle Editor 


Subtitling and localisation are some of the key features of your Limecraft Workspace. Click on the Subtitle Editor icon on the clip actions on the thumbnail 


Image showing where to locate the icon to the Subtitle Editor on a thumbnail.



NOTE: If the Subtitle Editor icon is not available in your clip actions, please contact your workspace admin to ensure that you have sufficient permissions in your workspace.



Creating Subtitles


Using the Subtitle Editor, you can create high quality subtitles in a matter of minutes. Depending on the quality of the audio and the language, you can opt start from an automatically generated transcript or start editing subtitles from scratch using a manual process. Also you can import an existing subtitle file for versioning or translation. 


Screenshot showing the Limecraft Subtitle Editor that uses AI transcription and Natural Language Processing for automatically creating broadcast grade subtitles


Upon selecting the language, choose between 


While it is possible to create subtitles automatically by directly cutting the AI transcript in subtitles, best practice is to first post-edit and verify the transcription before starting the conversion from the transcript in subtitles.

The reason for this is that simple errors in the transcription may affect the timing of several surrounding subtitles. So a single error in the transcript may cause you to adapt and correct 4 or 5 subtitles.


AI assisted Subtitling using Automatic Speech Recognition

Using AI assisted Subtitling spares media professionals immense amounts of time. In this case, Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) will turn the spoken words in written timed text, Natural Language Processing (NLP) will transliterate the spoken language into a more condensed written format, and automatic spotting will segment the modified transcript in subtitles.


Using AI,  the bulk of the manual work is automated, allowing you to focus on what matters most. 


To create automatic subtitles

  1. Select the primary language
  2. Select the first option using the transcript as the basis for subtitles
  3. Select the desired Subtitle Presets if applicable
  4. Click 'Generate'


Subtitle Presets refer to the applicable styling and timing rules, which may be different per type of video (16/9, vertical video, square video) or distribution channel (Netflix, BBC,...).

Different applicable subtitle presets can be configured in advance.




Manual Subtitling

In case the audio is not suitable for automatic speech recognition, you might consider creating the subtitles from scratch. Read more in this article.


Import SRT/STL file

In case you want to use Limecraft for post-editing, versioning or reformatting, or translating subtitles, we also offer the option to upload existing subtitles.


Note: Currently Limecraft supports only the start timecode 00:00:00:00 for SRT/STL file upload or none.



Editing Subtitles


The Subtitle Editor allows you to post-edit and verify the subtitles. Warning signs are used to indicate where one or more timing or styling rules are breached. You can make corrections directly in the Subtitle Editor, each couple of keystrokes is automatically saved.


As mentioned above, it is usually more efficient to edit the transcript rather than the subtitles.


Read more about post-editing automatically generated subtitles.


Image showing the edit actions in the Subtitle Editor panel.



Upon completion of the subtitle editing, use the dropdown in the right upper corner to

  • Mark Complete
  • Delete



Translating Subtitles


As explained in more detail in the section on localisation, Limecraft allows you create new language versions using machine translation.


Image showing where to access language versions of the subtitles





Exporting subtitles


When the subtitles are finalised you can export them in a number of file formats including SRT, STL, WebVTT or EBU-TT-D. This option can be found in the upper left corner of the editor.


Limecraft screenshot showing how to export subtitles as a file or burned in


Alternatively, subtitles can be burned in or encoded in the images. More about burned in subtitles.