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Professional Subtitling Software (UK + GER)
Thread poster: JuliaGoellnitz
Robert Tucker (X)
Robert Tucker (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:51
German to English
+ ...
Waveform May 30, 2013

If the subtitle software does not provide a waveform you can probably count me out.

My workhorse (for volunteer work) is Jubler – it's stable and the interface is quite clear and simple. I also have Aegisub but it does not have a line character counter and is maybe not so stable on Linux. One I'm still evaluating is on Nikse.dk. The features and waveform seem good but spotting seems a bit "fiddly" compared with Jubler.

Just what is it about "professional packages" tha
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If the subtitle software does not provide a waveform you can probably count me out.

My workhorse (for volunteer work) is Jubler – it's stable and the interface is quite clear and simple. I also have Aegisub but it does not have a line character counter and is maybe not so stable on Linux. One I'm still evaluating is on Nikse.dk. The features and waveform seem good but spotting seems a bit "fiddly" compared with Jubler.

Just what is it about "professional packages" that make them so much better? I'm not sure a normalized waveform is any better; GNU Subtitle Editor can do that anyway. Attempt to align a text based on speech rate and character count? Well some maybe, but how successful is it? Unless one has speech recognition far greater than that on Google which it can timecode with only need for minor correction I don't understand why they are so glamourized, otherwise what is it that makes them worth all those hundreds of dollars, euros or pounds?

Most people, I believe, will agree that timing subtitles is a tedious business.



[Edited at 2013-05-30 12:53 GMT]
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José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 19:51
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
Monica, you missed my point May 30, 2013

While some subtilers or subtitle translators have training and experience, I often see many translators who never did it saying they have got their first subtitling assignment, and want guidance to get started.

If they read what has been said about the professional subtitling software here, they may take the plunge, buy one of the expensive, or even the more affordable packages, and think it will be a piece of cake. It won't!

Efficiency becomes an issue that will come u
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While some subtilers or subtitle translators have training and experience, I often see many translators who never did it saying they have got their first subtitling assignment, and want guidance to get started.

If they read what has been said about the professional subtitling software here, they may take the plunge, buy one of the expensive, or even the more affordable packages, and think it will be a piece of cake. It won't!

Efficiency becomes an issue that will come up later, after they master the craft. Does any driving school use a Porsche or a Ferrari? I don't think so.

And then there is the flock who worked in-house using subtitling software 'X'. Now they want to go on their own, and wonder if they should buy 'X', or perhaps 'Y' instead. They should try 'Y' first, I hope they all have demo versions.

It's like a friend of mine, who has been in IT since the days it operated in secluded quarters, says: "The best software for you is the one you really know how to use."

Let's take a different example: DTP. I've been using PageMaker since the mid-1980s, I can quickly build or rebuild any publication using it. However I can't find my way in either QuarkXpress or Frame Maker, it's like moving into a different realm. The same is expected to happen when moving to another subtitling software environment.

My intent is to efface the impression that, since there are so many fansubbers around, any idiot can do it hands down. It takes a careful survey of one's marketplace and some testing before taking the plunge. Efficiency - if required - may turn into a priority later.

Some people have told me that Quark is a piece of cake, however they won't touch InDesign (PageMaker's "son"). So, as it is often said, "your mileage may vary".
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Jonathan Hemming
Jonathan Hemming  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:51
Spanish to English
+ ...
Subtitle Edit but is it reliable? Mar 17, 2014

Hi

I am currently using Subtitle Edit, mainly because I can't afford an expensive software. From the ones I have tried EZTitles would be my first choice. I have tried Spot, Swift and Isis and found EZTitles the easiest to use.

I like Subtitle Edit, but I find that it is very unreliable, especially in terms of generating consistent time-ins and time-outs.

For example, if a subtitle starts or finishes exactly on the second (like 00:00:03:00), it is almost
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Hi

I am currently using Subtitle Edit, mainly because I can't afford an expensive software. From the ones I have tried EZTitles would be my first choice. I have tried Spot, Swift and Isis and found EZTitles the easiest to use.

I like Subtitle Edit, but I find that it is very unreliable, especially in terms of generating consistent time-ins and time-outs.

For example, if a subtitle starts or finishes exactly on the second (like 00:00:03:00), it is almost always impossible to land on this frame,as it always falls one frame before or one frame after, which means I often have to go and correct the subtitle file later, in Excel for example.

I find it also jumps several frames across the length of the video and is nearly always one or two frames out. If you work with a BITC (buil in time code), you can fix this on the go, but if there is no BITC on the video, it's difficult to know if you're in sync or not.

Any thoughts on this? Am I the only one to have these problems with Subtitle Edit?

Jonathan
www.translationengland.com
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Robert Tucker (X)
Robert Tucker (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:51
German to English
+ ...
Frames? Mar 18, 2014

My usual practice doing TED talks is to time/spot the video first using Jubler, which will leave me with timing errors of about 10-20 milliseconds or so. I then use Aegisub to make the subtitles (or most of them) continuous, which allows maximum time for a translation to be added, I'm told. Finally, I use Subtitle Edit from the nikse.de site to check I've no overlapping subtitles and that the character/second rate is nothing too ridiculous.

Perhaps you can explain what your concern
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My usual practice doing TED talks is to time/spot the video first using Jubler, which will leave me with timing errors of about 10-20 milliseconds or so. I then use Aegisub to make the subtitles (or most of them) continuous, which allows maximum time for a translation to be added, I'm told. Finally, I use Subtitle Edit from the nikse.de site to check I've no overlapping subtitles and that the character/second rate is nothing too ridiculous.

Perhaps you can explain what your concern with frames is – they're currently not considered with TED talks. The subtitling guide for Channel 4 simply states: "subtitles should not go over cuts (this is standard subtitling practice) but should clear the cut by 2 frames on either side. — Where dialogue is continuous and there are are no cuts, there should be a gap of 4 frames between subtitles. This can be reduced to 2 frames if the dialogue is very fast...", and the BBC just says: "Many subtitles therefore start on the first frame of the shot and end on the last frame. If a subtitle ends before a shot change or starts after a shot change, there should be a gap of at least 1 second, preferably 1.5 seconds, between the subtitle and the shot change...", and: "Where shots are not timed to song-lines, you should either take the subtitle to the end of the shot (if it's only a few frames away) or end the subtitle before the end of the shot (if it's 12 frames or more away)."

[Edited at 2014-03-18 09:05 GMT]
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Laura Brown
Laura Brown  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 18:51
Member (2016)
Chinese to English
+ ...
Cost of main platforms Nov 29, 2016

I think the main question in the original post for this forum was regarding basic price points for some of these packages, which is also what I have been trying to find out. I found pricing for MacCaption, but I can't find anything for Swift or some of the other major ones people are mentioning (I looked around the Softel website, but it looks like you need to make direct inquiry with regional sellers). Anyone have some current info on this? Thanks.

 
Katharina Hinderer
Katharina Hinderer
Local time: 23:51
English to German
+ ...
freeware vs. professional software May 8, 2017

I still stand by my recommendation of EZtitles. It is an excellent software for professional subtitlers. Frankly, if I'd have to use 3 different freeware programmes to finish a subtitle file, I don't see how this could be productive.

I used Subtitle Edit once and I'll never repeat that mistake. The file I had created came up empty, when I tried to open it again. Luckily I had made a text export so I only lost part of my work. It's not reliable. At all.

And I don't get p
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I still stand by my recommendation of EZtitles. It is an excellent software for professional subtitlers. Frankly, if I'd have to use 3 different freeware programmes to finish a subtitle file, I don't see how this could be productive.

I used Subtitle Edit once and I'll never repeat that mistake. The file I had created came up empty, when I tried to open it again. Luckily I had made a text export so I only lost part of my work. It's not reliable. At all.

And I don't get paid to promote EZtitles, either. I have used other software, Wincaps and FAB subtitler. But those are much more expensive and/ or much more complicated to use. FAB subtitler costs around 5000 Euros, is what I heard and doesn't allow you to undo any changes in the timing of the subtitles. It has some advantages, but I wouldn't recommend it wholeheartedly.

Best wishes
Katharina
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Robert Tucker (X)
Robert Tucker (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:51
German to English
+ ...
Waveform May 8, 2017

I would be very interested to be pointed towards a screenshot of professional subtitling software that has a better, clearer, larger, easier-to-work-with waveform than Jubler. (Not that I can see myself paying out thousands for it.)

 
Wojciech_ (X)
Wojciech_ (X)
Poland
Local time: 23:51
English to Polish
+ ...
Subtitle Edit May 8, 2017

Subtitle Edit is currently the only freeware software that can create subtitles in a number of professional format, including Netflix formats. Moreover, it now has a built-in QC tool for Netflix projects. With a plugin it also recognizes shot changes.
Add to this the fact that the app is being developed actively and you can submit your ideas as well as bugs at github.com


 
Max Deryagin
Max Deryagin  Identity Verified
Russian Federation
Local time: 03:51
Member (2013)
English to Russian
- May 8, 2017

Katharina Hinderer wrote:

I still stand by my recommendation of EZtitles. It is an excellent software for professional subtitlers. Frankly, if I'd have to use 3 different freeware programmes to finish a subtitle file, I don't see how this could be productive.

I used Subtitle Edit once and I'll never repeat that mistake. The file I had created came up empty, when I tried to open it again. Luckily I had made a text export so I only lost part of my work. It's not reliable. At all.

And I don't get paid to promote EZtitles, either. I have used other software, Wincaps and FAB subtitler. But those are much more expensive and/ or much more complicated to use. FAB subtitler costs around 5000 Euros, is what I heard and doesn't allow you to undo any changes in the timing of the subtitles. It has some advantages, but I wouldn't recommend it wholeheartedly.

Best wishes
Katharina


Yep, EZTitles is fantastic, and 5.2 will be even more awesome


Andrei Neagu
 
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