Working with Subtitle Files

The Checks command will help you find the subtitles that doesn't match certain rules. You can start the Checks from the File menu.

The available Checks criteria are divided into separate categories for easier navigation and clean preview of the selected options. Whenever there is at least one of selected for a category, category's name would be marked in bold and the checkbox in front of it will look like a square -. And when all options are clicked for a category, the checkbox in front of its name becomes fully checked - .

The Export button will create MS Excell file containing the subtitles with found issues, subtitles without problems will not be exported, and details about the issues. Please mind that when working with projects with two tracks, subtitles from the secondary track will be exported into separate worksheet in the MS Excel document.

Check both subtitle tracks - the option becomes available only if the current project has a secondary subtitle track and the "Check" command will then go through the subtitles from both tracks simultaneously. Otherwise, if the option is disabled, the Check will be performed only for the currently selected track.

The text specifying the type of the error found in the current subtitle is displayed at the bottom of the window. You can find the next problematic subtitle using the Next and Previous buttons. By pressing the Log button, EZConvert will move all subtitles which match the specified criteria to the Log list for revision.

Cues and Text

Inconsistent cues	Check for in/out cues with timecode errors. For details please check later in this topic.
Duration	Checks whether the subtitle duration is below the minimum/maximum values specified at the Project Settings/Cues menu.
Below Reading Speed Above Reading Speed	Checks for subtitles exceeding the limits of the specified reading speed. Below Reading Speed is the more important parameter – it indicates whether the viewer has enough time to read the subtitle. For more information about reading speed refer to Reading Speed Parameters.
Gap between subtitles	Checks the gaps between subtitles. Gives an error message if the gap between two subtitles is less than the specified number of frames and is not equal to the minimum interval defined in Project Settings/Cues page.
Subtitles before Timecode	Verifies if there are any subtitles beginning before the specified timecode.

Non-printable characters	Checks for characters not supported by the particular language and font or for such which have not been imported correctly from the input file. Non-printable characters are marked as "□".
Safe Area	Checks whether the subtitles are correctly positioned in the so-called "safe area" – the optimum visible field of the TV screen. It also checks for subtitles with more than 36 characters per row (the number of characters can be specified with the File/Project Settings). For more information you may refer to the Safe Area topic.
Raised Subtitles	Checks for subtitles that are placed above or below the Safe Area margins. These are the subtitles that have an empty last line (for bottom vertical alignment) or first line (for top vertical alignment). The Exclude raised by option can be used when the prevailing number of subtitles are intentionally raised by a number of lines.
More than … lines	Checks for subtitles that exceed the set maximum number of rows (default – 2 rows).
Exactly ... lines	Checks and finds all subtitles that have the indicated number of lines.
Extra Spaces	Checks if there are more than one spaces inserted between the text or for space at the beginning and end of the text line. When Space before punctuation option is clicked, EZConvert will also check if there are spaces before the punctuation marks.
Extra Rows	Checks for subtitles containing text lines separated by at least one empty line.
Horizontally shifted	Checks for text which is offset from the default left, right or center alignment positions, for example as a result of using the Move Subtitle Left/Right or Move Row Left/Right commands.
Subtitles without text	Checks for subtitles without text.
Inconsistent numbering	Checks subtitle numeration is consistent throughout the project. Inconsistent numbering is considered when a subtitle number is skipped: 1, 2, 4, 5..., or when the letter index is skipped: 1a, 1b, 1d, 2a, 2b, 2c, 3b, 3c.
Subtitles with comments	Checks for comments attached to the subtitles.
Wrap subtitle to one line	Checks if the text of a subtitle in two or more lines can actually fit on just a single line. However, the text should not exceed the characters per line limit set in the Project Settings/Safe Area menu. Note: Subtitles with dialogue in them will not be marked by the Check. Dialogue is considered whenever one of the text lines in the subtitle starts with hyphen (long hyphen, em-dash) or one of the lines is in different color.
Not snapped to top/bottom safe area	This option is intended to find all subtitles which are not aligned to the top or bottom safe area margins. If the text is positioned in the top half of the screen, it will be aligned to the top safe area margin, if in the bottom half - to the bottom one.

Attributes

One of the most important new features is that you can look for subtitles that have particular attribute or for those which don’t have it. For example you can start a check for all subtitles which have yellow text or only for those which are not yellow.

The positive or negative state of the command can be customized at the Checks dialog clicking the Is or Is Not option

Italics	You can find all italics formatted text or subtitles.
Partial Italics	Enables you to find subtitles that have some of their text in italics.
Uppercase	Finds subtitles for which all words and characters are written in UPPERCASE.
Partial Uppercase	Finds subtitles containing at least one word in uppercase.
Font	Allows you to find all subtitles written with Font 1 or Font 2.
Hidden	Looks for Hidden or Not Hidden subtitles.
Color	Enables you to find subtitles formatted in particular color. The color can be selected from the corresponding box to the right.
Alignment	When this option is clicked, EZTitles will look for all subtitles aligned in the specified way.
Vertical Position	Checks if the text appears visually in the top or bottom half of the screen.
Box Style	Allows you to look for the subtitles with Box effect applied.
Outline/Shadow	With this turned on you can find the subtitles which have Outline or Shadow effects applied.
Direction	Enables you to search the selected word or phrase in vertically or horizontally oriented subtitles.
Underline	Searches for text which is underlined.
Double Height	You can locate all subtitles formatted as Double Height. The Double Height check option is available only for Teletext projects and will be displayed when EZTitles works in Teletext mode.
Captions Style	Captions Style can be used to locate subtitles formatted with the Closed Captions specific Pain-on, Pop-on or Roll-Up styles. It is available when EZTitles is working in Closed Captions mode.

The options listed in the Subtitle Attributes section of the Checks dialog will change along with the mode of operation. There are specific checks only available when working in Teletext and Closed Captions mode.

Options for East Asian Languages

The options described below become available only if the input file contains any characters from the East Asian writing scripts:

Vertical subtitles alignment	Checks for vertical subtitles aligned or not aligned to the top safe area margin. The term "start" refers to the default/initial value of the tts:textAlign attribute from TTML2.
Ruby/Bouten position different from	Checks if Ruby/Bouten characters match the specified position: Above/Right - for horizontal subtitles Above the text; for vertical subtitles to the Right of the text; Below/Left - for horizontal subtitles Below the text; for vertical subtitles to the Left of the text; Outside - Outside is the default position for Ruby/Bouten characters. The term "Outside" refers to the initial value of the tts:rubyPosition attribute from TTML2.
Single line left positioned vertical subtitles Outside ruby position is	This option allows you to check if the ruby/bouten characters in one-line vertical subtitle aligned to the left appear Left or Right from the base text. The option can be used only if Ruby/Bouten position different from is set to Outside. The common practice is ruby/bouten characters to be displayed on the right side of the text in one-line vertical subtitles. But there might be a requirement to display ruby in one-line left positioned vertical subtitles to the left of the base text:
Ruby Align	Checks if ruby's alignment matches the specified position.
Ruby/Bouten on middle lines	Checks if there are subtitles with 3 text lines and Ruby/Bouten added on the middle line. The common practice doesn't allow Ruby/Bouten characters on the middle line as well as subtitles with more than 2 text lines
Digit representation in horizontal and vertical subtitles	Checks for half-width and full-width digits representation in horizontal and vertical subtitles. Horizontal subtitles: oSingle digit numbers should be written using full-width alphanumeric characters oDouble digit and higher numbers should be written using half-width characters Vertical subtitles: oSingle digit numbers should be written using full-width alphanumeric characters oConsecutive digits up to HGroup parameter should be written using half-width characters and positioned in Horizontal Group. oConsecutive digits above the HGroup parameter should be written using full-width characters and positioned vertically.

Multiple tracks

Multiple Tracks options become available once Secondary Subtitle Track is added or file with two tracks is loaded:

Subtitles with overlapping text	Checks for subtitles which might be covering the text of subtitle in the other track.
Subtitles with overlapping cues	Checks for subtitles with overlapping In and Out cues from the two tracks.

Creating Check Presets

EZConvert also provides the functionality to create Presets with the most frequently used "Check" options.

To add new preset you can simply press the triangular button and select the Create New Preset option. All currently selected "Check" options will be added for this preset. To modify the currently selected preset you just need to click the "Check" options you want to activate or disable and then select the Save current preset option after clicking the triangular button. From the same menu you can also Delete or Rename the currently activated preset.

You can select another of your "Check" Presets directly from the Presets drop-down menu.

Note: Note: Pressing the button next to Presets will hide the main part of the Checks form leaving only the part describing what the particular problem is:

This will be really helpful when EZTitles is used on devices with small display running at low resolution and high DPI settings.