This command performs word wrap, then splits the text into individual subtitles and auto timecodes them. It affects all subtitles from the current subtitles chain. The In/Out cues for all subtitles from the chain will be reset automatically in accordance with the Reading Speed, Min. Interval and Min/Max Duration parameters set by the current Project Settings.
The process relies on different rules which have their own priority and weight. The general idea is that the greater the weight of a rule, the higher its priority becomes.
We'll describe each of the rules in more details later on in this topic. But before doing that, let's first take a quick look at the interface itself.
Pressing the Defaults button will revert back to the default configuration. Clicking on the Advanced button opens additional rules that can be configured for achieving explicit results.
The Preview checkbox opens the preview panel (the right part of the above image) showing how the text in the current chain would look like after executing the command with the current configuration. Modifying the rules or changing their weight to the algorithm will not simultaneously update text's preview. It will be updated only after pressing the Update button.
Rules, priority and weight
As mentioned earlier, the results from using the command rely on several rules and their priority. There are two types of rules: the ones with fixed priority which can only be turned on/off and those which can have their priority adjusted.
Rules with fixed priority
Prolong last subtitle in chain to |
Extends the last subtitle in the current subtitle chain to the specified duration. When the distance to the next subtitle doesn't allow it, the last subtitle will be extended as much as possible until its out-cue snaps on the min. interval from the next in-cue. Note: The option respects the configured Snap to Shot Changes rules. Turn off Snap to shot changes on set cues to disable it. |
On row break create new subtitle |
The program will find if there are any paragraphs in the original text. Paragraph endings will be noted and text from a new paragraph will be inserted into a new subtitle. In other words EZTitles won't combine text lines from two distinguished text paragraphs into a single subtitle. |
Keep subtitle segments |
A subtitle segment is a sequence of subtitles with indexes (numbered as 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, etc,) in their respective subtitle number. Each segment starts with subtitle without an index (Subtitle N:2) and ends with the last subtitle containing index (Subtitle N:2e). Activating the Keep Subtitle Segments option instructs EZTitles that the text contained in the initial subtitle segments needs to be preserved and inserted into new subtitle segments. Note: Commands like split and insert subtitle or the technique for continuous typing described in the Closed Captions section will produce indexed subtitles. |
After split select |
Offers the option to automatically select either the first or last subtitle in the range. |
Maximum number of rows |
The Maximum Number of Rows is currently limited to 1 or 2 and it determines how many text lines s subtitle may contain after they have been automatically adjusted. |
Row doesn't end on |
Allows word or phrase, separated by a space, to be entered in order to prevent subtitle lines ending with them, for example "a", "the", "that", etc.
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Move to a new line text enclosed by |
This option could be really handy when the subtitles contain descriptive text indicated by a special character like the musical note or surrounded by brackets or any other symbol. Text enclosed by the specified symbols will be moved to a separate line, if Max. Number of Rows is set to 2, or to a new subtitle otherwise. If the text is surrounded by two different symbols it is important to enter both of them in the respective field. |
Rules with configurable priority
The options, found by pressing the Advanced button, can be used for achieving more precise results by modifying their weight to increase or decrease their priority respectively.
The weight of a rule can vary between 0 and 100. Rule with its weight set to 0 will not have any priority, i.e. it's disabled, the greater the weight of a rule, the higher its priority becomes.
It's also possible to have multiple rules with weight of 100.
Subtitle end punctuation |
The specified punctuation characters will be used as split point and when found near the end of a text line or a subtitle all the text that follows it will be inserted into a new subtitle. |
Prefer longer rows |
This rule instructs the algorithm to favor creating subtitles that have more characters on each text line. Decreasing its weight will result in shorter, containing less text, subtitles overall. |
Single Sentences |
Tells the algorithm to prioritize creating subtitles that contain just a sentence in them. Increasing its weight will result in subtitles primarily containing just a single sentence, while decreasing its priority will result into more subtitles containing text from different sentences. |
Subtitle rows layout |
Allows you to select preferable layout for subtitles containing more than 1 text line: Bottom Heavy: text line to the bottom line will be longer than the one above. Top Heavy: text line to the bottom will be shorter than the one above. Squared: aims to create two text lines with equal or close to equal length. Note: the line will be split when it goes outside the safe area or contains more than the allowed number of characters. |
Preferred max row length |
Specifies the number of characters that each text line should preferably contain. Sometimes, text lines containing more characters could be created but the total length will never exceed the Max. Number of Characters set at Project Settings/Safe Area menu. |
Row end punctuation |
The specified punctuation characters will be used as word wrap point and when found near the end of the line all the text that follows it will be moved to a new text line. |