Limecraft automatically turns spoken words in broadcast-grade subtitles in minutes. Using Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) and Natural Language Processing (NLP), the services takes care of the queueing or spotting. Spotting rules are pre-configurable, thus saving up to 80% of the time.

TABLE OF CONTENTS


Not familiar with Limecraft yet? Make sure to sign up first, or to request a one to one demo.


1. Creating subtitles 

First of all, we advise you to create and review the transcript using the AI transcription app as explained in the appropriate section. 

More on AI transcription on our blog: Getting started with AI Transcription.

Once you are happy with your transcript, open up the subtitle editor which look like this:

Using Limecraft Flow to automatically create subtitles via the Subtitling app


Select the language in the dropdown box, in this case 'Dutch'. The first option, "Take text from the Dutch transcript and generate timing via spotting rules" is suggested by default, but you have other options as well.

If multiple subtitle presets or styles have been configured, e.g. for television or for social media, you are presented a dropdown to select the right style.

Select automatic or manual subtitling in Limecraft Flow

 Press 'Generate' to start the process of creating subtitles, the screen will look like this

Screenshot of Limecraft creating subtitles


Automatic subtitling might take a while depending on the length of your material. You don’t have to keep the page open for the workflow to continue. When the subtitles are ready, they will be visible on right side of the screen like on the screenshot below.

Screenshot of the Subtitle Editor in Limecraft


The controls at the bottom of the screen change to the subtitle editor controls. 

?If you are looking for translation or translated subtitles, check the appropriate section in the knowledge base 

Note: It is also possible to start automatic subtitling without using the Transcriber application. Behind the scenes, this first creates a transcript in the Transcriber application and then creates subtitles out of those. 

2. Editing subtitles

You can use the Subtitle app to edit the stream of subtitles, simply click on the subtitle and it will go into edit mode. Clicking outside the subtitle will save your changes. Pushing the Esc key on your keyboard will abort your changes.

Tip: Because ASR may throw more or less errors depending on the audio quality, it will be necessary to correct the result of the AI transcription first. As mentioned in the article 'tips for efficient post-editing of transcripts', the transcription app is better suited to correct these mistakes. Therefore we advise to use the transcription app before generating subtitles.


Detail of the Limecraft Subtitle editor explaining the different controls


2.1 Changing TIME IN/TIME OUT

While editing a subtitle, the appearance and disappearance time of the subtitle are shown at the top of the subtitle. You can type in a new timecode, or use the arrow keys to change the timecode one frame at a time.


Detail of the Limecraft subtitle editor showing how you can modify the timing



But the best way to change the timing is to move the playhead to the desired location in the video and press the little green circle next to the timecode. This will copy the current playhead position into the timing field. This is the same as clicking the SET IN (F9) or SET OUT (F10) buttons.

Note: you can use the “Play IN to OUT” button (F8) to preview the time range!

Alternatively, you can drag the in and out points of the subtitles on the timeline below the controls.


2.2 Change the subtitle position (top / bottom region)

By default, the subtitle is located in the bottom region. As an alternative, the subtitle can be located in the ‘top region’ by clicking the region button. The icon of the button will change, and the subtitle shown over the video will change its position to something like the example shown below. 

Screenshot of how to modify the position of a subtitle (top/bottom) using the Limecraft subtitle editor


The exact top and bottom region of the subtitles can be defined in the Subtitle Editor settings in the Profile settings. Read more about it here.

2.3 Change the colours

When creating subtitles for the deaf and the hard of hearing (SDH), it is common to use a different colour per speaker. Select some text in the edit box, and press the button with the brush icon. A menu with text colours will appear. In the example below, we changed the text colour to green. If no text is selected and you change the colour, the entire subtitle will change colour. 

Screenshot showing how to modify the colour of a subtitle in the Limecraft subtitle editor


The color options are defined in the Subtitle Editor setting in the profile settings. Read more about it here.


2.4 Delete a subtitle

Press the button with the trash can to delete a subtitle.

2.5 Warnings

While editing a subtitle, you might see an exclamation triangle appear on the subtitle. This means you are violating one of the subtitle specifications set in the production configuration. 

2.5.1 Too many characters

The example below has too many characters on a single line and too many words for the subtitle duration.

Detail of the Limecraft subtitle editor throwing a warning due to a breach of styling or timing rules


The subtitle will be verified while editing.

2.5.2 Subtitle overlap

The icon might even turn red, which means you are in trouble. A red icon means the subtitle overlaps other subtitles, which will prevent the subtitle from saving. For example, this subtitle overlaps the next subtitle:

Detail of the Limecraft subtitle editor throwing an error due to overlapping subtitles

If you try to save this subtitle, the subtitle will turn orange and inform you of the overlap:

Detail of the Limecraft subtitle editor suggesting a fix for overlapping subtitles


You can either press ‘back’ to manually solve the issue, or press ‘fix’ to shorten the subtitle automatically.

3. Changing the Status to 'Completed'

Once you are happy with your subtitles, click the button ‘Mark Completed’ at the top of the Subtitle Editor. This will change the subtitling status on this clip to completed. Depending on the configuration of your workspace, changing the status to 'Completed' might trigger sending a notification to the supervisor or publishing the subtitles on social media.

Furthermore Limecraft allows you to filter on the subtitling status of a clip. This makes it easy to find all clips which have no subtitles yet, or for which subtitles are completed:

Limecraft Screenshot - how to search for clips with a particular subtitle status


Note: you can always revert the status to ‘editing’ if you marked a clip ‘completed’ by accident.

4. Reset subtitles

If for any reason you want to restart your subtitling work, click the small arrow button next to ‘mark complete’ and you’ll be presented with a menu like below. Click ‘Delete Subtitles’. Note that this will remove all your work and reset the subtitling status to ‘not yet started’.

Screenshot of how to delete subtitles in Limecraft


5. Exporting subtitles

You can export the subtitles in a variety of formats (closed captions), or burned-in in the video (open captions). Check the article 'Exporting Subtitles' in the knowledge base.

6. Asking for help 

The help button on the far right will show a menu with a ‘talk to us’ option. Click it to get in touch. We will help you out if you get stuck for some reason, and we would like to hear your experiences with the application!

Screenshot of how to get help when using Limecraft for Subtitling


7. Download Subtitle Editor Cheat Sheet

Download the cheat sheet, print it, and hang it on your wall!