You can use Limecraft to automatically create subtitles for your video clips. AI subtitling is especially efficient to process short-form video. When using square or vertical video resolutions, you may want to modify the styling rules for optimal readability. In this article you will learn how to set up the subtitle preset and optimise spotting rules for square video. 


By default, the subtitling spotting rules used by Limecraft are optimised for maximum readability on horizontal videos (16:9). Given that square video items are mostly used via social media on smartphones, you should consider a specific style guide to improve readability. In this article you will learn how to optimise the subtitle settings and spotting rules for subtitling so that they fit on square videos (aspect ratio 1/1).



TABLE OF CONTENTS



Accessing the Subtitle Settings

To begin, go to the production settings, subtitle editor and create a new subtitle preset for square videos. Read more about accessing the subtitling settings.


Regions


Preview Aspect Ratio


The black box that you can see in the Region Configuration settings is your preview window. Change the aspect ratio of the preview in the lower right corner of the box. 



Region settings


Adapt the region settings to determine where on the screen your subtitles are shown. There you’ll see “Bottom Region” and “Top Region”. These are the selections that you can choose when creating the subtitles. 




 We recommend using, 81% width and 18-19% height (for both) and to try if these fit your content. You can drag the Bottom region and top region position to a desired position in the preview window.



 

Cell resolution


In the Layout section, you will find the cell resolution settings.


The cell resolution defines a virtual 2D grid of cells over the video canvas. “Cell Resolution X” defines the number of columns in this grid, and Cell Resolution Y defines the number of rows in this grid. As font size and line height are based on the cell height, cell Resolution Y can be used to influence the subtitle font size. A more thorough explanation can be found here: 


https://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/forproducts/guides/subtitles/#ttp-cellResolution


For a square video, we recommend changing the cell resolution to X 20 and Y 20. 





Characters on a line and number of lines


Lower on the page, you will find the Automatic Subtitler Spotting Rules section. 


It is recommended to change the Character limits according to below:


  • The amount of characters on a line: at most 25 characters (hard limit 29 characters)

  • The number of lines: 2 lines (hard limit 3 lines)