Replies: 6 comments
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This... already exists, without the needlessly complicated additional panel. It's more robust in SE4, but this is also quite usable. |
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@Hai-Lag: If you want to try something, then try using e.g. Whisper or another AI to align a transcript with the actual audio... |
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Oh yeah, of the tools that exist that don't require extensive setup, you can use this to do that: |
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Thank you so much guys for your replies on time, but for me and for other linguists in my team taking on similar tasks, we see this approach as the most useful and practical way to create SRT files from approved transcript with as less headache as possible because in our case we receive approved and official transcript/translation that clients ask us not to modify at all costs which are usually .doc/.docx files |
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OK, perhaps you could add doc/docx import via the "Import plain tex"... When you have the text inside SE, you can use "Set start and offset the rest" and other commands/shortcuts to sync. Do you have some sample files? (Github supports .zip attachments) |
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What files do you mean exactly If you need the .doc/.docx file samples, they are *.docx files with just plain text or sometimes bilingual tables and we create the SRT files by copy/paste from word doc to SE. That's why adding a simple Text Panel would save time switching and copying/pasting between MS Word and SubtitleEdit. If we are going to add it, I would suggest making it a hideable panel (and hidden by default) If you mean the source code of the concept I built, it's attached in the post and here it's again: https://github.com/user-attachments/files/25996107/ScriptReaderFeature.zip |
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Feature Proposal: Script Reader Panel
Author: Abdelhai Laggoun
Type: Concept / Proof of Concept (working prototype built)
Notes:
Summary
A Script Reader panel that sits alongside the video player, allowing the user to load a text file (script, transcript, dialogue sheet, etc.) and create subtitles by selecting text and pressing a shortcut [Ctrl+D] placing each subtitle at the current video playhead position.
This is useful for anyone who already has a written script and needs to time it to video, which is a very common subtitling workflow.
A-How It Works
1- A panel appears next to the video player with a Load text / text file... button
2- User loads a .txt or .docx file or any other file type containing plain text: The content appears as plain text in a scrollable, read-only text box
3- User plays the video, and when they reach the right moment, they select a sentence in the Script Reader and press Ctrl+D
4- A new subtitle is created at the current video position with the selected text
5- The subtitle appears in the list immediately, timing is then adjustable as usual through the existing timeline/waveform tools
C-Key Points for Official Implementation
The panel must correctly support right-to-left languages like Arabic. In my prototype, I auto-detect RTL characters in the loaded text and set [FlowDirection.RightToLeft] on the text box. This is essential. Arabic text is unreadable without proper RTL flow direction.
2. Dockable, Floating Panel, Resizable Panel, Show/Hide Toggle
Not every user needs this panel. It should be hidden by default and togglable via a View menu option (e.g. View → Script Reader Panel) or a toolbar button, so it doesn't take screen space for users who don't need it.
Similar to how the video player and waveform can be undocked, the Script Reader panel could optionally be undocked into its own window. This would be helpful for multi-monitor setups where the user keeps the script on one screen and the video/timeline on another.
3. Highlight Already-Used Text
After a sentence is turned into a subtitle, it would be helpful to visually mark that text (e.g. dim it, change its background color, or strikethrough) so the user can easily see which parts of the script have already been subtitled and which remain.
4. File Format Support
.txt: Plain text with encoding detection (UTF-8, UTF-16, ANSI)
.doc/docx: Extract plain text from Word documents
.Xlx/Xlxs: Extracting plain texts from Excel tables
.Pdf: Extracting plain texts from PDFs [*.pdf support would be a welcome addition in the future]
5. Subtitle Duration
The initial subtitle is created with a default duration (e.g. 2 seconds). Since Subtitle Edit already handles timing via the timeline, waveform, and duration fields, no special duration logic is needed. User adjusts it as they normally would after placing the subtitle.
Prototype
I have built a working proof of concept on top of the current Avalonia codebase. In this report, I am attaching:
The implementation modifies: InitLayout.cs (Layout 1 & 2), MainViewModel.cs (new command + property), ShortcutsMain.cs (Ctrl+D shortcut), and adds a new InitScriptReader.cs.
Happy to share more details, screenshots, or anything else as needed.
Best,
Abdelhai Laggoun,
English-Arabic Linguist & Manager
Transila.me
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