.srt caption file imports as 720x480 and I need it at 1920x1080 (Premiere Pro 14.9 or earlier)

[holtz]

Hi all,

I've been experimenting with YouTube's closed caption creation tools and using 3rd party downloaders to extract the .srt file from the video.

Even if I download the 1080P version of the video, the caption file gets interpreted by Premiere as a 720x480 and when I export the video, the captions get cut off...

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

*steve

[VidiChandra]

OMG! Worked a treat. You have just saved me hours in the edit. Thank you for saving my sanity. I had an adobe chat guy tell me straight out that there was no way I could edit .srt files in adobe. They should put this tip on the website.

[CIS1]

DreamingFilms  wrote

I have come to bring the solution to this, not even the Adobe guys knows this I'm sure.

You know the commands set to frame size and scale to frame size? There's actually a different behavior to them. I'm sure we all use set to frame size so we can have a better control of the scale of our clips, but try using these two with your captions on the timeline.

Set to frame size, scales the letters horribly, but Scale to frame size... chan! that does it! it actually changes the text sixe of the captions without breaking it! works with HD and 4K as well.

That works well, thanks!

Took me a moment to figure out how to fix the crop I was getting because of the pixel aspect. Now if only I can figure out how to get one of the lines to center properly.

Why is this feature so broken and frustrating?

[zmvisuals]

DreamingFilms​

YOU´RE THE GOD!!!!!!!

Maaaaan!! You saved me soooo much time!!!

GOD BLESS YOU MAN!!!!

[Flavio S]

haha yessssss

[dchue_upshot]

Oh my God.... Thank you for saving me from so much time and frustration! Now if only Premiere would stop crashing every other time I click on my .srt in the timeline!

[jomo5280]

Awesome! Thanks for the workaround! works great! The only thing I am seeing  on my end is that my Open Captioning font is a bit jagged when I export to mp4 - looks perfect in Premiere - any thoughts? thanks!

[R Neil Haugen]

Hmmm ... maybe I'd go to the program monitor and set the viewing scale to 100%, then see what the captions look like. Then try slightly adjusting the scaling of the captions to see if that would help?

Neil

[dchue_upshot]

Related to this, does anyone have an issue with Captions crashing Premiere? If I click on an .srt in my timeline more than once, it crashes the program. I'm still on CC 2015.4, Version 13.8.1, and praying this terrible bug has been resolved in CC 2017...

[jomo5280]

No crashing in CC17 - however, there is a bug, on occasion, that the styling of the captions default to the original unformatted text - even though the settings in the caption window shows that the changes have been made - the display shows the wrong text.

The only way i can get it back is to toggle the timeline off and on, scale to frame, a bunch of random things.. and then it pops back to  normal.. frustrating!

[jomo5280]

hmm. still a bit pixelated on 1920x1080. I may be able to put a minimal blur on the open caption text to give it some sort of "anti-alias" effect.

[JasonAnderson]

That worked!  Thanks so much.

[jerryp56589328]

You da man....thank you so much, I was pulling my hair out over this.

[michaelm63715593]

No solutions yet ? Really ?

[blaset10855379]

I used

1. modify, captions
   1. set resolution to 1920x1080

I think if the TC in the file uses ; instead of : it will force you to either .9 or 1.2. Thought at 1920x1080 its not a big deal. (you can squish it. if you want.)

Saving and closing means the next time you import a file, it will default to 1080p as well.

[holtz]

Tina, in CC17 I can edit the imported .srt file no problem. Just double click on the srt bit in the timeline and the captions function pops up... you can also adjust the length the caption stays onscreen by just dragging the markers.

[sBirch]

Tried to use the Open Captioning tool of Adobe Premiere Pro again, and another couple of hours wasted with no billable work at the end of my efforts. CC 2017.1.2. v11.0

I have a SRT file with time codes and Open captions that I was handed from an external partner in the SRT format. I have imported it, and it defaults to a 720x540 anamorphic setting.

I add the file to the project sequence I want to subtitle. But as soon as I start to change the time codes of the subtitles and change the font size or modify the caption contents, the entire file caption file stops working in the preview pane. Subtitles simply stops updating when previewing, frozen on what ever caption I was displaying last.

Also changes made to Font size and transparency applied to multiple selections do not kick in often, even if I have shift-clicked all frames I wanted to modify properties for.

So, at the end of it all, Open Captioning and SRT files are still so unpredictable and frustrating to use that I give up and use Camtasia to add open captions to my project.

Yes, Adobe. I use Camtasia. Because Premiere Pro cannot deliver. Camtasia works. It eats SRT files, it makes subtitles.

[markw94404465]

I too have wasted hours trying to understand how Adobe can put such a buggy unpredictable mess into what is an otherwise outstanding editing suite.

Between imported captions not working or turning out tiny in size and breaking upon editing, and newly created ones just randomly being invisible on the timeline or not responding to edits at all, this is the worst Adobe experience I can remember at a time when quick and easy captioning is becoming an essential workflow requirement.

Sometimes the feature works perfectly, other times, for no apparent reason, it is a complete mess. Too often though, a piece of crap basically. The kind of feature that you wish didn't exist at all, then it wouldn't temp you to try it just one more time. Tried updating to the latest Creative Suite version, tried all the fixes above.

Instead of in-program solutions, can we talk about alternative programs? Video Converter from Wondershare (https://videoconverter.wondershare.com/​) seems quite well featured, except it doesn't allow subtitles to sit on top of an opaque background. Any other suggestions?

[markw94404465]

Another option that I am using is Submerge 3 from the Mac App store. Looks a bit like iMovie, but it has Pro Res export after a $9.95 in app purchase.

Still, works better than Adobe's solution (ie actually works). But unlikely to standup to a professional workflow.

[JasonAnderson]

Mark, all you need to do is import your .srt file.  Drag it to the sequence over the video.  Expand the view in the sequence so you can right click to and select "scale to frame".  Then, double click on the srt file and the captions edit window will appear.  Make your adjustments from there.  It works.

[markw94404465]

I'd really like it to be that simple, but it's not. Often scaling to frame size fixes one problem and then creates another. when trying to 'group' edit all captions in a single file, the caption file will often stop responding to any edits at all or, only display the first caption for the whole clip, or just not display forcing a restart. The more you interact with the features of Adobe's tool, the more it reveals how broken it can be.

[sBirch]

Yes, this is precisely what I experience. After importing, the more I do, the more broken it turns out and I see the same caption displayed forever. How can this tool be in the software so broken for so long? It is useless for a workflow that involves actual real-life work with subtitles where you get files from translators. SRT files are plain text, so the file it self is not the source of the problem. That must lie within Premiere Pro and those at Adobe who call the shots for this software.

[nathaliad7908949]

Hi Birch (and all)

This Forum was really helpful, although I don't use Premiere yet. This is the deal: I work with subtitles and use Subtitle Edit, which I love, it's free, user-friendly, etc. Never had a problem with it. I also have some partnerships who use Eztitles, which apparently, is the best out there.

But now, for some reason, most of my clients (who send their videos subtitled to TV channels), are using Premiere Pro. And, of course, all these problems mentioned here happen when they try to import my subtitles into their video on Premiere Pro. It does not read the Font color codes, from either Eztitles or Subtitle Edit, it does not read alignment codes, italics, and the same problem with the resolution you all mentioned, which apparentely change automatically to 480, 720, etc. So we are having problems with HD resolution, and also, MCC files for CC subtitles. What's up with that?

I am actually trying to figure out how to solve this so I can keep working with these clients without them complaining all the time about the subs not beeing shown properly.

I have seen some solutions here that worked for some people but others no. Birch, this Camtasia works just fine? But could the subs done in it be properly imported into Premiere? I guess no?

I am using the demo version to find out what this software is all about but the tutorials don't show how to create subs. I am going to look

for tutorials on youtube to find how to do it.

So, it IS possible to create subs from zero on Premiere, correct? And why the hell it does not properly read subs from other softwares?

I saw the staff answers and how can there not be a solution to this?

Thank you!

Naty

[sBirch]

Nope, you are out of luck.

I have, like you, tried to follow every single piece of advice I could find on this forum to get Open Subtitling to work with Premiere Pro, but it never pans out.

Do not use Premiere Pro for any subtitling work. I tested it again yesterday. This broken mess is still to be avoided at all costs. Some people will try to call it " less than stellar" but I will call it a big pile of ***.

Adobe does not properly support Subtitles in Premiere Pro yet - and this is now on its fourth year. I guess they either lack the talent to get it sorted - in a timely manner, or simply don't prioritize it enough to see this feature implemented as it should be. It is WORSE than not having it at all.

My advice: Tell your clients that they must pick a more robust editing suite if they want to integrated subtitles, or they should accept that subtitle files exists independent of their projects. It is not your files, it is their software that messes up everything.

They might not want to work with you, but I highly doubt they will find someone to supply them with subtitles that will work flawlessly in any version of Premiere Pro. I don't know about Closed Captions, but Open Subtitles are very broken still.

[nathaliad7908949]

Hi Birch!

Thank you so much for your attention! It is very good to have more arguments to tell my clients their software is not good for subtitles. The problem is to convince them to change it, since they are paying for it and for video editing apparently is great.

I tried to create the subs there. Can you say hell? Oh my God!

Thank you again!

Best of luck!

[sBirch]

I don't think you should try to make them change software as such, that is very unlikely. But they should understand the problems and be prepared to look at their workflow and accept that they need to find a workaround they can live with. They should realize that the problems with open subtitles are not created by you, but it is with Premiere Pro and Adobes lack of discipline in rolling out new but working, tested features in their products that is to blame.