Adobe Premiere srt fps import problem

[Alp Yilmaz]

In Adobe Premiere 2020 version, there were options to import srt formatted subtitles to the project. We could choose the one we want to use from the subtitle fps options. There is no such option in the 2021 version. The program automatically sees srt as 30fps. And this cannot be changed. Has anyone had this problem and found a solution in version 15?

[Stan Jones]

I don't see any import settings.

@Trent Happel Can you enlighten us?

Stan

[Trent Happel]

Sorry, I was out of office for a while and I'm still catching up.

With the old Caption workflows (14.x and earlier) we were treating Captions as video items, so frame rate was a concept that fit. With the New Captions in 15.0+ Captions are now data items, so the concept of frame rate doesn't really apply. Reporting 30 fps for New Captions is definitely something we can improve upon to avoid confusion. One thought is to not list any frame rate, but would love to hear feedback from you and others.

Import Settings was not carried over to the New Caption workflow in Premiere Pro 15.0. Could you explain what type of issues you are running into with New Captions in 15.0 that might be solved by Import Settings?

Thank you.

[Stan Jones]

Your clarification is helpful; avoiding the confusion is a good first step.

I think the real problems are not the import settings per se. There are reports of old projects coming in with messed up timecodes and/or issues on export. I have not been able to focus on them to understand whether these are user error, conversion problems (old captions to new), import problems, or the type of timecode/sync issues that happen when exported srt/stl/whatever enter the "real" world of playback on any number of platforms.

In the old workflow, it made sense to think in terms of the caption framerate and the sequence etc, even though it often was not what it seemed.

Stan

[Alp Yilmaz]

Thank you for your answers.

Yes, as Trend said, 30 fps is a standard setting in the new captions workflow. No matter what frame rate subtitle you import from the outside, it always appears to be 30 fps. This does not cause a sync problem between video and subtitle. I noticed that.

However, I don't think the new captions workflow is fully compatible with Premiere.

For example, when I want to make changes to the subtitle, Premiere starts to slow down or although there is no mistake in the imported subtitle, character errors occur on the timeline and in the exported srt. Captions workflow works better in version before 15.

I am sure that some updates will fix the shortcomings. 

[OMont]

It does mess things up, when your timeline was on 24p and then you export srt for corrections and then import it again as a 30fps, it does not sync up properly.

[Stan Jones]

OMont,

The bottom line is that you should not see sync problems because PR is reporting a caption import is 30fps. If you are seeing sync problems, there may be a different issue at play.

In his post, Trent is saying that because captions are data items (not video items), they do not have a framerate. He agrees that PR reporting that captions are 30fps creates confusion.

Alp, is saying that this did NOT cause sync problems.

Stan

[Alex_21B]

Hi Stan / all,

Joining the conversation here and would like to add that I'm seeing the same thing as OMont - I import an SRT, it has a framerate listed as 30 fps in the project bin, and when I use it for a caption track on a 25fps sequence, it drifts out of sync (captions start to lag further and further behind picture).

Premiere v22.1.2

macOS 12.0.1 (Monterey)

[Stan Jones]

Alex, thanks for posting. Did you import the SRT to the Project Panel directly? Or to the sequence via the Text Panel?

Stan

[chrditlev]

When you import the .srt file into your 23.976 timeline, the timecode in the captions window shows that the origianl timcode for the .srt has been changed. It no longer matches the timecode listed when you open the .srt file in a text editor. So the 30 fps does make a difference.

Chr.

[Stan Jones]

The only differences I see are in the "milliseconds to frames" conversion. There are multiple factors at play, but I see no reason not to accept that the display of "30 fps" was a placeholder that leads to confusion.

a) .SRT has no header or footer. There is no place in the file to tell a program what fps it is. It is simply a listing of timecodes. There are some codes borrowed from ASS format (e.g. positioning such as {\an9}), but I see nothing what even allow specifying what frame rate the .srt is.

b) PR might convert the timecodes in .srt, but I suspect that when being imported as Subtitles (vs, e.g. closed caption 608), there is no conversion. PR would have no way of knowing what fps the file is designed for. My quick test indicates that srt timed to 23.976 retains the same timecodes (except for small changes in the milliseconds to frames conversion) when imported to a 29.97 sequence as to a 23.976.

What are examples of the differences in timing you see between the text editor view of the srt and what PR shows in the Text panel?

c) .SRTs can certainly be out of sync for a variety of reasons.

Stan

[Luis F O5E71]

That's exactly the problem I've been struggling with.

In fact, I always thought that the problem was also in the export. The timecodes of the srt file don't match the sequence's. For example, in a project I'm working in, the timecode 01:00:12:16 became 01:00:12,666 in the srt file. Even the format is different, which I thought it was indicative of a framerate difference.

I've been using the new Export to txt tool to export captions to be opened on AVID. In this case, the timecodes matches. But I can't import the very same file back to the Premiere Pro. Why so?

[sindreb66241960]

I imported a SRT.file into Premiere Pro.

I then created a sequnce with 30 fps, and it showed the same timecode as the SRT.file. However when changing the frame rate to 24, the timecode were suddenly changed.

If the frame rate is not issue why would the file change its timecode?

[Stan Jones]

Change the framerate before you add the srt to the timeline.

What framerate is the srt designed for?

Stan

[sindreb66241960]

I imported the SRT-file to the project, then put it on a 30fps timeline. I then deleted the SRT-file. Imported it again and then changed the fps to 24.

The first time it correctly showed the timecode, the second it didn't.

How can I design the SRT-file to a specific frame-rate?

[Stan Jones]

sindreb,

What do you mean "the timecode were suddenly changed"? I assume you mean that the timecodes shown in the Text Panel (and on the timeline) are not what is in the file? What is actually in sync; the original times or the new times?

I am never confident that I understand when PR modifies the timecodes in an imported sidecar file. I currently believe this only happens with closed caption files, but I always test the issue when it arises.

Otherwise, PR should simply take the timecodes it is given. If you time captions in a 30 fps timeline, export srt, then import them to a 24 fps timeline, they would be off.

In the current caption workflow (i.e. PR 2021 and newer), I believe that the best way to import srt is directly to a timeline using the Text Panel "import captions from file." They are not video clips and they do not have a framerate property. It will ALWAYS say 30fps in the Project Panel, but that is arbitrary.

If you have imported srt and want to start over, rename the file before reimporting.

Stan

[sindreb66241960]

I am not sure if I am able to convay this correctly.

But I formated my SRT-file with timecodes. When I imported the SRT-file into a project, the timecode would match only if the timeline had 30fps. If I changed the timeline to let's say 60fps, the timecode didn't match the ones I had written in the text-document.

[Stan Jones]

I think you are describing it correctly. But srt files do not have a "framerate" property, so PR cannot read it. The srt file must contain the correct timecodes for the framerate you want.

For example, Subtitle Edit has a function for this purpose. Synchronization -> Change frame rate... But it does not appear to support 59.94 or 60. But it does have 29.97, 30, 23.976, and  24.

Stan

[GW Queen]

the problem i find is , premiere import srt to 24fps timeline is 23.98, 
xml hv the same problem,
thats why no film maker use premiere to edit.