When creating video content, it’s in your best interest to make it as immersive as possible. Whether it’s a short ad or a full-length film, the subtitles are enhancing the viewer’s experience by a significant margin.
To get the most out of subtitles, they have to be both effective and attractive. While it might seem that they’re useful only in very specific industries, this is not the case. So, let’s check who can benefit from subtitles, how can we create them thanks to speech to text converter, and what is the best design for subtitles?
Who Can Benefit From The Subtitles?
Professors & Students
Listening to lectures and taking notes can be very difficult, especially for extensive subjects. Many schools and universities have started recording lectures for this very reason.
By using video to text converter and getting good subtitles, later on, students can easily study in their free time. Professors don’t have to worry about adjusting their pace for each specific student.
Podcasters
Even though they’re audio-only, a textual representation of a podcast can be quite useful. Especially for those who are hearing impaired or simply want a different way to consume content.
Do you run your podcast show on YouTube too? So, you will be happy to solve the question of how to add subtitles to youtube video. It’s a great way to increase outreach and attract wider audiences.
Journalists
Gathering enough information from the difference between sources is a tedious task. Especially when a journalist has to deal with audio or video content.
Listening through countless hours of it and rewriting the same words all over again can be hard. It’s much easier to convert all of that audio to text in one go. Not only does it save time, but it makes it a lot easier to add the subtitles at the end.
A more comprehensive guide on journalist transcription can be found here.
Filmmakers
It’s a common thought that the large majority of people who use subtitles have a hearing problem, but that’s not the case.
A recent study has shown that 80% of people use them for other reasons.
1. when a movie isn’t in the viewer’s native language;
2. when they’re in a sound-sensitive environment etc.
Without subtitles, filmmakers lose out on billions of potential viewers.
Customer Support Agents
Do not repeat solutions to common problems. The customer support agent can create a tutorial video with subtitles that outlines the exact steps.
By having the written instructions, anyone will be able to follow them regardless of their technical knowledge.
Coaches
Online personal coaches and fitness trainers are becoming more and more common, mainly on social media.
Exercising often involves incorporating complex movements. And they can be difficult to explain even via videos.
By using an audio to text converter and adding subtitles, the clients can learn these movements step-by-step in a clear and concise format.
How Can I Make My Subtitles Look Good?
While you may think of the subtitles as simple text on the screen, in reality, they’re a lot more complex and involved. Because of this, there are certain guidelines that have to be followed if you want to make the most out of them.
Choosing a Subtitle Font
A font used for subtitles has to be clearly readable, simple, and without any flashy, eye-straining additions.
Ideally, the viewers should be virtually unaware that they have subtitles turned on. With hundreds of thousands of different fonts, it’s impossible to choose a clear winner, but there are a few that stand out.
Ideally, the viewers should be virtually unaware that they have subtitles turned on. With hundreds of thousands of different fonts, it’s impossible to choose a clear winner, but there are a few that stand out.
1. Arial
It is the most commonly used subtitle font. Arial has been a standard for Microsoft’s Windows, Apple’s macOS, and other applications ever since it was designed in 1982.
It’s sans-serif, which means that it has no extending features at the end of the letters, making it unobtrusive and easy on the eyes. A large reason for its popularity is the cross-platform implementation. As well as the Unicode character support which allows for some interesting additional symbols.
2. Roboto
While it’s a bit more customizable, Roboto is still one of the standard subtitle fonts. It can be found by default on Android phones, with most of the video player apps using it from the get-go.
It’s a more modern option and quite lightweight, making it perfect for videos that contain a lot of speech throughout. Of, course, you can add your speech to the video thanks to the best voice recorder. Although its thickness and size can be adjusted, it’s best to leave it at default options.
Selecting a Proper Background
No matter how adequate the subtitles font is, if it’s against an inappropriate background, it won’t be readable. The key to getting good subtitles is in the details.
For example, adding a black outline and a drop shadow to the text maintains a smooth look while making it neater. Some services place a border around the subtitles, but this approach can be quite obtrusive.
For overly bright areas, the video can be darkened. For this, you can test the features of the video creation software. Many of these methods require practice to be unnoticeable and the preferred method of choice varies from person to person.
The modification options range from beginner to advanced. But most of them are fairly straightforward and self-explanatory.
While there’s no concrete answer to the question “How can I make my subtitles look good“. We are covering the two aforementioned factors is certainly a good start.
How To Create Subtitles?
In an attempt to cut slowness and human error, manual captioning has been replaced by automated audio to text converter.
One of them is Audext, a web-based service that takes an audio/video file. Then sends it to the servers and produces a textual representation in a matter of seconds with the use of its AI algorithms.
Compared to manual labor, this method of converting audio to text comes with no turnaround time. Also, it promises 99%+ accuracy and it’s incomparably cheaper.
Even when the text is written out, there’s still the trouble of timestamping it and adding speaker labels.
Not with Audext, yet – the service has an automated speaker identification feature. It detects the voice pitch changes and adds the corresponding label. The user enters each person’s name in the order in which they start speaking and the rest is fully automated.
In case the user wants to modify certain aspects of the subtitle manually, there’s an integrated text editor just for that purpose. It comes with a plethora of the following features:
- find & replace,
- playback speed modifier,
- active word highlight.
The final result can also be exported in a .DOC format which is compatible with Microsoft Word. The user there can immediately test numerous different fonts.
While there are different sources that teach you how to create subtitles, this article on Audext covers it down to the smallest details.
Conclusion
Stop wasting time and energy on the obsolete methods – use Audext today if you want to see concrete results. Efficiency, accuracy, and money savings are just some of the things that you can expect.
Affordable transcription software like Audext will open you to the world of accurate and fast results. Subtitle the video now!