pt_ImportSubtitles
  • Hi Paul,

    I've send a support ticket with a zip file which includes the srt and ae project file.

    i would also like to correct my previous statement

    did some testing myself with just 3 line, font is set to [Arial | Size=53 | Bold]


    text in srt file
    ---------------------------------------------------
    1
    00:00:00,289 --> 00:00:02,289
    Line 1

    2
    00:00:03,547 --> 00:00:05,547
    <i>我拿水去洗 </i>
    Line 2

    3
    00:00:06,906 --> 00:00:08,906
    Line 3
    ---------------------------------------------------

    after importing this into ae, results are as follows,

    ---------------------------------------------------
    Line 1 = [Arial | Size=53 | Bold]

    我拿水去洗 = [Meiryo | Size=53 | Regular (but appear italic due to style controller)]
    Line 2 = [Arial | Size=53 | Bold]

    Line 3 = [Meiryo | Size=53 | Regular]
    ---------------------------------------------------

    Hope this helps.

    Regards,
    William
  • Hi Paul,

    I have purchased the latest version of the script (1.51) and when I try to use it in After Effects CS6 (Windows 7) I get the followiing errors:

    "After Effects warning: ERROR: Access is denied."

    "Sorry, something must have happened to the pt_ImportSubtitles licence code. Please re-enter it at the prompt. If you require assistance please contact

    Then I try re-entering the licence code and get this message:

    "Unable to execute script at line 1. undefined is not an object"

    Can you please help?

    Cheers
  • Hi John, I recommend doing what it says, going to https://aescripts.com/contact and opening a support ticket. That way you'll get a response from someone that deals with licensing issues and will be best placed to tell you what the problem is. I'm sure we'll have you up and running soon!
  • Hi Paul

    Just bought your product and seems all good.   However, what do I do if I want to split a caption into 2 lines after importing the SRT?  Some of the lines are too long and I just want to split them up here and there. If I just hit enter, the second line is overlaid on the first.  How do I get it to sit below (After Effects CS6) Thanks.

    >>EDIT:  Don't worry - my mistake.  I had a setting wrong.  Sorted.
  • Hİ Paul, thanks for this great timesaver script. I wonder is it possible to revoke the license on my desktop PC and activate it on my laptop whenever I want?
  • Hi Ersan, You can use the aescripts manager app to remove your license and move it to a different machine.
  • Hi Paul, I have tried the script successfully with one script. Thank you it was great! But the second .srt file that I tried to open didn't work. The composition layer was empty with no text on it. Not sure if this is an issue with the srt file.

  • Hi William, if you open a support ticket mentioning any error message you received and ideally attaching a copy of the SRT file, I'll take a look. 
  • Hi, I am from the netherlands and we use a lot of diacritical signs (é  è  ê etc)
    it used to work good but since a newer versions of AE it's not working correct anymore. hé transforms for instance in this: h√®? 
    in the original .srt everything is ok. 
  • Hi Florian, please open a support ticket about this, attaching the srt file if possible.
  • hi, seems the ending marker not showing 
  • Hi Song, There's a preference in the help window that sets the marker behaviour. But also, scripting gets really slow when adding lots of markers so I do some additional checks to alter the behaviour in cases with lots of subtitles to avoid that slowdown.
    Hard to say which of those thing is the cause without seeing your subtitle file and knowing your current pref settings. Feel free to open a support ticket, including what your pref setting is and attaching your subtitle file if you'd like me to take a look.
    In any case, you can always select the layer and press the U key to reveal the keyframes, then you'll be able to clearly see where the end keyframe is for each subtitle.
  • Had the same issue as Florian below (accented characters not being correctly interpreted). Solved it by changing the "Encoding" drop-down menu from "Automatic" to "UTF-8".
  • Hi, is it possible to reposition individual subtitle lines? I know it's an AE thing but I can't seem to figure it out. A somewhat beginner user to AE here.
  • Hi Leon, If you twirl open the layer in the Timeline panel (the triangle next to the layer number) then click the stopwatch icon beside the Transform > Position property this will enable keyframe positioning of the layer. Right-click the keyframe that was just created and choose 'Toggle Hold Keyframe' so it doesn't interpolate the position between keyframes. You can drag keyframes around, copy/paste/delete them, use the two arrows with diamond in between (next to that Position / stopwatch icon) to jump between (or use j/k keys) and add/remove keyframes. Once keyframing is enabled you can either drag the text in the comp window or enter numeric values to create new keyframes, and you can see the Source Text keyframes to find where a subtitle starts/ends. It'll take a bit of practice but you'll get there!
  • Can you please update for current version of AE? Script no longer works.
  • Hi Joe, It appears to be working ok for me. Make sure you've downloaded the latest version. If you're still having problems, please open a support ticket describing any issues you're having along with your OS and AE version.
  • I wasted so much of my time trying to get subtitles working from my SubRip file with other solutions, but finally this script saved the day. Just wish I'd looked beyond the "Import from Adobe Encore" headline sooner! Thanks very much, did exactly what I needed!
  • Is it possible to export the subtitles again as an .srt file?
  • Hi Leo, no that isn't currently possible. Why would this be useful for you? It's possible that adding this feature wouldn't result in a 100% perfect export / re-import due to things like time rounding issues, and it would be difficult to preserve things like style tags.
  • Hey Paul,
    I am looking for a way to work with Arabic subtitle subtitle that have a few English words thrown in. Would this work? If I copy and paste the text that I was given in an Excel document, it does not display in the correct order when pasted into Premiere's captions interface. Lines that are just Arabic are fine, but the English words screw it up. 
  • Hi Benjamin, pt_ImportSubtitles supports the TypeMonkey Arabic Text Modifier for Arabic support, but also if you just try switching the Text Mod setting it will explain how a mod isn't strictly necessary for Arabic support in ImportSubtitles if you've set AE's Type prefs to the 'Middle Eastern' option (only works on text layers created once pref is set that way). I've been working on an update for the Arabic Text Mod that might offer better results for bi-directional text but I won't be able to get that update out for at least a few weeks.
    I can't help you with how well Excel and Premiere support bi-directional text I'm afraid. I'd think you'd be better using a text editor that is known to support it.
  • Hi Paul,
    Would it be possible to add more possitioning options?
    Like x% of comp height from top?
    Or y position from the bottom?
    Thanks
  • Hi Lala, that should be doable. I’ll look into it for the next update. Feel free to open a support ticket to hassle me, and so I can contact you more directly.
  • Any idea why the black box feature doesn't work on AE CC 2020? 
  • Hi Zac, It's working ok for me. It could be some issue with your subtitle file that's causing the import to fail right at the end, after the subtitles are created but before it creates the box. I've seen that happen before and generally add safefuards against whatever the issue is once I'm able to replicate it.

    Please open a support ticket listing the version of ImportSubtitles you're using, your operating system, an example of the subtitle file where this is happening, and ideally a copy of the project showing the result of the import (best to compress the files into a zip when attaching to a support ticket).
  • Hi Paul, 
    Is it possible to escape special characters such as less than and greater than symbols so they show up, rather than get read as mark up?
  • Hi Kevin, I just did a quick test and it imported fine with < > characters in the text, no escape necessary. So it may be down to the specifics of exactly what text you're importing or the text encoding of your file. The best thing with any issue is just to open a support ticket and attach your subtitle file, AE project or screenshot showing the result of your incorrect import, plus info about your AE version and operating system.
  • First off, I really love your plugin, thank you Paul!

    That said, I just upgraded one of our machines to Mac OS Monterey and AE 2022. I can't seem to get it installed there, it won't show up in the 'window' dropdown of AE. Any ideas?

    If you need to do coding for this, I would be more than willing to purchase again or even compensate you for your time.
  • Hi Colin, have you tried installing it directly into the Scripts folder and launching from the File > Scripts menu? I haven't got a test setup for that combo yet but I'll look into it.
    Also, much better to open a support ticket for this (or pretty much anything really) so we can have a proper dialog.
  • Thank you Paul! I will open a support ticket next time. Just for the rest coming here: Installing it in the File > Scripts menu works for AE 2022 on Monterey 12.0.1.
  • Hi Paul, I have an odd question.
    Is there a way to reverse this process?
    I have many projects with single text layers with subtitles via Keyframe source (just like your plugin automates), and want to export them into a text document so they can be edited by another staff member, hopefully showing timecodes as well.
    Is this possible? And can it be added as a feature?
  • Hi Craig, It's not currently possible but is something I'd consider. At the moment ImportSubtitle imports everything onto a single text layer (as it's much faster) but from the sounds of it you'd like something that not only exported that but could handle a variety of layer setups. That's certainly useful for me to consider. If you'd like to open a support ticket and perhaps post an example project or some more details on how you'd expect it to work that would all be useful to. Can't promise anything though.
  • Hey Paul, I have a question to ask you.
    When I use the setValuesAtTimes() command to set keyframes for souce text in text layers,
    the more items in the array, the slower the execution speed.
    However, your script seems to not have this issue.
    I would like to ask how you manage to increase the execution speed of setValuesAtTimes()?
  • @latop peter, doing it all in one go using valuesAtTimes is certainly considerly faster than doing them one keyframe at a time using valueAtTime, but there's no other magic going on. But this kind of question would be better suited to Adobe's scripting forum.