wiscon_vidparty | Entries tagged with subtitling

We are trying to have subtitles for as many vids as we can at WisCon this year––not just for the singalong show. If you made a playlist or a premiere, we asked that you subtitle if you can... We appreciate that not everyone will be able to, though. If you like subtitling (or think you might like it) and want to do some vids for us in the next few days (um, the party is a week Friday, so that would be the deadline...), drop a comment to this post and we will let you know if there are vids that need subtitles.

There's a great subtitling tutorial that Skud made, for creating .srt from text files. .srt files store the text of subtitles, and programs like VLC will play them automatically. (You can add them to video files in iTunes as well, though it's a bit more complicated.)

However, I find that Skud's method takes me forever, and in the past few months I've been experimenting with different programs to create .srt files. I have found that I am most efficient when using Jubler, with which I can now subtitle most vids in less than half an hour. So in the hope of getting more subtitles for the vid party, I am making this tutorial!

( tutorial for making subtitles with Jubler. Featuring some slightly-too-large screencap images that I was too lazy to make smaller. )

alexbayleaf

As mentioned in our info post, we'll be holding a "singalong" show as part of the Vid Party. During this show (approx. 1 hour in length) all the vids will be subtitled, so people can sing along. (As an added bonus, this also means that a portion of the Vid Party is more accessible to those with hearing difficulties or who just find it difficult to follow the lyrics while watching vids.)

This is a tutorial for people who are subtitling vids for this show, but it should be useful to anyone who wants to subtitle a vid.

First things first: there are two ways of creating subtitles: using an app or website to create them, or doing it yourself in a text editor.

laurashapiro has a tutorial on creating subtitles using dotsub, a website that helps you with the process. This tutorial describes the other way, which I think is easier and faster -- but please feel free to use either! Whichever works for you is fine with us. Just email us the resulting subtitles file and we'll be happy!

( Fanvid subtitling tutorial )

By my estimate, using this method will take about an hour or perhaps a bit more to subtitle one vid of average length (say, 3 minutes) and with averagely-fast lyrics.

If you are subtitling for the WisCon Vid Party, once you're finished please email the results to wiscon.vidparty@gmail.com Please attach the file (don't paste it into the body of the email) or provide a link to download the .srt file.

ALSO! we are still seeking volunteers to help us subtitle vids! If you would like to help out, please see this post and give us your contact details. You don't need to be attending WisCon to volunteer!

ETA: tips for newbie subtitlers (aka things we learned the first time we tried to subtitle a vid)...

* Test out your .srt file after you've done the first verse and see how you're going. If you have any systematic problems it's better to catch them early.
* If in doubt, have the line of lyrics come in a little early rather than a little late
* If there is a musical interlude or sound effects or something, feel free to mention it in subtitles eg. "(musical interlude)" or "(laughter)" or whatever.
* The first time you do this, it can take longer than you expect. Your first vid may take ~90 minutes instead of the 60 we originally estimated. Don't be disheartened; as you get used to it, you'll most likely speed up. It also depends a lot on the lyrics of the song in question.

alexbayleaf

Hi everyone,

We are in need of a handful of volunteers for two activities which need to happen over the next few weeks, before Wiscon.

1. Permission wrangling

We try to contact vidders and get their permission to use their vids for our party. Your job, if you are up for it, is to leave comments on vidders' DW/LJ/etc, telling them about the vid party and checking that it's OK for us to show their vid. We'll provide a "form letter" that you can cut and paste, so you don't have to come up with your own words. When they respond, you update our spreadsheet to say you've got permission.

You will need: DW and LJ accounts (or OpenID login), access to Google spreadsheets
Your time commitment: 1 hour or more

2. Subtitling

This year we're having a "singalong" show at which the vids will be subtitled. We're going to contact the vidders and ask them either to submit subtitle files OR grant permission for us to create the subtitles on their behalf. If they want us to create the subtitles, that's where you come in. You'll be given instructions, but in short, it's a text file with a certain format which is pretty easy to create.

You will need: VLC or other vid playing software that supports subtitles, any text editing software
Your time commitment: about 1 hour per vid you subtitle

You don't need to be attending to volunteer. This is something that anyone can do, whether they're attending Wiscon or not. So if you'd like to support the Wiscon Vid Party in a way that's purely online, this is a great opportunity.

If you'd like to help out with either of these jobs, please leave us a comment below, in the following format:

Email: (your email address -- or let us know if you prefer to PM it to us)
Permission-seeking: Y/N
Subtitling: Y/N
How many hours can you volunteer? (1 or more)

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WisCon Vid Party

Tutorial: an alternative way to subtitle vids, for singalongs and beyond.

Tutorial: Subtitling vids for the WisCon Vid Party singalong show

Volunteers needed! Permissions and subtitling

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May 2025

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