Selecting Clips for captioning X7 - newbie please be kind

[zhakora]

First post.

I've been using X7 for a while but today I need to add captions (manually) and I can't figure out how to do it. The manual says to select a clip, so I click on the clip in the timeline where I want the text to begin, then press the subtitle tool button just above the timeline area. I get the following message : Please select a video or audio clip from the timeline and try again.

I've viewed youtube tutorials (albeit for x6) and the subtitle editor window opens for them but not for me. I just can't figure out why my selection is invalid. I've been fiddling around with it all morning I've seen that message pop up a couple dozen times. I'm sure it's something basic and silly, but I haven't managed to figure out what I'm doing wrong.

Please help.

cheers,
zhak

[BrianCee]

Welcome to the forum - we're always kind to every one

In order to use the subtitle editor the clip you have selected in the timeline must be highlighted - that means it must havce an orange line all the way around the clip in the timeline - also the timeline cursor must be over the clip you want to subtitle - so when you get that message click on the clip again and hopefully it will then show highlighted and the text editor should open when you click the button

do you really need to use subtitles - if all you want to do is caption a clip why not just use a simple title - so much easier.

[zhakora]

Hi BrianCee, thanks for your reply.

I have managed the criteria you mentioned -- the clip is highlighted in orange, the timeline cursor is placed near the start of the clip -- and I still get the message. I have taken a screen grab, btw, if there's a way to share that here? Honestly I'm at my wits' end, afaik I'm following the manual to the letter but I can't get it to work as expected.

I do need subtitles. I need to explain details of the item over the full 7 minutes, which actually leads to my second question, which is how to place subtitles over the course of the entire video, not on a clip by clip basis.

Still, first things first, I wish to add subtitles and I can't figure out how to convince the program I've actually selected a clip. :-/

cheers,
zhak

[Ken Berry]

I'm just wondering if it is really subtitles you are after. By the sounds of it Titles would provide the same result... To add a title, click on the big T about half way down the right side of your preview screen in X7. You should then see over the preview screen a message saying "Double click here to insert title". Do so and you should then see a small box made of dashes and the cursor flashing inside it. That's where you type your caption. Off to the bottom right of the preview screen you will also see and Edit tab where you can change the font, its size and various other things about the caption. When you have typed the caption. Click on the screen outside the caption box and the box will now have a double row of dashes around it plus coloured drag handles. You can use these to distort the caption. More importantly, if you place the mouse cursor inside the box and hold it down, you can then move the caption box wherever you want on the screen.

Note, however, that you should keep it within the solid line rectangle which sits just within the outer margins of the preview screen. This indicates the safe area for TV screens. If the text of the caption goes outside that rectangle, it may not appear on your TV screen when you render the project.

Do this throughout your project wherever you need a caption.

To add an image, by the way, you do this. When writing a reply here, you will notice that down below the big white text box you are writing in, there are two tabs: Options (which is active) and Upload Attachment. Click on that and follow the instructions to Choose File, then Add it and choose whether it is to go at the bottom of your text or inside it somewhere.

[BrianCee]

Yes it is very easy to attach images here - when typing a reply scroll down the screen and you will see a tab "upload attachment" - click on that to "choose fle" - - "add file" - "place inline"

I cannot explain why it does not work for you -it works perfectly for me - see below.

but I will ask again - why are you determined to use a sub-title - why not an ordinary title as per my second attachment

click the image to enlarge it

[BrianCee]

A little bit of experimentation - and reading the error message properly - shows that the problem is that Videostudio does not allow you to add sub-titles to still images - only to videos - so if you are using still images you will need to use the title option instead.

[zhakora]

Thank you SO much for getting to the bottom of the error message. I can't tell you how frustrating it was to keep on trying & not getting anywhere.

I think the Titles / Subtitles issue is simply semantics. I associate the term "subtitles" or "captions" with simple text at the bottom of the screen. (I'm deaf, btw, so that's why I shall be using onscreen text as opposed to voiceover & why they're so necessary to this project.) I associate the term "titles" with fancy ... you know, titles, like a DVD menu screen or whatnot.

Okay then. Titles it must be. I stress that ALL that I want is just the equivalent of a narrative voiceover, simple text displayed at the bottom of the screen. I'll give that a go & see how it works out.

Also, I very much appreciate the quick and helpful replies. I'm no expert at this sort of thing, it's one of those situations where I sometimes need to use the program and I normally muddle through without any real expertise wrt the software. Hitting a roadblock that I couldn't figure out was, while not surprising, terribly unhelpful to my deadline.

cheers,
zhak

[BrianCee]

Don't just think of titles as being blocks of text in the middle of the screen - you can apply hundreds of different effects to text - have a look at this tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA50RQvsvuE

In it I show how to move text across a screen just as a sub-title may do - for the purpose of the demo the text is quite big and moves across the middle - but you can if you want move it to scroll across the bottom and make it much smaller - and add a colour background to just the text if it is not showing up well against the colours of the image.

[zhakora]

I'd like to thank KenBerry as well for his help -- his post made adding titles so easily understandable and finally progress is being made, thanks to the both of you. I've now written out & added all the text I want to have on the video, and will spend some time now exploring the "look and feel" for it.

So happy this is sorted out. Thank you both so much.