Re 4.: Error/warning for exceeding number of chars on line does not even tell you which line! Ideally though, this would be in the column under the video too

Pavel Slama

Pavel Slama said:

Re 4.: Error/warning for exceeding number of chars on line does not even tell you which line!

It does for me:

This would be segments 1, 7, 13, 16 etc.

You also have a visible warning on each segment, and by clicking on the error in the messages window you are taen to the relevant row.  Furthermore you have a report if you want it and this also gives you segment numbers and live links back to the segment in the file if you click them:

Yes, Paul, I know, but not lines within those segments. If they look similar, say one is 40 chars and the other 43 (and your limit is 42), then the only way is to count with your index finger, no?

(The terminology: segments=subs, lines within those)

Or just to make it clearer for you (you don’t subtitle much, I take it): It is reasonably important for us where to break a subtitle in two. Look at Section 5 here, for example, to see how many rules are around this: https://partnerhelp.netflixstudios.com/hc/en-us/articles/215758617-Timed-Text-Style-Guide-General-Requirements (I hope the page is public)

...which brings me to another issue to add to the original list:

10. Warning “Could fit on one line” – if the char limit is 42, and you have two lines of 9 and 12, you should get this warning.

Thanks Pavel Slama

This is really good feedback.

Pavel Slama said:

So I have completed my first small job with the tool. As I expected from the demo, it was perhaps the most efficient way of doing the job there is, IMO, so overall positive and very welcome, as I said to you.

Also very good to hear.  I think you're the first person I'm aware of who's used this in a real project!

Pavel Slama said:

1. A SRT import flaw? – in my customer-supplied SRT, line breaks were not recognized by Trados, not displayed in preview (or perhaps as spaces), but then re-appear after export (so most 2-line subs became 3line subs); corrected manually after export

This might be correctable in the SRT filetype options.  Line breaks are certainly recognised by the default in Studio is also the wrong way around so you always have to change it.  Try changing the option for processing line breaks and prepare the file for translation again.  Might help.

Pavel Slama said:

2. Visual focus - is the big one. What I am really interested in when translating a sub is CPS and characters on current line. So what I need to see clearly and quickly are those two numbers (or three numbers, chars for each line of current sub, plus CPS), perhaps huuuuge! A slight rethink of the layout needed, maybe. There are other possibilities such as countdown (chars remaining on line, chars remaining for the whole sub.)

You have the count for the segment in Studio already.  But not the count per line of the subtitles in a multiline segment.  I think this is probably better being resolved by the core Studio team as it's something that should probably be in the Editor when working with files like this; otherwise the screen is going to get too crowded very quickly.  Noted.

Pavel Slama said:

3. Option to remove columns completely (words, WPS not needed)

Yep.  We're already working on this one.  Got sidetracked or it would have been in the initial release.

Pavel Slama said:

4. Character count for both lines of a sub – this is a must. Number of chars for the two lines combined of very limited use

Related to #2.  Noted.

Pavel Slama said:

5. Need to see chars on each line and warning of exceeding them before confirming segment, not only after; with CPS, again, ideally see warning of exceeding it before confirming segment (not a tiny little number in the other corner of screen in a column of dozens of numbers of the same size).

Again... related to #2, #4.  But note your emphasis on interactive control.  Will need some thought to handle this sensibly in the Studio environment.

Pavel Slama said:

6. Ideally the possibility to set one max CPS level for warning (ie 17), another for error (ie 21)

Good idea.  Noted.  Are there specific requirements requested for these sort of controls?

Pavel Slama said:

7. A play/pause keyboard shortcut! (Alt-space?)

Noted.  Should have this.

Pavel Slama said:

8. Perhaps help with line breaking, but his is optional. Ideal behaviour would be: always add one (and make sure only one) space after last word before line break, but do not count it into CPS or chars. (The reason is we often try out different ways of breaking a sub into lines to make it look best.)

Sounds like it should be an optional setting in the filetype settings to prepare the file this way.  Don't know how easy it would be, but noted.

Pavel Slama said:

9. Windows layout - somehow I expect this to be a sore point. The Subtitling app only highlights the need for the whole Trados to have a simple way of switching different windows layouts for different type of tasks.

I agree.  You can do it through user profiles but this is laboroius.  Requires a change in the core Studio product.

Pavel Slama said:

Overall, I love the simplicity, and perhaps would take it even further.

Thank you... really good feedback.

Pavel Slama

ok - got it.  All related to the same problem I think and that is we don't handle counting by lines within a segment.  Noted but I'm not sure if we can handle all of these things in the plugin.  Some might need bigger changes in Studio to be able to support.

Pavel Slama said:

you don’t subtitle much, I take it):

Not at all!!!

Yes, I have seen this set of rules before.  We looked at these and the BBC guides but couldn't decide ourselves (as we don't subtitle) which of them should be turned into QA checks.  So we are hoping for more feedback such as the stuff you have provided here.

Might have been better to create a separate thread for each issue as it'll be hard to follow if people comment on them all in one thread like this.

Right. Forgive me, I, in turn, know nothing about programming/development methodologies, and not much about tickets, github, collaboration, project management...

Just to clarify on Visual Focus: There would be many ways how to highlight the active segment in the preview below the video, to make it stand out. Consider:
a) even just making it bold,
b) even just making the font two points bigger,
c) or something a bit radical, such as doing a very special layout or current row, with font twice as big for Chars, CPS, and Text. The functionality is good as it is (only if you can manage the character count for each line), just really a graphic design / layout issue.

I will keep an eye on this forum, see if I can catch up with a more logical way of organizing comments/feedback.

I am quite keen on this app, and have experience with quite a number of subtitling platforms, so if you want me to comment of explain or show something, feel free to get in touch. (My focus is mostly limited to translation itself, and I can spot, but I do not do the agency/client side.)

Paul said:

Try changing the option for processing line breaks and prepare the file for translation again.

I tried that, found that option already, and don’t think it did the trick. Will try to play with it more on my next project.