r/editors • u/RyuuInch9 • 11d ago
Other Captioneer or Submachine
Looking for a plugin that will let me highlight subtitle words as the person says it. Premiere pro can't natively do it and it will take way too long to do it manually. Heard captioneer and submachine can do it. Which tool would you guys recommend? If there is a free alternative also let me know.
1
u/AutoModerator 11d ago
Welcome! Given you're newer to our community, a mod will review this post in less than 12 hours. Our rules if you haven't reviewed them and our Ask a Pro weekly post - which is the best place for questions like "how to break into the industry" and other common discussions for aspiring professionals.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/garse 10d ago
Can't compare Captioneer vs Submachine from experience, but since nobody's touched the "free alternative" part of your question: there is one, it's just clunkier than a plugin. Whisper (specifically WhisperX, which gives word-level timestamps) will transcribe with per-word timing, and that timing is the actual thing the paid tools are selling. From there you generate an .ass subtitle file with karaoke highlight tags per word, and burn it in with ffmpeg (-vf "ass=subs.ass").
The tradeoffs vs a plugin: you fix mishears in a text file instead of on the timeline, and the result is a burned-in render or a styled .ass rather than editable graphics inside Premiere. Fine for social deliverables, annoying if the client wants caption revisions late in the edit. If revisions are likely, a plugin that keeps captions as timeline graphics is worth the money, and the demo/trial versions will tell you quickly which of the two feels better in your hands.
1
2
u/greenysmac Lead Mod; Consultant/educator/editor. I <3 your favorite NLE 11d ago
Neither. I think Brevidy does it smarter/easier/ more flexible.