Step-By-Step Guide To Subtitling in Aegisub

Step-by-step guide to subtitling in Aegisub
Step 1: Starting out

● Open Aegisub; take the movie clip you want to subtitle and simply drag it into the
Aegisub window
● Depending on the size of your screen, the default arrangement is something like this,
along with all the major parts of the editor labeled:
● Depending on the defaults of your program, you may see a

spectogram (the colorful Northern Lights visualization of the audio)
instead of the waveform - this can be changed by pressing:
Tyler Peterson and Rolando Coto | AILDI/CoLang 1

Step 2: Selecting regions and subtitling them
● Aegisub is also a form of NLE (Non Linear Editing), which means you can edit anywhere
in the file, and any changes you make can be easily undone; However, it is best (for
timing reasons) to start at the beginning of the clip
● When you first import a .mpg file (see above) the default
view is to zoom to the first 10 seconds or so of the clip
● If you want to change the general zooming region (which is

shown with the waveform - there is no video zooming in
Aegisub), use the long sliders on the very right side of the
editor: there are two sliders:1
○ The time zoom slider zooms the region you can see
in the waveform editor
○ The waveform magnification slider makes the

waveform ‘taller’ or ‘shorter’, which can be useful if
the volume is quite (in general, waveform ‘height’
represents the amplitude of the audio - how loud it is)
● Note: the two magnifying glass zooming buttons at the top

left of the editor only increase or decrease the size of the
video preview - they have no effect on the time region
● After making the zooming adjustments to the beginning of

the file we can begin to preview for speech to subtitle - this
functions a little differently than in other audio editing
programs
● It begins with getting familiar with using the left and right
mouse buttons, which are very important in Aegisub:
○ The left mouse button picks out the start of a region

○ The right mouse button picks out the stop of that same region
● Begin left-clicking somewhere around the beginning of the clip - this will automatically
set the start of a region - which is always colored red
● The end of this region is probably at some random place: set the end of the region using
the right mouse key - this will automatically set the end of that region - which is
always colored blue
1
There seems to be a bug in the Mac version of Aegisub, where the zoom sliders are non-functional.

● To listen to that region press the play button with the red brackets around it - this is
found in two places: under the video preview window and under the waveform preview:
● Use the one under the waveform to just listen to the audio; use the one under the video
preview to both watch and listen - the latter is probably the most useful, as you can see
eventually how the subtitle flow from frame to frame while listening to the audio
● Pressing this button will play from the start of the region and then automatically stop at
the end of the region - you might have to play around and adjust the region using the
mouse buttons
● Note: it is possible to manipulate the regions manually by grabbing them on the

waveform and dragging them, but it takes getting used to - find which one is the most
comfortable for you
● Also note that we will be working with the default formatting (font style, position, color,
etc.) as these are the industry standards - but of course feel free to experiment!

● Identify the first speech ‘blob’ you want to subtitle (there are three or four in this area)
● Set the region around this speech blob - the region represents the length of time that
subtitle will be on the screen and corresponds to what will be a subtitle frame
● Type the translation into the entry box for the subtitle text (see above) - the text will
appear on the preview window automatically as you type
● Preview it with play button with the red brackets around it to check for timing:
● Note: the white line you see on the waveform is simply the video frame that is currently
being displayed in the video preview window - it is only for reference and you can’t move
it (it can also be removed in the preferences)
● Notice that the text also appears as an entry on the list of subtitle frames - we’ll worry
about this later
● At this point you can adjust the region as needed (either by using the left and right
mouse buttons or by clicking and dragging the region boundaries)

● When you are satisfied with the text and the region it is displayed as a subtitle hit the
‘Commit’ button (the green check mark):
● Notice how this does three things: it adds a line to the list of subtitles, and it
automatically selects another region for subtitling, and it leaves behind white markers for
the region you just subtitled (and committed to):
● While convenient, Aegisub does not always pick out the next subtitle region accurately -
you may need to adjust the regions as done in the steps above
REPEAT ALL OF THE STEPS IN STEP 2 until you’ve added all of your subtitles…
… and remember to always frequently save your project!

● Each successive subtitle region is added to the list:
● Two convenient features of Aegisub:
○ Clicking on any of the lines in the subtitle list will bring you to that region in the
clip (regardless of where you are in the clip) and show you the region with white
lines
○ If you accidently overlap subtitle frames Aegisub alerts you by coloring the text
red - adjust as needed
● Deleting a subtitle frame is as easy as simply clicking it in the list, going to the menu
Subtitle and choosing Delete


Step 3: Exporting your subtitle file
● When you are finished subtitling, preview the movie from the beginning, which can be
done by dragging the video preview slider to the beginning and pressing the play button
(which is different from the play button with red brackets, which only plays the selected
region)
● First, save your project: this is important, as you can come back and use the same
regions to translate your clip into another language, make corrections, additions, etc.
● To export your subtitles, go to File > Export As…
○ A dialog box will appear - just click export
○ Give you titles a name - ideally the same name as the movie clip, so a player
such as VLC will automatically load them if the files are in the same folder
○ Pull the File Type menu down and select the .srt file extension
○ Click Save

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Step-by-step guide to subtitling in Aegisub

Step 1: Starting out

● Depending on the defaults of your program, you may see a

Tyler Peterson and Rolando Coto | AILDI/CoLang 1

● If you want to change the general zooming region (which is

○ The ​waveform magnification slider makes the

● Note: the two magnifying glass zooming buttons at the top

● After making the zooming adjustments to the beginning of

○ The ​left mouse button​ picks out the start of a region

Tyler Peterson and Rolando Coto | AILDI/CoLang 2

● Note: it is possible to manipulate the regions manually by grabbing them on the

Tyler Peterson and Rolando Coto | AILDI/CoLang 3

Tyler Peterson and Rolando Coto | AILDI/CoLang 4

Tyler Peterson and Rolando Coto | AILDI/CoLang 5

● Two convenient features of Aegisub:

Tyler Peterson and Rolando Coto | AILDI/CoLang 6

● To export your subtitles, go to File > Export As…

○ A dialog box will appear - just click export

Tyler Peterson and Rolando Coto | AILDI/CoLang 7

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○ The waveform magnification slider makes the

○ The left mouse button picks out the start of a region