problem with Subtitle Edit 3.4.11

[whitelighter27]

Well, Subtitle Edit 3.4.11 is proving reasonably easy to use for novices like me, but I've encountered one problem - somehow, next to the window in which I type my most recent edits, a second window has appeared marked "Original". Whenever I exit the program, I am asked both whether I want to save the revisions to my current draft, AND if I want to save changes to the original. This is too confusing. Is there a way to change it back so there's only one working-version - and one text window? Having two windows has caused me to inadvertently save the wrong set of subtitles to the video I'm writing captions for.

[videobruger]

File -> Close Original Subtitle

[whitelighter27]

Ok, thanks. That worked. But um, this morning, I accidentally did something to cause the SINGLE text-editing window to disappear, so now I can't edit the text! I can't figure out how to get it back. Can anyone help me again - this certainly is patience-testing...
Thanks.

[videobruger]

Did you click on the "Source view" tab instead of "List view" ?

[whitelighter27]

Ok, never mind. I just closed the program and re-opened it, and that solved the problem. Thanks, though.

[whitelighter27]

One problem after another - now, starting about halfway down the list of subtitles down to the very bottom, a message appears under each subtitle that says "overlap previous line" (or something like that). When I try to edit any line from that point onward, something bizarre happens, like the line of text will mysteriously disappear. Is there any way to reset these bottom rows, to eliminate this problem? I'd hate to think I have to re-import the whole thing & start over.

[videobruger]

Tools -> Fix common errors

[whitelighter27]

I tried that - it didn't work. It didn't show up on the list of recommended fixes.

[videobruger]

Can't you just tick it?

[whitelighter27]

I straightened that out, but now another issue - I did have it set so the text window would highlight each text line in sync with video the position , but now I have to manually select the text line. How do I change it back so that it follows the video position automatically?

[videobruger]

Tick "Select current subtitle while playing"

[whitelighter27]

Thanks.

[whitelighter27]

Do you know if there's a way to get it to allow you to type 4 lines of text? Right now it'll only let me split it into 3.

[videobruger]

Use .ass format. Type a single line using \N where you want a line break.

[Nikse]

You can also use Ctrl+Enter to add new lines - or set a higher value in Options -> Settings -> Syntax coloring -> Color text of more than X lines

[whitelighter27]

Thanks!

[whitelighter27]

Well, for the umpteenth time I need someone's expertise with SE - I'm editing an .ass file, and confused as to how to adjust the colors. There appear to be 2 different places to do that: under the Options menu, and also if I right-click the subtitle list another menu comes up for adjusting both a primary & secondary color. I'm confused as to which one of these will determine the color of the finished product since they both say ".ass styles".

[videobruger]

The .ass format uses 4 colors:

[V4+ Styles]
Format: Name, Fontname, Fontsize, PrimaryColour, SecondaryColour, OutlineColour, BackColour, Bold, Italic, Underline, StrikeOut, ScaleX, ScaleY, Spacing, Angle, BorderStyle, Outline, Shadow, Alignment, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Encoding
Style: Default,Arial,18,&H00FF7C62,&H0300FFFF,&H00000000,&H02000000,0,0,0,0,100,100,0,0,1,2,0,2,10,10,10,1

Using "Options -> Settings -> ASS/SSA Styles" you define the PrimaryColour for all subtitles.
Using "Right click -> Color ..." you define the PrimaryColour for highlighted subtitles.
Using "Styles -> Right Click -> Advanced Substation Alpha Styles ..." you define all 4 colors for the style.

[whitelighter27]

Thanks. I'm still a bit confused, though - if I did the first one, shouldn't the 3rd one change as well automatically (and vice-versa)? They don't seem to, so I'm still unclear as to weather the 1st or 3rd option determines the color of the final product.

[videobruger]

if I did the first one, shouldn't the 3rd one change as well automatically

No. The first is global, eg if you convert from another format or make a new subtitle file these settings are used.
The third is local to the current subtitle file and override the global settings. (and shouldn't change the global settings)

[whitelighter27]

Thanks! It sure doesn't make that very clear.

[whitelighter27]

fixed

[whitelighter27]

fixed

[whitelighter27]

In the current film I"m subtitling, the alignment is set to "bottom center", but in one place, I have a very fast dialogue that goes:

1st subtitle:
Speaker 1: - Where are we going?
Speaker 2: - Where are we going...

following subtitle:
Speaker 2: - ...that's a good question!
Speaker 3: - You gotta swear to secrecy.

In the 1st subtitle, can someone tell me if there's a way to move Speaker 1 up to the 3rd rung on the screen so that, in both subtitles, Speaker 2 will be
in the same position? Going to 'Source View' and inserting \N at the end of the line works if it immediately follows a letter, but doesn't seem to work following a dot or blank space.

[videobruger]

So many methods. Try this

[whitelighter27]

Thanks. I'm a bit confused, though... do I copy & paste? (sorry, I'm still a novice and it's all pretty much Greek to me).

[whitelighter27]

A bit trivial, I know, but when I change my pc settings to high-contrast, some of the info I need (such as the single line length) vanishes b/c it's black font. Is there a way to change that font-color? If so, I couldn't find it.