Line Spacing in ASS/SSA

[Max Deryagin]

Hi guys,

I found a good solution for changing the vertical gap between lines in ASS subtitles using tags. Thought some people might find it useful, so I decided to share the info (I even wrote an article about it, if you're curious).

So what you do is you move the rotation origin point really far away to the left and slightly rotate the first line. Because the rotation radius is so big, the angle you need to rotate is really small, enough that the first line is non-angled visually if the displacement is within a subpixel on the screen. The subtitle text goes like this:

{\org(-2000000,0)\fr0.001}This is the first line,{\r}\Nand this is the second one.

Works well for me. What do you think?

[ralph18]

Works great! But how do I apply these tags to every two line subtitle in a list of more than 300 titles?
I am new to ASS.

[Max Deryagin]

Like this: https://www.md-subs.com/how-to-add-ssa-tags-in-aegisub

[ralph18]

Thanks for the quick response. I tried that before but it did not work. What do I have to fill into the template line: just the tag or a subtitle with both tags and text in between. How are one line and two line subtitles distinguished?

[Max Deryagin]

Just the tags. The one line/two line subs are not distinguished, yeah; if you want an automatic solution here, you'll need to write an Automation lua script. I'm quite busy right now, if you don't know how to write the script, I'll come up with a quick example later on.

[Max Deryagin]

Here, download this file: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1rOQxFq8sgQHGSJh05YDxlLQIfhNywn0Z

Copy it in Aegisub's automation folder (automation > autoload), launch Aegisub, select all the subtitles by pressing Ctrl+A on the grid, and finally go to Automation > Line Spacing 0.001

This should work only for two-liners. If you need a different spacing, just modify the script in any text editor.

[ralph18]

Sounds good. Thanks for your effort. I'll try and report.

[mario.v]

When the subtitle is "italic" and have two or more lines, only the fist line remain "italic".

[Attachment 44887 - Click to enlarge]

[Attachment 44888 - Click to enlarge]

[Max Deryagin]

That's how the /r tag works — it overrides the style of the text that follows it. If you need the style to be preserved for the second line, you need to add the same tags inside the curly brackets after /r. For example: {\i1}This is the first line,\n{\r\i1}and this is the second one.

[mario.v]

Is there any solution to modify the "*.lua" script to apply italics for the second subtitle line?

[Max Deryagin]

It depends. How do you make subtitles italicized? Do you add \i1 to each?

[mario.v]

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,000
<i>Line one
Line two</i>

[Max Deryagin]

Instead of modifying the lua script, I suggest you simply copy the style you're using, make it italicized in the Style Editor and use it for the subs that you want in italics.

[mario.v]

Ok, thanks!

[annn]

Can you give a solution to decrease the line spacing? increasing works, but I can't get it decrease

[Max Deryagin]

Simply use a negative value: \fr-0.001

[annn]

great, thanks! That worked If I have more than two lines in a dialogue, let's say 4, I could do this? {\org(-2000000,0)\fr-0.0003}This is the first line,{\r}\N{\org(-2000000,0)\fr-0.0003}and this is the second one.{\r}\N{\org(-2000000,0)\fr-0.0003}This is the third line,{\r}\N{\org(-2000000,0)\fr-0.0003}and this is the fourth one.{\r}

[Max Deryagin]

No, the lines should be at equal distances, e.g.

{\org(-2000000,0)\fr-0.0003}This is the first line,{\r}\N{\org(-2000000,0)\fr-0.0002}and this is the second one.{\r}\N{\org(-2000000,0)\fr-0.0001}This is the third line,{\r}\Nand this is the fourth one.

[scarbt11]

What I do is take the .ttf font I like, edit in a font editor (i.e. FontDraw) and alter (i.e., decrease) the Win Descent parameter of the font. E.g., I like Segoe UI font. It has a Win Descent parameter of 514; I alter to 300 or 200. You can set the parameter to zero... quite tight spacing This allows fine control of the line spacing. Then attach this font to the .ass. I have not had consistent success with \r}\N{\org(-2000000,0)\ across various clients (and italicizations).

[Max Deryagin]

What I do is take the .ttf font I like, edit in a font editor (i.e. FontDraw) and alter (i.e., decrease) the Win Descent parameter of the font. E.g., I like Segoe UI font. It has a Win Descent parameter of 514; I alter to 300 or 200. You can set the parameter to zero... quite tight spacing This allows fine control of the line spacing. Then attach this font to the .ass. I have not had consistent success with \r}\N{\org(-2000000,0)\ across various clients (and italicizations).

Oh, this is a great idea, never thought about it!