Import formatted subtitles with positioning

Hi,

Is there a way to import formatted subtitles, e.g. with position and colour tags?

If I try to import an srt file with position tags, the tags are not properly "understood" by DaVinci and are displayed as part of the subtitle text instead.

I have also tried other formats, like VTT, and it does not display the position tags, but does not display the subtitles correctly positioned either.

I need to import an EBU stl subtitle file that contains format information, like colour, positioning and font style. Positions may vary from one subtitle to another to avoid overlapping with other graphic content, but I can't manage DaVinci to "read" this information, only to import the whole subtitle track with a uniform format.

Does anyone know if there is a way to do this?

Thank you.

Did you ever figure this out? I'm trying to export subtitles with positioning & style to .vtt or .srt

No, I ended up exporting a mov alpha overlay from my subtitling software and importing the subtitles into DaVinci as a video track instead of a proper subtitle track. I own a subtitling company, so I normally use subtitling software and deliver the files to be imported into a video editor or do that myself, not the other way round, so I'm afraid I don't have any suggestions for your exporting issue, sorry.

I'm thinking about doing the same if the client is fine with subtitles baked in, but I fear that they're going to aak for the vtt or srt with the position data so that viewers can easily toggle it on/off.

At your company, what software are you using to setup/create the subtitle files (that ideally) have the positioning/style encoded in them? I looked at Aegisub, but the SRT's they export (or at least, the ones I was exporting) don't have any of that data in them. Their .ass files have that data, but our clients usually want VTT, and I can't figure out how to convert the .ass to .vtt with that positioning/style data.

We use Zeitanker's Annotation Edit, but, sadly, the main software developer passed away not long ago and they have deleted their website and stopped updating it, so we have yet to decide which one we are going to use from now on (EZTitles or Ooona seem to be the most likely options). Aegisub, Tero Subtitler and Nikse's Subtitle Edit are pretty decent free alternatives, many professional freelancers use them. I think they should allow you to convert your .ass into .vtt without losing the position tags, and I think you should be able to keep them in .srt format too, take a look at the export settings in the software setup.