Blackmagic Forum

Hi, I was wondering if there is a way of converting a track with my subtitles in Text+ to the actual subtitle track?
The reason for this is to be able to export the subtitle track as a .srt file so that I can translate the German subtitle into English afterwards. It's about 4 hours of video material and I don't want to do the same thing of adjusting subtitle lengths as last time.

If anyone has any Idea on how to tackle this problem please tell me cause I have no clue.

Thanks!
Nils

There is commercial third party plugin that converts form Subtitles to Text+ but I am not sure if it goes other way around.

When I have to do the same thing, I always end up doing it manually editing Text+ nodes. I always start by creating subtitles in Subtitle track and then create Text+ nodes so that I can at least some option to export.

But, most of the time I simply give up using Text+ as that is too much hustle and just use very limited graphical capabilities of subtitles.

Just wondering: why does it need to be converted back to a text+ after translating?
If the layout for all these subtitles is the same, you could use the new styling features for the subtitle track to use the same style for both the English and the German version.

Sander de Regt wrote:Just wondering: why does it need to be converted back to a text+ after translating?
If the layout for all these subtitles is the same, you could use the new styling features for the subtitle track to use the same style for both the English and the German version.

There is no need to convert it back to text+ after translating. I just need the existing subtitle that I made in text+ as an .srt file for easier translation. Afterwards it can stay in the normal subtitle track.

Sander de Regt wrote:Just wondering: why does it need to be converted back to a text+ after translating?
If the layout for all these subtitles is the same, you could use the new styling features for the subtitle track to use the same style for both the English and the German version.

Because Subtitles are very limited on graphics. If you want anything advanced with subtitles you have to make subtitles manually using Text+. It seems with 20 subtitles are improved but still not on par with Text+.

Yes, with this tool:

https://editingtools.io/subtitles/

I have to go back and forth as I use subtitles in Text+ as compound clips. You can not include Resolve subtitles in Compound Clips.

If I understand correctly, you have subtitles on the timeline in the form of separate 'Text+' clips, and you want to either convert this set to a standard subtitle track or output it as an .srt file. This can be done using a script.
We can parse the Text+ content, duration, and timecodes, and then use this data to create an SRT file. I have a complex script for working with different types of text clip, and I have made part of this logic into a separate script to convert Text+ to subtitle.

The script has a simple UI that allows you to select where to save the resulting SRT file and includes a start button.
Once the process is complete, the script automatically imports the resulting subtitle file to the timeline. This is convenient because it allows you to check that the file is correct.
I tested the script on a 90-minute project containing 2,000 Text+ titles, and everything worked correctly. However, after testing it on such long videos, I noticed that the CPU load does not drop, even after the script has finished. It is then necessary to either open a new project or restart Resolve. You mentioned that you have a four-hour project, so it's worth bearing this in mind. I have not experienced such problems with short clips.


Download Text+ to Subtitle script

You can use the installation instructions from this topic to install the script: https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=175315

Just a quick note: I'm not a professional programmer and I actively use what is now known as "vibe coding" . This approach helps me to solve many tasks. Therefore, you should bear in mind that many of the solutions in the code may be inefficient.

Thank you Sergey for that helpful script!

A few optimizations

• Minimization of API Access:
  Clips without Fusion compositions are skipped early to avoid unnecessary API calls.
• Reduction of UI Updates:
  The progress indicator is updated only every 10 clips instead of every clip to reduce CPU load.
• Simplification of Timecode Calculation:
  The computationally intensive fractions.Fraction logic in frames_to_srt_timecode is replaced with floating-point arithmetic for faster calculations.

Explanation of Changes

• API Access:
  In get_text_plus_clips, clips are checked early with if tl_item.GetFusionCompCount() == 0: continue to determine if they have a Fusion composition before further API calls are made.
• UI Updates:
  The progress is updated only every 10 clips (if current_item % 10 == 0), reducing the frequency of UI updates.
• Timecode Calculation:
  The frames_to_srt_timecode function now uses timedelta and floating-point arithmetic instead of fractions.Fraction, speeding up the calculations.

These changes should noticeably improve performance, especially for large timelines with many clips, without affecting functionality.

Thank you very much, Robert for the optimized version and especially for the explanation.
This is very useful information for me.

Thanks for all the messages and solutions to my problem.
I've tried the script but unfortunately it doesn't work with the free version of resolve.

I've also tried this tool that Luis recommended

Luis_X wrote:Yes, with this tool:

https://editingtools.io/subtitles/

I have to go back and forth as I use subtitles in Text+ as compound clips. You can not include Resolve subtitles in Compound Clips.

But I just couldn't figure out. Maybe you could explain how you use this particular tool. This would help a lot. Thanks!

Hi, Nils,

Unfortunately, the free versions of DaVinci Resolve since 19.1 have removed GUI support for scripts.

I have prepared a version without interface, because it is not really needed here. Try to install and run this version, it should work in the free version of DaVinci Resolve.
This version includes the optimisations that Robert suggested.

I recommend pre-testing on a timeline with a small number of clips.

Open the DaVinci Resolve console - Workspace - Console menu, you should be able to see debug messages there.

The result of the script should be a Subtitle Track on your timeline

Sergey Knyazkov wrote:Hi, Nils,

Unfortunately, the free versions of DaVinci Resolve since 19.1 have removed GUI support for scripts.

I have prepared a version without interface, because it is not really needed here. Try to install and run this version, it should work in the free version of DaVinci Resolve.
This version includes the optimisations that Robert suggested.

I recommend pre-testing on a timeline with a small number of clips.

Open the DaVinci Resolve console - Workspace - Console menu, you should be able to see debug messages there.

The result of the script should be a Subtitle Track on your timeline

Hi Sergey!
Thank you so much! You're amazing!
It worked really well. I just made a new timeline and copied over the text+ subtitle to convert it in smaller batches cause I tried to do it all at once but that didn't work. I now have all 4 hours of subtitles as an srt file ready for translating.
Thanks again you really saved me hours of work.

Hi Nils,
I'm glad this solution worked for you!
I think I will refine the script to write the data to a temporary json file, this should make it easier to work with large timelines