1. Review words, timing and placement
Play a short section with sound at normal speed. Compare each caption with the spoken phrase, checking when it appears, when it clears and whether it covers useful picture detail. Repeat near the beginning, middle and end. A wrong word, a constant offset and drift that grows through the recording need different corrections.
- Correct spelling against the recording before treating a line as a timing problem.
- Check several speech boundaries instead of matching only the first cue.
- Leave enough time to read the complete phrase without revealing the next thought too early.
- Review captions over the actual footage at the size your audience will watch.
2. Match the symptom to the next check
Start with what you can observe. The possible explanation is a lead to check, rather than proof of a root cause.
| Observed symptom | What to check | Next action | Review afterwards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wrong word or name | Compare the line with the spoken words | Correct that line of text | Confirm spelling and keep unaffected wording |
| Similar delay throughout | Check speech near the beginning, middle and end | Check whether the supplied SRT belongs to this exact video edit before changing times | Review several cues after any offset correction |
| Mismatch grows through the recording | Compare source duration, edit version and playback speed | Check more than one speech boundary; one global shift may not fit | Listen between the points you corrected |
| Mismatch begins after a cut | Compare the last cue before the join and first cues after it | Review the changed clip boundary and affected caption cues | Check a later passage as well as the join |
| Phrase disappears too soon | Listen to the phrase ending and check reading time | Review the cue end and neighboring cue before changing either | Keep complete words and avoid unintended overlap |
3. Correct text and review cue timing in Cubix
Open Text → Subtitles, then Review every subtitle. Find the affected line and edit its text directly. For timing, inspect the start and end fields beside the cue and listen to the result after each change. The HH:MM:SS fields use hours, minutes and whole seconds; they are not raw millisecond inputs.
- Fix one wrong word in its existing line instead of regenerating the entire caption set.
- For a whole-second adjustment, change the cue time field using its displayed format and replay the phrase.
- Do not type an SRT timestamp such as 00:00:10,200 into a whole-second field. If you need fractional-second timing, preserve a copy of the SRT, revise the affected cue in a subtitle editor that supports it, then review the imported result.
- Keep the original SRT and project details before replacing captions. Check the caption Help article for the current import controls.
Generation and import can replace reviewed captions. Keep your original file and a record of the corrected text before using Regenerate all, regenerating a selection or applying another SRT.
4. Preserve reviewed captions when importing SRT
An SRT supplies numbered text cues with start and end times. It does not restore a styled caption project or supply individual word alignment. In Text → Subtitles, use Upload SRT file and choose the intended video when asked. Applying the file replaces captions associated with that media target, so confirm the selection before continuing.
- Match the subtitle file to the same source and edit version as the video.
- Preserve every word you intend to keep; shortening a line can change its meaning as well as its wrapping.
- Review fonts, line grouping and position in the editor separately from the SRT text.
- Generated captions may carry word timing; importing cue-level SRT does not recreate that alignment for active-word effects.
5. Check cut boundaries and the downloaded file
After a trim, split, move or speed change, replay the affected boundary and a later passage. Do not assume every operation moves every cue correctly. Review the downloaded video outside the editor: a clear timeline preview alone does not establish correct encoded captions.
- Listen before, across and after the join for clipped speech or incomplete caption phrases.
- Check the beginning, middle and end of the downloaded video for spelling, sync, line breaks and placement.
- If you use Download SRT, open the actual downloaded file and compare cue order, wording and times with the reviewed edit.
- A sidecar SRT carries cue text and times; the styled appearance must be checked in the video export when captions are burned in.
✖ Regenerating every caption to fix one wrong word
Why it fails: Replacement can overwrite text you already reviewed.
✔ Better approach: Edit the affected line and replay that phrase.
✖ Applying a fixed early offset to every recording
Why it fails: A uniform shift may introduce an error or leave growing drift unresolved.
✔ Better approach: Compare several speech boundaries and check the source edit version first.
✖ Treating an imported SRT as a styled caption project
Why it fails: Cue text and timestamps do not contain the full editor style or individual word alignment.
✔ Better approach: Review appearance and any word effects separately after import.
Editing workflows in Cubix
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions around this editing workflow.