In simple English
This program helps you create and edit subtitles for videos. You can move text, change fonts, and place words precisely where you want them on the screen. It is free to download and use. Building it from source code takes time and technical patience.
What it is
Aegisub is an advanced subtitle editor with tools for timing lines to audio waveforms and styling text with placement effects. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
What it is good for
Anyone making videos who needs precise control over subtitle placement and style will find this useful. It removes the guesswork of syncing text by showing an audio waveform right next to the timeline.
- Shows a clear audio waveform to help you sync text with speech.
- Allows detailed control over subtitle positioning and visual styles.
- Supports automation scripts to handle repetitive editing tasks.
- Building from source requires installing many developer tools and libraries.
- Licence terms vary across files, and official builds use the GPLv2 licence.
- Large codebase with hundreds of open issues to navigate.
Basic video editor text tools and manual timestamp editing
HandBrake
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sudo apt install build-essential pkg-config meson ninja-build gettext intltool libfontconfig1-dev libass-dev libboost-chrono-dev libboost-locale-dev libboost-regex-dev libboost-system-dev libboost-thread-dev zlib1g-dev wx3.2-headers libwxgtk3.2-dev icu-devtools libicu-dev libpulse-dev libasound2-dev libopenal-dev libffms2-dev libfftw3-dev libhunspell-dev libuchardet-dev libcurl4-gnutls-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libgtest-dev libgmock-dev libportal-gtk3-dev meson setup build --prefix=/usr/local --buildtype=release --strip -Dsystem_luajit=false -Ddefault_library=static meson compile -C build meson install -C build --skip-subprojects luajit