Eight tools you use between capturing and exporting: caption timing, color grade mood, subtitle contrast, pacing, beat sync.
Will viewers actually read your caption before it disappears? Get a per-character read-time estimate and a safe-duration recommendation.
Casual skim ≈ 250 wpm, normal read ≈ 200 wpm, attention-grab ≈ 150 wpm. Coverage > 100% means it disappears faster than an average viewer can read it.
What is the smallest safe font size (height of capital letters) for your subtitles?
BBC subtitle guidelines put subtitles at about 4% of frame height. We raise to 5% for mobile / vertical reading; use the "minimum" only if you also have a background plate behind the text.
Calculate WCAG contrast ratio between your text and your background. AA requires ≥ 4.5; AAA requires ≥ 7.
WCAG was written for the web, but its ratios transfer well to captions because they target "normal vision". If your video has a busy background that varies, drop a translucent plate behind text or add a stroke and check the worst-case area.
How dense is your edit? Compare against common genre benchmarks.
Generate beat positions (down-beats and 1/2 / 1/4) for a given BPM. Use to plan cuts and motion.
Most short-form editing feels good with cuts landing on the 1 and 3 of a measure (4/4 time). Place important content transitions on the first beat of a bar (typically the bold/loudest beat).
Pick a mood and a base hue. Get a 3-step grade recipe (shadow / midtone / highlight + suggested contrast).
These are starting recipes. Your final LUT depends on your monitor (calibrated?) and your source footage. Always preview the result before exporting.
Effective WPM of your subtitle vs. audience-friendly ceilings (BBC / Netflix norms).
BBC guidelines cap subtitles at ~160 wpm for general audiences; Netflix lands closer to 180 wpm. For impact moments and shorts, 200-220 wpm is acceptable because viewers anticipate captions.
Plan a short that loops cleanly. Get a "seam" risk score based on audio tail, motion, and cut.
A seamless loop looks identical at frame 0 and the final frame. Real short-form loops rarely need to be frame-perfect - audio and "feeling" matter more. The score here is a heuristic, not a viewing test.
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