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Short Video Optimization Guide

Short-form videos (such as TikTok, Kuaishou, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels) have different translation requirements compared to long-form content. Subtitles on short videos must be concise and punchy to fit compact vertical screens. Below is the recommended optimization guide for short videos.


Core Principles

The key to short video subtitling is brevity:

  • Fewer characters per subtitle line
  • Shorter subtitle display duration
  • Appropriately smaller font size

Optimization Steps

1. Select the Best STT Engine & Settings

We recommend using faster-whisper(Built-in) + large-v3 model and enabling SecondarySTT.

Adjust parameters in Advanced Options -> ASR Settings:

  • Recognition(2): max duration(s): Set to 1.0-2.0 (shorter durations help create shorter subtitle segments).
  • Recognition(2): min duration(ms): Set to 500-1000 (helps keep subtitle segments concise).

2. Control Subtitle Character Length

In Advanced Options -> Alignment:

  • Number of Characters per line for CJK: Set to 10-15 characters.
  • Number of Characters per line for Other: Set to 20-40 characters.

This prevents long subtitles from running off the screen.

3. Reduce Font Size

If subtitles still appear too long on screen, navigate to More... -> Subtitle style -> Font Size and reduce the font size by 1–2 points.

4. Remove Punctuation

Under More... -> Default Punct, select Remove Punct. This delivers a cleaner, more modern look for short-form video captions.

5. Translation Engine

Select DeepSeek or another AI engine paired with a flagship online LLM model.

6. Voice Dubbing Engine

Select a TTS engine based on your needs. If using the clone voice role:

  • Ensure the following in Advanced Options -> ASR Settings:
    • VAD:Max speech duration(s): Set to 3-6
    • VAD: min speech duration(ms): Set to 1000-3000

Before vs. After Comparison

Before OptimizationAfter Optimization
Subtitles too long, overflow screen edgesShort and compact, fits vertical screens perfectly
Font too large, obscures video contentClean font size, unobtrusive
Punctuation clutters reading flowPunctuation removed, clean and legible
Long subtitle durationFast-paced, dynamic rhythm matching short video style