How to Put Subtitle

1. Drop shadows are never a viable alternative for proper outlines (don’t forget to make the thickness of the outlines customizable by the user)
2. Set the text alignment for the subtitles to “center” (not centered subtitles look weird IMO; the example subtitles at 20:20 are left aligned for example; let the user choose if you want non centered subtitles)
3. Use fonts which are made up of vector graphics (for scaling and sharpness on big screens; do not use bitmap fonts)
4. (prerequisite: #3) Set text size as percentage of screen size (for future proofing and customization; his minimum 46px for a 1080p display shown at 7:10 would be ~ 4,26 % of the screen size; so setting 5 % of the screen size as a minimum to select via a slider e.g.)
5. Timing: important in general

Timing tips:

• 5.1 Display your subtitles a few milliseconds before the corresponding audio is played (called “lead-in”; prefer to display subtitles 125 ms before the audio starts)
• 5.2 Display your subtitles a few milliseconds after the corresponding audio is played (called “lead-out”; analogous to #5.1; can linger far longer on the screen as you might think; 250-500 ms after the audio stopped; personal preference: 375 ms)
• 5.3 (prerequisite: #5.1+#5.2) Very important to not distract the reader by showing no subtitles for a few milliseconds inbetween texts (avoid blinking subtitles); instead link them together to show subtitles while the dialog happens (except longer pauses, upwards of 400 ms); if subtitle timings overlap, reduce the “lead-out” of the previous one accordingly to link them.