SRT Time Shift

How to fix subtitle timing that is too early or too late

Subtitles made for one release of a film often do not fit another. A different intro, a studio logo or a missing recap moves every line by the same amount: all subtitles appear, say, 2.5 seconds too early. This is a constant offset, and a time shift is the right repair. The tool adds the same value to every timecode or subtracts it, so 00:01:02,500 becomes 00:01:05,000 with a shift of 2.5 seconds later.

To find the amount, play the video and note the moment a clearly audible line is spoken, then compare it with the start time of that subtitle. The difference is the shift. If the subtitle is timed at 00:10:00 and the line is spoken at 00:10:03, shift 3 seconds later. Fine-tune with the +0.1 and +0.5 buttons and watch the video preview until speech and text match.

Sometimes only a part needs moving, for instance after an advertising break or a scene that was cut. Shift from a subtitle number to the end, a range of numbers or a time range, and the rest stays untouched. If the delay grows during the film – fine at the start, seconds off at the end – the cause is drift, usually a frame-rate mismatch such as 25 versus 23.976 fps, and a plain shift cannot fix it.

Which scope fits which problem

Tips

• If the delay grows over the length of the film, use SRT Sync, which corrects drift and frame-rate differences.
• For a small correction with a slider and millisecond buttons, Subtitle Delay is the simplest tool.
• Shifting only start or only end times can create overlaps or very short subtitles; the Subtitle Duration Fixer repairs them.
• VLC can delay subtitles temporarily with the G and H keys on Windows and Linux. Enter the value found there as the shift, and the correction is saved in the file.