Shona · Captions

How to add Shona captions

You want Shona captions that look designed, and you want to keep adjusting them in your editor. Eddie builds them from the word timings and carries them into each editor in the form that editor can change.

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Step by step

  1. Step 01

    Bring your Shona interviews in

    You ask
    Upload the interviews, or add them from Frame.io, Dropbox, Google Drive or your editor's bin.
    Eddie does
    The Eddie desktop app (Download) runs on Mac and Windows. It integrates with Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro and Avid Media Composer. From Premiere and Resolve it pulls clips, multicam clips and timelines from your bin into Eddie. From Final Cut it takes the clips and projects you drag in. Avid is in beta and pulls clips from the bins you have open. You can also upload from the browser, or add media from Frame.io, Dropbox and Google Drive. Eddie analyses every file before you can prompt, so no edit is built on half the footage.
    You get
    One project with every source, analysed and searchable.
    Step 1: dropping interview and b-roll files into Eddie, with cloud sources listed, with a Shona sample line in the transcript slot

  2. Step 02

    Transcribe the Shona interview

    Eddie does
    Eddie detects Shona on its own, so you do not have to choose it. If an interview switches between languages, Eddie detects that too. It labels the speakers and keeps a timing for every word.
    You get
    A Shona transcript in Latin script that you can search and cut from. Ask Eddie to fix a misheard name everywhere it appears, or to rename “Speaker 1”, and every word keeps its timing.
    Step 2: a transcript with speaker labels, timecodes and a search panel, language detected automatically, with a Shona sample line in the transcript slot

  3. Step 03

    Ask Eddie for the cut

    You ask
    “Cut a three-minute story about how the company started, and open on the strongest line.”
    Eddie does
    Eddie reads the Shona transcript, picks the soundbites that answer your brief, proposes a story structure and builds the edit beat by beat. It tells you the finished length against your target. You can prompt in English about footage in any language.
    You get
    A rough cut you can watch, trim, reorder and refine in plain words.
    Step 3: a prompt asking Eddie for a three-minute story, Eddie's reply and the resulting timeline, with a Shona sample line in the transcript slot

  4. Step 04

    Add Shona captions

    You ask
    “Add documentary captions, two lines at the bottom.”
    Eddie does
    Eddie builds the captions from the Shona word timings, in one of five looks: social, documentary, minimal, punch or editorial. Filler words are left out of the caption text by default. Captions are the spoken words, never a translation.
    You get
    Captions in the player, ready to burn into an MP4 or carry into your editor. Download Shona captions as a free SRT or VTT file. Open Export and choose Transcript. Eddie writes the spoken words, timed to your cut or to the whole source. Shona captions burn into the MP4 on the cloud export and on the desktop app's local export.
    A video frame with a caption band and the five caption looks, with a Shona sample line in the transcript slot

  5. Step 05

    Carry the captions into your editor

    You ask
    “Export this edit for Final Cut Pro.”
    Eddie does
    Premiere: A Premiere project (.prproj) carries the captions on a caption track, in the caption font, size, position and colours. Premiere XML carries none, so add the free SRT file instead. Resolve: A Resolve project (.drp) puts the captions on a subtitle track. A Resolve FCPXML carries each caption card as its own title, with the caption font, size, colour and position. Final Cut: The FCPXML carries each caption card as its own connected Basic Title, with the caption font, size, colour and position, so you can restyle any card. The editing Mac needs the caption font installed. Media Composer: Captions do not travel inside the AAF. Download the SRT or VTT file for the caption step in Media Composer.
    You get
    Shona captions as editable items in your editor, or a sidecar file where a format has none.
    Step 5: an editor timeline with a caption track beside the export menu, with a Shona sample line in the transcript slot

Good to know for Shona

The script

Shona is written in Latin script.

Speaker colours

Give each speaker a caption colour. It shows in the player and the MP4, and an FCPXML carries it on each caption title.

Burned-in captions

Shona captions burn into the MP4 on the cloud export and on the desktop app's local export.

Where captions do not travel

Premiere XML and the Avid AAF carry no captions. For those, take the SRT or VTT file and add it in your editor.

Finish Shona edits in your editor

Questions

Which caption looks are there?
Five: social, documentary, minimal, punch and editorial. Each one can be adjusted for words per card, style, colours, size and position, and changing the look is free.
Will the word highlight survive in my editor?
No. Editor files carry the text, timing, font, size, colour and position. The word highlight, the background band and the entrance motion stay in Eddie's player and MP4.
Do I have to tell Eddie the interview is in Shona?
Eddie detects Shona on its own, so you do not have to choose it. If an interview switches between languages, Eddie detects that too.
Can Eddie translate Shona captions into another language?
No. Captions are always the spoken words, verbatim. Translating what the edit says is dubbing, which is a separate feature.
Can Eddie make an audio-described version in Shona?
Not yet. Eddie's audio description is built and measured for English speech, so it is offered for English programmes only.

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Try it on your own footage

Caption one Shona interview and open it in your editor.

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