AI Subtitles Overview: Navigating the Subtitle Interface
Once your AI Subtitles project finishes processing, the editor opens automatically. Everything you need to review, edit, and export your translated subtitles is in one screen : no extra panels, no hidden menus. This guide walks you through each section so you know exactly what you are looking at and what each tool does.
The three main sections
The subtitle editor is divided into three areas that work together: the work area on the left, the video preview on the right, and the timeline along the bottom.
The work area
This is where you read and edit every line of your subtitles. Each row shows two columns side by side.
The left column is the source, which is the original language transcription pulled directly from your video audio.
The right column is the translation, which is the AI-generated output in your target language. This is the text that appears on screen for your viewers and the only column you need to edit.
Between the two columns there is a small arrow button. Clicking it sends that line to the AI for a fresh translation with full script context. This is useful when a single line feels off and you want a second pass without reprocessing the whole project.
Each row also shows a character count in the bottom right corner. Lines highlighted in red are exceeding 32 characters per line. This is a visual warning, not an error. Your project will export normally regardless. The 32-character mark is a conservative threshold. The actual Netflix subtitle standard is 42 characters per line, so anything between 32 and 42 is still within professional broadcast range.
If a line is genuinely too long, the fix is simple: click into the translation column and press Enter to break it into two lines. The segment will split visually in the work area. Note that the red highlight may remain even after the line break. This is a display behavior, not an indication that something is wrong. If your line reads naturally across two lines and sits under 42 characters each, it is good to go.
On the right side of each row you will see the timecode showing the start and end time for that subtitle segment, the duration in seconds, and a three-dot menu. Clicking the three dots opens four options:
Re-transcribe this segment retranscribes only that line from the original audio, useful if the AI got a word wrong without affecting the rest of the project.
Merge with Above combines the selected segment with the one directly before it.
Merge with Below combines the selected segment with the one directly after it.
Delete removes the segment entirely.
The video preview
The video player on the right lets you watch your video with both subtitle layers active at the same time. The original language appears above and the translated subtitle appears below, exactly as it will look when exported as burned-in captions.
Use this to do a quick visual QC pass. Play through the video and watch for lines that feel too long on screen, overlap with on-screen text, or arrive at the wrong moment. What you see here is what your audience will see.
The Save and Export buttons sit in the top right corner above the preview. Save stores your current edits. Export opens the download options.
The timeline
The timeline runs along the bottom of the screen and shows the full audio waveform of your video. The playhead marks your current position. Subtitle segments appear as blocks on the waveform so you can see exactly where each line sits relative to the audio.
Use the timeline to catch sync issues. If a subtitle block starts too early or ends too late relative to the speech, you can see it here visually before fixing it in the work area.
The magnifying glass icons on the right side of the timeline let you zoom in for precise frame-level timing adjustments or zoom out to see the full video at once.
The toolbar
The toolbar sits just above the timeline and contains the controls you will use most often during editing.
Play and Pause starts and stops playback from the current position.
Add segment creates a blank subtitle segment at the current playhead position. Use this when the AI missed a line or you want to add a manual subtitle anywhere on the timeline.
Cut splits a selected segment at the playhead position into two separate segments. Use this when one segment contains two distinct lines that need different timing.
Merge combines the selected segment with the one immediately after it.
Delete removes the selected segment entirely.
Undo and Redo step backward or forward through your edit history.
The find and replace tool
The magnifying glass icon in the top right corner of the work area opens the Replace Text in Subtitles panel. Type the word or phrase you want to find in the Before field, type the replacement text in the After field, and hit Replace All to apply the change across every subtitle line in one go.
This is especially useful for longer videos where a name, term, or phrase has been mistranslated consistently. Instead of fixing each line individually, one Replace All corrects the entire project in seconds.
What to do next
You have oriented yourself in the editor. The next guides go deeper into each part of the workflow:
To adjust subtitle timing precisely → The Timeline Masterclass: How to Sync Subtitles to Video Frames
To edit translation text and styling → Subtitle Work Area: Pro-Tips for Editing
To export your finished subtitles → Finalizing Your Subs: How to Export SRT and Burned-in Captions
If your video didn't process → Common Upload Errors
→ Continue here: The Timeline Masterclass: How to Sync Subtitles to Video Frames