Use the Subtitles Transcript as an Outline of Your Video

When you record a long talk without a script, the video has an order but no outline. The Content tab of the Subtitles panel can supply one. It lays out everything that was said as text, with timestamps and pause markers, and you can read it in a minute or two.

How the transcript is laid out

Once your project has captions, the Content tab shows them as flowing text.

• Each caption begins with a small time chip, such as 1:03.4. Click it and the playhead jumps to that caption.
• A pause of more than half a second between two captions gets a marker that shows its length, such as 1.4s.
• A pause of more than two seconds starts a new paragraph.
• During playback the caption being spoken is highlighted and the list scrolls to follow it.

The paragraph breaks are the useful part. A pause of that length often falls between two points, so each paragraph tends to hold one idea. Treat the paragraphs as a first draft of your sections.

Build the outline

1. Open the Subtitles tab. Pick the spoken language and press Generate subtitles.
2. Read the Content tab from top to bottom without editing anything. Treat it as a script someone handed you.
3. Write one line for each paragraph that says what it is about. Copy the time of its first chip next to each line.
4. Mark each line: keep, shorten, move or cut.
5. Click the first chip of each paragraph to confirm the section starts where you expect. Play a few seconds to check.

By the end you hold a list of sections with times. That list is the structure of your video, and it came from what you said.

Spot the weak middle

An outline shows the shape of a talk quickly.

• A paragraph that circles the same point as the one before it is a candidate for a cut.
• A paragraph that sits far from its topic is a candidate for a move.
• A very long paragraph may hold two ideas that need a split.
• Many pause markers in a row point to a stretch where the speaker searched for words. Tighten that stretch, or cover it with other footage.

Turn the outline into cuts

With your list in hand, work down the timeline from the top.

1. Click a chip to put the playhead at a section boundary.
2. Press the scissors button (Split) in the timeline toolbar. With nothing else selected, it cuts the main track at the playhead.
3. Repeat at the next boundary. Delete the sections you marked as cuts by selecting them and pressing Delete.
4. Drag the sections you marked as moves into their new order on the main track.

When you delete a clip from a main track that has no other video track above it, later clips, titles and captions slide left to close the gap. Captions that sat inside the removed stretch go with it.

A caption edit changes the text on screen

Editing a caption's words changes the text on screen. The recorded voice stays as it was. Fixing a misheard word is safe. If you want the speaker to say something different, record it again or cut the passage out.

Outline your next talk

Record a rough talk, add it to DepCut, generate captions, and read the Content tab once before you make your first cut.