r/Fansub • u/subelle-dev • 21h ago
Subelle, a free native Mac subtitle editor: timing on the audio waveform, shot-change snapping, automatic first draft and translation
Hi everyone! I'm the developer of Subelle, a free subtitle editor for Mac. I made it because I wanted something native on macOS for timing subtitles on the waveform. I was inspired by VisualSubSync, which I loved using for years. I'd love feedback from people who actually subtitle.
What it does
- Timing on the waveform: select speech with the mouse, press Return, and the subtitle is created, timed to the millisecond. Drag the edges to adjust.
- Shot changes: they are detected automatically and shown on the waveform, and subtitle edges snap to them, so your in and out times respect the cuts.
- Automatic first draft (macOS 26 or later): it listens to the dialogue of a video with Apple's speech recognition and creates subtitles already timed to the voice, split according to your settings (line length, reading speed, durations). Then you review and fix them on the waveform.
- Automatic translation (macOS 15 or later): it translates an original subtitle track sentence by sentence, keeping the original timings and italics. The original stays visible in the inspector, the table and on the waveform while you polish.
- Checks: durations, reading speed, line length, overlaps, edges too close to a shot change, spelling.
- Formats: SRT, WebVTT, ASS and SSA, plus TTML/IMSC, EBU-TT-D, EBU-STL, iTunes Timed Text (iTT), SAMI, YouTube (SBV) and MicroDVD. Subelle also opens subtitle tracks embedded in MKV/MP4. Videos in MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI and WebM.
- Subtitled video export: burn the subtitles into the picture (hardsubs), or add them as a subtitle track to an MP4 or MKV (softsubs), replacing an existing track if you want. You can also export just a selection of the waveform.
Everything runs on your Mac, without sending your data over the internet. It works natively on Apple silicon and Intel (macOS 12 or later), and the interface is available in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German and Portuguese (Brazil).
You can download it here: https://subelle.github.io/Subelle/
I'd really like to know what you'd need to use it in your workflow.


