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Master Your Captions: A Complete Guide to the Echo Labs Editor

Our editor gives you full control to refine your transcripts. This guide will walk you through everything you need to get started.

Elena avatar
Written by Elena
Updated over 2 weeks ago

Accessing the Caption Editor

Once your video has been processed by Echo Labs, you can access the caption editor directly from your video's page within the dashboard.

  1. Navigate to your Dashboard and select the video you wish to edit.

  2. On the video details page, click the "Edit Captions" button. This will launch the editor.


A Tour of the Editor

The editor is designed to make captioning as efficient as possible. It's split into two main sections: the Video & Timeline on the left, and the Caption List & Controls on the right.

1. Video Player and Timeline

This is your visual workspace. The video player lets you watch your content, while the timeline below it provides a visual representation of your video's audio waveform.

  • Playback: You can play and pause the video using the on-screen controls or keyboard shortcuts (more on those later!).

  • Captions on Video: As the video plays, the current caption will appear as an overlay, exactly as your viewers will see it.

  • Timeline: Each block on the timeline represents a caption segment. This is where you'll perform all your timing adjustments.

2. Caption List and Controls

This is your text workspace. Here you can see a sequential list of all your captions and access all the tools for editing.

  • Caption List: A scrollable list of all caption segments. You can directly click into any text box to make edits.

  • Controls Header: At the top, you'll find buttons to Manage Speakers, adjust Settings, and Save & Exit.


3. How to Edit Your Captions

Now for the fun part! Here’s how to perform the most common editing tasks.

Editing Caption Text

To correct a typo or rephrase a line, simply find the caption in the Caption List on the right and click on it. You can then type directly into the text box. Your changes are saved automatically as you type.

Adjusting Caption Timing

Perfect timing ensures your captions match the spoken audio. The timeline is the best tool for this.

  • To change start/end times: Hover over the beginning or end of a caption block on the timeline. Your cursor will change to a resize handle. Click and drag to adjust the timing.

  • To move an entire caption: Click and drag the middle of a caption block to move it earlier or later on the timeline.

Splitting and Merging Captions

  • Splitting a Caption: The editor's Auto-wrap feature helps with this. If a caption is too long, simply place your cursor where you want the split to occur and press Enter. If the line is long enough, the editor will automatically create a new caption segment with the subsequent text. (Note: You can toggle this feature in Settings).

  • Merging Captions: To merge two captions, copy the text from the second caption, paste it at the end of the first one, and then delete all the text from the second caption.

Managing Speakers

If your video has multiple speakers, you can identify them for better clarity.

  1. In the caption text, label speakers using square brackets, for example: [Dr. Anya Sharma].

  2. Click the "Speakers" button in the top-right controls. This opens a menu listing all identified speakers and how many times they speak.

  3. To rename a speaker across the entire transcript (e.g., to fix a spelling error), click on their name in this list, type the new name, and apply the change.


Power-User Tips & Shortcuts

Become a captioning pro with these advanced features and keyboard shortcuts.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Use these shortcuts to navigate and edit without taking your hands off the keyboard.

Action

Windows/Linux Shortcut

macOS Shortcut

Play / Pause

Ctrl + 1

Cmd + 1

Rewind 5 Seconds

Ctrl + 2

Cmd + 2

Undo

Ctrl + Z

Cmd + Z

Redo

Ctrl + Shift + Z

Cmd + Shift + Z

Next Caption

Shift + J

Shift + J

Previous Caption

Shift + K

Shift + K

Jump Forward 5s

Alt + Right Arrow

Alt + Right Arrow

Jump Backward 5s

Alt + Left Arrow

Alt + Left Arrow

Jump Forward 5%

Alt + Up Arrow

Alt + Up Arrow

Jump Backward 5%

Alt + Down Arrow

Alt + Down Arrow

Editor Settings

Click the gear icon to open the Editor Settings. Here you can configure:

  • Auto-wrap captions: When enabled, the editor will automatically split captions for you when a line becomes too long (over 32 characters) or exceeds two lines. This is great for maintaining readability standards.


Saving Your Work

When you're happy with your edits, click the "Save & Exit" button in the top-right corner. Your changes will be saved, and you'll be returned to the video dashboard. Your updated captions will now be available for your viewers!

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