NINJA ACADEMY SEGMENTING GUIDE 

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I. Common Segmenting Courtesy in Channels

• GAINING PERMISSION: Before segmenting in a channel, you must gain permission from a Channel Manager or Moderator. If accepted, you will be added to the channel as a designated segmenter. For Power Segmenters, please ask Channel staff for permission before working on videos. Please do not abuse your power and segment without permission as it is common courtesy to ask for permission beforehand. As stated in the Viki Community Guidelines, “Follow the Channel rules set by the Channel Manager and Moderators.”

Note from Viki: You can segment on News, Music and Classics Channels without having to be added by the Channel Manager. You may segment freely on all channels managed by Viki, but as a courtesy, please contact the channel manager if he/she is a Viki community member.

• RESERVING PARTS: Please only work on one part at a time. Do not create segments in multiple parts (regardless of being in the same or different channels simultaneously) in order to lock other segmenters out of the segment timer. In other words, do not reserve parts for yourself. Reserving parts is unfair to other segmenters who want to help and makes the segmenting process slower. Once you finish your part, if there is another part available and no free segmenter around to segment it, you may segment that part. The following image shows what reserving looks like from the Activities tab. A user simultaneously created segments in both the 00:10:00.670 (red) and 00:40:02:700 (green) parts.

• UNSPLIT EPISODES: Please do not segment a video before it is split into parts. If you discover a video that is not split into parts, please PM the Channel Manager or Moderators to contact Viki in order to get the video divided. When an episode is segmented before being split, there is a chance there will be issues splitting the video later, delaying the segmenting and subtitling progress.
• SLOW SEGGERS: If you are a relatively slow segmenter working on a live project, choose a later part of the episode to segment so that subtitlers can start subbing the beginning of the episode as early as possible.
• UNFINISHED PARTS: Try to segment an entire part in one sitting. If you must take a break or leave, comment in the Team Discussion tab so other team members are aware and can finish segmenting the part if necessary.
• FINISHED PARTS: Once you finish your part, comment in the Team discussion indicating which part you segmented.

• SEGMENTING CREDITS: Most channels request that you insert a team credit in every part you segment. The credits are typically in the format: <i>Timing and Subtitles brought to you by The ____________ Team @ Viki.com</i>.

• Insert credit segment with subtitle only ONCE for each of the parts you segment. Never insert more than one credit per part.
• Each credit should appear on screen for about 5 to 10 seconds in duration.
• The credit should be strategically placed so that the segment for the credit ends before the scene changes. For the first part of an episode or film, try to add the credit near the beginning. For the last part, try to add the credit near the end. For the middle parts, try to add the credit near the middle.

• SEGMENTING PERFORMANCE: The Chief Segmenter of a channel is a quality checker (QC) who checks the accuracy of segments and edits them when necessary. If you begin to feel unconfident in your segmenting, you may seek help by asking the Chief Segmenter for advice to improve or you should review your part after it has been fully subtitled to more easily see your mistakes. Sometimes the Chief Segmenter may notice consistent errors in your segments and PM you to let you know what should be changed. If this happens, take advantage of their advice and make an effort to prevent the noted errors in the future, also fixing the specified part if necessary.
• FINAL SEGMENTER: If you are the last segmenter to finish for an episode, please unlock the video so that the subtitlers can begin to work:

• OTHER: Sometimes you may see issues in a part that you did not segment.

• If you notice that a part is segmented very poorly, let the Moderator or Channel Manager know.
• If you discover that a section of a part is not segmented, you may complete the missing segments and comment in the Team Discussion informing the other team members.
• If the segment timer of a part has been closed for a particularly long time and the episode is not unlocked yet, PM the Channel Manager or Segment Quality Checker (Chief Segmenter) to let them know the subbing process may be held up.

II. Creating and Adjusting Segments

A. THE BASICS:

1. To open a new segment, press spacebar. To close the segment, press spacebar again.
2. To continuously segment without the video pausing, use the keys Shift + Spacebar.
3. Press S to select a segment in order to adjust the start or end time.
4. To edit the start or end time of the segments, use the shortcuts Ctrl + ← / → to move the start time earlier / later or Ctrl + ↓ / ↑ to move the end time earlier / later. (If using Mac, the shortcuts are Cmd + ← / → and Cmd + ↓ / ↑.)
5. Press F or P to pause and play the video in order to check segment timing.
6. Press Del to delete a selected segment.

B. DIFFERENT SEGMENTING TECHNIQUES:

The most basic method of segmenting is opening a segment when voice begins and closing the segment at the appropriate time, then rewinding and checking the accuracy of the start-time. Then you would continue segmenting in the same manner until the part is complete.

CONTINUOUS SEGMENTING

The next method of segmenting is continuous segmenting (continuous cutting), which is when you press Shift + Spacebar to simultaneously open and close a segment without the video stopping. Using this method, you can segment an entire portion of dialogue (or the entire video, if you’d like), before rewinding the video and editing all the segments’ lengths and timings.

Continuous segmenting is useful when you have a waveform as a guideline (in licensed channels only) or when you have a good feel for when there will be breaks in speech, so you can cut without the video pausing. After you finish continuously segmenting a section of dialogue, rewind and review the segments’ timings and lengths using the basic shortcut keys described above. Continuous segmenting usually creates tiny gaps between segments. These gaps should be closed for better appearance by adjusting the ends of the segments.

XXL SEGMENTING

Another method is the “XXL” segmenting method (aka Amy’s Bullet-Cut technique). This is the best method to prevent the tiny gaps that can be found between segments caused by the other techniques. The basic idea is to create a giant XXL segment and then cut the giant segment into smaller appropriate segments, deleting any unnecessary no-voice segment areas along the way. The step-by-step procedure to this method is:

1. Cut at the beginning of voice using the spacebar.
2. Extend the segment using the right arrow to fast-forward to the end of the scene, creating an XXL segment. Press the spacebar to end the segment.
3. Use the R key to replay the XXL segment.
4. Start cutting the XXL segment into smaller segments by using the F/P key to pause at  voice and pressing spacebar to cut there.
5. Check timing of each segment you cut.
6. If there are no-voice areas in your XXL segment, cut them out.
7. Continue to cut until reaching the end of the scene.
8. Move on to the next scene repeating the same procedure.

As you segment more and get a consistent reaction time in cutting segments, you may develop a method of your own. There are many ways to segment, so you just have to decide which way is most comfortable for you!

C. ACCURATE TIMING: *UPDATED*

Subtitles should begin at the same time as voice or on-screen text. In order for a subtitle to appear on the screen, the green line must pass the beginning boundary line of a segment (see image below).

The subtitle box appears as soon as the green line passes the start of the segment (yellow line)

How can you tell that a segment is timed well? Because the green line must pass the beginning of a segment for the subtitle to appear, the segment must be timed so that the voice or on-screen text begins as soon as the green line passes the start of the segment. In other words, segments are accurately timed when the green line (paused at the first hint of voice) is completely past the beginning boundary line of the segment.

Following are a few images to illustrate on-time, early, and late segments. The green line is paused at the first hint of voice:

How can you create a segment that is timed well? An easy way is to follow these steps:

Note: An XXL segment has been created in the example above to simplify the steps.

Now that you know how to create a well-timed segment, let’s learn how to check the timing of a segment. To check timing, pause at the very first hint of voice and then ask yourself these questions:

1. Is the green line overlapping or to the left of the yellow line? If yes, the segment is late.

2. Is the green line to the right of the yellow line? If yes, the segment is either on time or early. To determine whether the segment is on time or early, press Shift + Left Arrow one time.

D. SEGMENT LENGTH AND EXTENSION:

On a segment timer, 5 increments = 1 second.

|    `    `    `    `    | = 1 second

Therefore, the gap between one set of  `    `  is 0.2 seconds, and half of the gap is 0.1 seconds.

LENGTH

There is no perfect length for all segments. When cutting segments, segmenters must take into account the subtitle character limit of 120 characters and try to imagine how the subtitle will appear (i.e. whether the subtitler will include <br> multiple times to break between two or more speakers or lines). The image below shows a subtitle that runs onto three lines, but this takes up too much video space. So a maximum two-line subtitle is preferred.

As a guideline, segments that are 3.5 to 6 seconds long, including any 1-second extension before “no-voice” areas, are generally safe. This is to ensure the subtitles will not exceed the character limit.

However, segment length should be adjusted depending on the situation. Always think about speed and flow:

• For slower speech, such as when people are hesitant, slowly asking a question, or saying their last words on their deathbed, a longer segment is preferred. Here are some examples of 6-second segments that are able to fit complete subtitles:

• For faster speech, which may occur during a quarrel or a news report, segments can be shorter to accommodate a lot said in a little amount of time. For example:

EXTENSION

When you create a segment before an area where there is no dialogue (no-voice section), do not end the segment right at the end of the voice. Instead, extend the segment approximately 1 to 1.2 seconds after the voice ends so that viewers have enough time to read the subtitle.

In the case of continuous dialogue, you want to minimize the amount of “flashing” subtitles. To do this, avoid gaps of 0.5 seconds or less between segments. For example, you can see a gap of less than 0.5 seconds in the image below, between 6:30 and 6:31:

Close the gap by extending the end of the 6:30 segment.

E. GENERAL SEGMENTING STANDARDS:

1. Avoid short, choppy segments. In particular, try to avoid 0.5-second or less segments if possible, as they are too short for an audience to read.
2. Try to have a separate segment for each speaker, unless the speakers are simply greeting each other (hi, bye, yes, okay, thanks, etc.), their speech is overlapping, or the segments for the two speakers are too short (0.5-1s), as mentioned above.
3. Try to combine shorter segments by the SAME speaker so most segments in continuous speech by one speaker are around 3.5 to 6 seconds in length. If the segment ends before a no-voice/silence, please try to have at least 1 second extra at the end so our audience will have sufficient time to read the subtitles.
4. Try to split longer segments, in general those that are more than 6 seconds long. Split the segments according to breaks in speech or between the speaker’s sentences.
5. Refrain from segmenting single “meaningless” expressions (Ah..., Um..., Eh..., Om..., Hmm…) if they are not immediately followed by the speaker’s dialogue. If an expression is followed by dialogue, then it may be combined in the same segment, as in "Ah… I finally understand!".
6. Cut segments for songs that are loud and apparent (as loud as dialogue volume) or for songs that continue for a long time, especially without dialogue interruption. Songs that are used as background noise do not need to be segmented.
7. Cut segments for important text in the video (titles, episode numbers, signs, etc.), even when the text is in English or consists of numbers (i.e. 123).
8. When a scene contains more than two overlapping voices, segment to the loudest voice. If no voice is louder than the others and there isn’t a line that stands out, it is not necessary to cut a segment. If you are in doubt that something should be segmented, cut a segment for it just in case.
9. The segmenting of credits is optional, but channel managers may have their own preferences regarding this.

F. SEGMENTING SONGS

WHEN SHOULD A SONG BE SEGMENTED?

The table below summarizes when songs should generally be segmented. These are the most basic situations you will encounter. Some channel managers may have different preferences regarding when songs should be segmented, but this is what is typically expected:

Segmenting becomes tricky when a scene includes a song at the same time as dialogue or important on-screen text. In these cases, try to combine the dialogue and lyrics together when possible (i.e. when the start of the lyric and speaking or text coincides). However, if this is not possible, focus on the speaking or text. Then, when there is no speaking or text, change your focus to the song.

1. Examples of speech and lyrics combined in segments:

1. Angel Eyes Example - In particular, see the segment at 44:15. The line, “Soo Wan, you're home,” starts about the same time as the lyric starts. The segment extends seconds past the end of speech to include the entire line of the song.
2. Tie the Knot Example - The segmenter and subtitler worked together so that the subtitles appear nice for the viewers. This is how the scene appears outside of the timer.

2. Example of changing focus between speech and lyrics:

1. Love Family Example - The segmenter used this method because it was too difficult or confusing to combine the speech and lyrics together.
2. My Love from the Star Example - Here as well, the lyrics and dialogue didn’t fit well together, so the segmenter chose to switch between focusing on only the song and then only the conversation.

LENGTH OF SEGMENTS FOR LYRICS

For songs, segments can often be longer than for regular speech -- between 6 to 8 seconds long -- because the words tend to be stretched. However, there will be times when the song is fast-paced and needs to have shorter segments. In addition, segment length can depend on the language.

If you don’t understand the language you are segmenting, cutting songs at all the right times can be a huge challenge. The best way to become comfortable segmenting songs in a particular language is to practice and find examples. If your segmenting project has a soundtrack with a frequently recurring song, it’s a good idea to check out how someone else previously segmented the song so you have a better idea of how the lyrics fit when the song plays in your part.

It is often preferred that songs be segmented so that each segment contains a complete line or sentence. This means that segments for songs do not need to end at every pause.

Click the links below to see examples of songs segmented in various languages.

G. EXAMPLE VIDEOS:

To see the basic and XXL methods in action, check out how AmyPun cuts this Spanish video (Eva Luna): http://youtu.be/SdXI3XlvO0I

To see a video primarily cut using continuous segmenting, watch this video of Pablo Escobar by luzclarita81: http://youtu.be/RAUP6q4U0og

Here is another example of a cutting style by mihaelagh: http://youtu.be/Ycx8tclEKNw

The following videos are cut using XXL and demonstrate eclipse timing with annotations:

Live in Style (Korean)

Good Doctor (Korean)

III. Error Guide (Feedback You May Receive)