TXT to SMI
Or paste subtitle text
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Used when the source has no end times (plain text, LRC). The timeline in the output is generated here rather than converted, so this number is what you get.
What this conversion changes
1 thing is dropped or needs a decision
- Timing
the timeline itself — the source records no timings, so the output's is generated rather than converted
This list comes from the capability matrix for these two formats, not from the particular file you loaded. A specific file may lose more if it uses features the format allows but the matrix does not model.
This page converts TXT to SMI. Drop a file in — or paste the text — and you get the SMI version back. The conversion runs entirely in your browser, so nothing is uploaded and no account is needed.
These two formats do not store the same things, and the difference is not cosmetic: timing has nowhere to go in SMI. The list above comes from what the two formats can each express rather than from your file, so it is the same answer before you load anything.
One file is fine, and so is a whole season: the queue works through them in order and the results come down together as a single ZIP.
Examples
A typical TXT file, converted to SMI
Input
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Second paragraph, first line.
Second paragraph, second line.
Output
<SAMI>
<HEAD>
<STYLE TYPE="text/css">
<!--
P { text-align: center; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; }
-->
</STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<SYNC Start=0>
<P>The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
<SYNC Start=2000>
<P>
<SYNC Start=2000>
<P>Second paragraph, first line.
<SYNC Start=4000>
<P>
<SYNC Start=4000>
<P>Second paragraph, second line.
<SYNC Start=6000>
<P>
</BODY>
</SAMI>
Dropped in this output: timing. Everything else matches line for line.
The same conversion on an awkward input
Input
Hello world.
Second block.
Output
<SAMI>
<HEAD>
<STYLE TYPE="text/css">
<!--
P { text-align: center; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; }
-->
</STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<SYNC Start=0>
<P>Hello world.
<SYNC Start=2000>
<P>
<SYNC Start=2000>
<P>Second block.
<SYNC Start=4000>
<P>
</BODY>
</SAMI>
This is the kind of damage real files have — mixed line endings, stray whitespace, fields left empty. Compare it with the tidy example above to see what the parser forgives.
Frequently asked questions
Are the timecodes invented when a TXT file becomes SMI?
Yes, and it is worth saying plainly: a TXT file has no timings at all, so the timeline in the SMI output is laid out here rather than converted. The first line starts at zero and each line after it starts where the previous one ended, so the spacing is even and the order is yours. The duration field on this page decides how wide each slot is.
What does the output look like when TXT becomes SMI?
Like SMI: no cue numbers and no timecode line: every cue is a `<SYNC Start=…>` tag with its text in a `<P>` under it, and — because a SYNC replaces whatever was on screen — a `<P> ` block just after it that puts the screen back to empty. Every TXT cue becomes one SMI cue, in the same order, with the same text.
Do TXT cues keep their order in the SMI output?
Yes, and they are sorted by start time on the way — earliest first, which is how every format here expects them and how players read them. If your TXT file listed its cues out of sequence, the SMI output puts them back in order; that is a change to the file's structure rather than its content, and it is deliberate.
Can I convert the SMI back to TXT?
Yes, and it has its own list: converting SMI to TXT drops timing, styling, positioning, line breaks and format-specific content. That list is different from the one above because the two formats keep different things.
Does the SMI output keep the TXT file's encoding?
No — the output is UTF-8, with Unix line endings and no byte-order mark, whatever the TXT file used. A file that arrives in UTF-16, or in a Windows single-byte encoding, is decoded on the way in (the result panel says so when that happens); what comes out is always the same UTF-8 SMI.