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AD Template Workflow

The AD Template feature automatically generates a set of empty Audio Description events positioned in the silence gaps between spoken dialog. Rather than manually identifying every break in dialog and creating events one by one, the template builder reads the timing of an existing subtitle or transcript track and places event windows wherever it finds space for narration. The result is a scaffolded AD Event Group that is ready to be filled in with description text.

Why Use a Template​

Because Closed Caption Creator is a professional subtitle editor that supports more than 30 caption and subtitle formats, it is common to have both a subtitle track and an audio description track as part of the same project. The AD Template workflow is designed to take advantage of that — using the timing data already present in the subtitle track to automate the most tedious part of AD authoring, which is finding and measuring every gap between lines of dialog.

The preferred approach is to generate a transcription first, then create the AD template from the transcription job dashboard rather than from a subtitle group.

Start by running an automatic transcription via AI Tools → Automatic Transcription. Select your service provider and source language, then click Submit Job. The application extracts the audio from the video file and uploads it for processing. When the transcription completes, open AI Tools → Transcription Import, select the finished job, expand More Options, and choose Create AD Template. A new Audio Description Event Group is created with event windows derived from the silence between the transcribed words.

This approach is recommended because transcription timing data is typically more word-accurate than subtitle timing, leading to tighter gap detection and fewer events that overlap dialog.

Workflow B: Template from an Existing Event Group​

If a subtitle file is already available — either generated by AI transcription or imported from an external source via File → Import → Subtitle File — you can use the subtitle Event Group directly to generate the template.

Open the subtitle Event Group, click the Event Group Options menu (the vertical ellipsis icon to the right of the group's tab), and select Create AD Template. Closed Caption Creator analyzes the gaps between subtitle events and creates a new Audio Description Event Group with empty events placed in those windows. An additional event is typically inserted at the end of the program as well, covering the closing credits or final seconds of content.

Using Track 2 to Visualize Dialog​

After the template has been generated, it is helpful to display the dialog events alongside your AD events on the timeline so you can verify placement and make adjustments. Go back to the subtitle Event Group, open the Event Group Options menu, and select Set as Track 2. Return to the AD Event Group. The dialog events from the subtitle group now appear as a second track on the timeline directly above your AD events. This side-by-side view makes it easy to confirm that narration windows sit cleanly in the silence gaps and to fine-tune start and end times without guessing.

Filling In the Template​

The generated events contain no text — they are timing-only placeholders. Work through the Event List sequentially, entering description text into each event. As text is entered and committed, rendering begins automatically in the background. After an initial render, check that the audio fits within the event window using the trim button or by extending the out-time manually. Adjust the speaking rate on individual events if a tighter fit is needed.

Before finalizing, it is good practice to run a short render pass on a representative section of the project first to confirm that voice, style, and rate settings are correct before processing the entire Event Group.

Troubleshooting​

If the Create AD Template option does not appear in the Event Group Options menu, confirm that the AD entitlement is active on the account and that the Event Group type is set to Subtitle or Transcription (not Audio Description).

If the generated template windows are too sparse or too dense, the most reliable fix is to improve the quality of the source timing. Tightening subtitle timing or using a higher-accuracy transcription service before regenerating the template generally produces better results. Individual events can also be merged or split manually after generation to address isolated problem areas.

If rendering fails after template creation, verify that the voice provider and voice settings are correctly configured on the AD Event Group before attempting a re-render.

Video tutorial​