Events, Event Groups, and Project Settings
Understanding Events and Event Groups is essential to working efficiently in Closed Caption Creator. This organizational structure allows you to manage multiple deliverables within a single project while maintaining clear separation between different workflow types, languages, or delivery formats.
What are Events and Event Groups?​
Events are the fundamental building blocks of your project. Each Event represents an individual timed entry that includes text content, start and end timecodes, style information, and metadata such as reading speed metrics. Events can represent subtitles, captions, audio description narration, transcript segments, or translated text depending on your workflow.
Event Groups are collections of Events organized by workflow type and purpose. A single project can contain multiple Event Groups, and each Event Group can contain multiple Events. This structure provides powerful flexibility for managing complex projects with multiple deliverables, allowing you to keep everything organized within a single project file rather than managing separate files for each language or delivery format.
Event Group types​
Closed Caption Creator supports four primary Event Group types, each designed for a specific workflow and deliverable.
Subtitle Event Groups are used for creating subtitles and closed captions for broadcast and digital distribution. Events in a Subtitle group display four columns: metadata including Event ID and reading speed metrics, start and end timecodes, the text content with formatting support, and caption style and position controls. The caption style options support pop-on, roll-up, and paint-on captioning modes, which are essential for broadcast formats such as SCC and MCC.
Transcription Event Groups are optimized for creating transcripts with speaker identification. Events in a Transcription group display two columns: the first shows the Event ID, speaker assignment with color coding, and timecodes, while the second provides a larger text input area. You can add and manage speakers, assign colors to each speaker for easy visual identification, and create detailed transcripts that track dialogue across multiple speakers.
Translation Event Groups are designed specifically for translation workflows. These Events look nearly identical to Subtitle Events but include an additional reference display showing the text from a linked source Event Group. This side-by-side display makes it easier to create and review translations while maintaining context from the original language.
Audio Description Event Groups support audio description authoring with virtual voice preview capabilities. Events in an Audio Description group display the Event ID, duration, start time, and a speed or rate slider in the first column, with the text input in the second column. When you enter text and set a timecode, Closed Caption Creator will render the audio using your selected virtual voice and automatically calculate the duration. You can adjust the playback speed using the rate slider to fit the audio within available gaps in the program.
Creating and configuring Event Groups​
When you create a new project, you can configure the default Event Group that will be created along with your project. Under the advanced options in the New Project dialog, you can select the Event Group type, assign a display name, set the language, and choose the text direction for right-to-left or left-to-right languages. Your settings are saved and will be used as defaults the next time you create a new project.
After your project is created, you can add additional Event Groups at any time by navigating to File and selecting New Event Group, or by clicking the plus icon at the top of the Event editor. This allows you to build out multilingual projects, maintain multiple versions for different delivery platforms, or separate your workflow into distinct phases such as transcription, translation, and final subtitle formatting.
Each Event Group appears as a tab in the Event editor, with an icon indicating the Event Group type and a display name you assign. You can easily switch between Event Groups to view and edit different sets of Events without leaving your project.
Within the Event editor you can switch between List View (per-Event cards) and Table View (a spreadsheet-style grid of the same Events). Use the List / Table toggle in the project info bar above the Event List. Both modes share the same Event Group data, selection, filters, and undo history. See Table View for columns, customization, and inline editing.
Managing Event Groups​
Closed Caption Creator provides several tools for managing Event Groups throughout your project lifecycle. You can delete Event Groups by clicking the menu icon beside each Event Group tab and selecting Delete. This is useful when removing outdated versions or consolidating your project structure.
Event Groups can also be duplicated, which creates an exact copy of all Events within the group. This is particularly useful when you need to create variations of the same content or when starting a translation workflow based on an existing subtitle group.
The merge function allows you to combine Events from two Event Groups into a new Event Group. This is helpful when multiple team members have worked on different segments of the same deliverable and you need to consolidate their work.
You can also copy and paste Events between Event Groups. Select one or more Events within an Event Group, copy them using the context menu, and paste them into any other Event Group regardless of type. This flexibility makes it easy to repurpose content across different deliverables and workflow types.
Locking Event Groups​
Event Group lock freezes caption content and timing so a reviewer can annotate Events without accidentally changing the deliverable. Lock applies per Event Group — other groups in the same project remain editable.
How to lock or unlock​
- Click the menu icon (three dots) on the Event Group tab you want to protect.
- Open the General tab in Event Group Options.
- Click Lock (above Delete).
When the group is locked, the same control becomes Unlock and is highlighted with a warning style so the locked state is obvious. A lock icon also appears next to the Event Group name on its tab.
Unlock the same way: Event Group Options → General → Unlock.
What stays editable when locked​
Review tools remain available so QC and feedback can continue:
- Event notes and replies, including their Mark Complete toggles
- Event approval (approved / disapproved / unset)
See Event Approval and Notes for the review workflow.
What is blocked when locked​
While locked, Closed Caption Creator prevents changes to authoring content and structure for that group, including:
- Event text, formatting, speakers, tags, recipients, position, caption style, and forced-subtitle flags
- Start and end timecodes, including Timeline drag, resize handles, and draw-to-create
- Add, remove, split, merge, and similar structure tools
- Event Group Settings and other options such as Delete, Merge, and Segment (Settings and transforms stay unavailable until you unlock)
- Undo / redo and other mutating shortcuts for that group
Playback, selection, navigation, export, and copy remain available. Notes and approval can still be updated as described above.
Typical review use​
A common pattern is to lock the Event Group after drafting, then hand the project to a reviewer. The reviewer can approve or disapprove Events and leave notes without shifting timings or rewriting text. After unlock, the author addresses feedback and re-locks if another review pass is needed.
Project settings and Event Group settings​
Project-level settings define fundamental parameters such as frame rate, media behavior, and export expectations that apply across your entire project. These settings ensure that all Event Groups maintain consistent technical specifications aligned with your delivery requirements.
Event Group-level settings provide granular control over behavior specific to each group. These settings include error detection and reading rate validation, formatting constraints such as maximum characters per line and maximum lines per Event, and translation linkage that defines source relationships between Event Groups. Adjusting these settings allows you to apply different quality control standards and formatting rules to different deliverables within the same project.
To modify Event Group settings, open the Event Group options menu, select Settings, and update the values in the Error Detection section and other configuration areas. Remember to click the Update Group button to save your changes. A locked Event Group must be unlocked before Settings can be opened.
Why Event Groups matter​
The Event Group structure is one of the defining features of Closed Caption Creator because it allows you to manage complex, multi-deliverable projects without the overhead of maintaining separate project files. You can keep multiple languages, workflow stages, and delivery formats inside a single project, making it easier to maintain consistency, track changes, and collaborate with team members.
Event Groups also allow you to split work by language, segment, or team member while maintaining a unified project structure. This is invaluable for broadcast workflows where a single program may require subtitles in multiple languages, separate audio description tracks, and archival transcripts all synced to the same source media.