Lead-ins and Lead-outs
What are lead-ins and lead-outs?
- These are the spaces in time between the text appearing on-screen and the audio becoming audible.
- Lead-ins are the time when the subtitle shows up before the talent speaks.
- Lead-outs are the time the subtitles disappear after the talent speaks.
- This is used to get the viewer to sync up the subtitles with the audio by compensating for the time it takes for the brain to process both sight and hearing.
Minimum and recommended values
|
|
Minimum | Recommended |
|
Standard lead-in |
at least 150ms | 250-300ms |
| Standard lead-out | at least 300ms | 500-600ms |
Just because they’re the minimum, doesn’t mean it’s appropriate to stay at the minimum at all times. Some subtitled lines can look better if they have extended lead-ins and lead-outs when appropriate, so you are free to add time if they look better that way. If timing is very tight, you can experiment with lowering the lead-ins and lead-outs beyond the minimum, with a focus on lowering lead-out time first.