Speakers and colors
Speaker identification is at the heart of SME subtitling. Every dialogue subtitle must indicate who is speaking, both through a text prefix (the speaker's name in uppercase) and a dedicated color.
Assigning a speaker
In edit mode, each dialogue entry displays a speaker field when extended mode is enabled. The name entered is automatically converted to uppercase, following SME conventions.
The field offers autocomplete based on speakers already used in the project — the first five matches appear as you type. Clicking a suggestion fills in the field and closes the list.
The speaker name then appears as a prefix in the displayed subtitle: MARC : Hello.
The color palette
Scene Cut uses the BBC/Ofcom palette, the reference standard for SME subtitling:
| Color | Typical usage |
|---|---|
| White | Main speaker or most prominent character |
| Yellow | Second main speaker |
| Cyan | Third speaker |
| Green | Fourth speaker |
| Magenta | Fifth speaker or special voice |
| Red | Sixth speaker (use with caution — limited contrast) |
A circular color button next to the speaker field opens a picker with these six colors. The Clear option resets the color to the global style default.
Speaker-color mapping
Scene Cut remembers the association between a speaker and their color at the project level. When an already-known speaker is assigned to an entry, their color is automatically applied.
Conversely, changing the color of an entry that has a speaker updates the mapping — future assignments of that speaker will use the new color.
This mapping is persisted in the project file and travels with the .scenecut file if it is moved or shared.
Timeline rendering
When SME mode is active, each timeline block displays a color stripe at the top of the block (3 pixels tall), reflecting the color assigned to the subtitle. This stripe is visible as soon as the block is wide enough, making it easy to spot the speaker distribution across the entire project at a glance.
Batch actions
When multiple subtitles are selected, the selection toolbar and the timeline toolbar both offer:
- Apply a speaker to the entire selection — the mapped color is automatically applied
- Apply a color to the entire selection — the speaker-color mapping is updated for entries that have a speaker
- Apply an alignment and a vertical position to the entire selection
All batch actions are undoable with Cmd + Z.