Convert JSON Subtitles to SBV Format
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About JSON
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data-interchange format that is easy for humans to read and write and easy for machines to parse and generate. While not a traditional subtitle format itself, it is an excellent way to store and transmit structured subtitle data. Each subtitle cue can be an object with properties for start time, end time, text content, and any custom metadata.
About SBV
SBV (SubViewer) is a very simple, comma-separated subtitle format. It's most known for being one of the formats used by YouTube for caption uploads. The format consists of a start and end time on a single line, followed by the subtitle text. It's a very basic format without any styling capabilities, similar in simplicity to SRT.
JSON vs SBV
| Feature | JSON | SBV |
|---|---|---|
| Styling Support | true | false |
| Positioning Support | true | false |
| Animation Support | true | false |
| Learning Curve | intermediate | beginner |
| Quality Rating | 4 | 3 |
| Patent Status | open standard | proprietary |
| Year Introduced | 2001 | 2009 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a media player play a JSON subtitle file?
No, standard media players like VLC or QuickTime cannot directly play a JSON file as a subtitle track. JSON is a data format that would need to be processed by a custom web application or script to display the subtitles over a video.
Why would I convert subtitles to JSON?
Converting subtitles to JSON is extremely useful for web developers and data processing. It allows you to easily load subtitle data into a web application, manipulate it with JavaScript, integrate it with other APIs, or store it in a database in a structured way.
Is SBV the same as SubViewer (.sub)?
They are very similar but have distinct formatting. The .sbv extension is specifically associated with YouTube's variant of the format. While they share the same core principle of 'start_time,end_time' followed by text, there can be minor incompatibilities between them. Our converter handles both.
Why would I use SBV?
The primary reason to use SBV is for uploading captions to YouTube, as it's one of their natively supported formats. It's a simple, no-frills format that is easy to create and edit in a plain text editor.
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