Editorial Lower Thirds C06
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Previews are illustrative demonstrations of the technique — not your footage. Your real edit is produced later by Claude Code.
C06 · Captions · beginner · 5–300s
Calm sentence-case subtitles sit low-left in a refined typeface under a thin accent rule, crossfading softly between sentences.
This is the magazine and documentary approach to captions: one or two lines of sentence-case text in an editorial serif or clean sans, generous margins, and a hairline rule in the accent colour. Sentences crossfade over a handful of frames with no bounce or scaling. It signals a premium, considered tone and lets the footage breathe while staying fully accessible.
Try the parameters
Distance from the platform UI edge, as % of frame height.
Best used for
- — Interviews
- — Documentary shorts
- — Brand films
- — Long-form talking heads
Assets
- ● Source video required
- ○ Transcript with timing optional
- ○ Brand fonts optional
Pairs well with
If assets are missing
Line-level SRT timing is sufficient for this style. Without a transcript, transcribe locally with Whisper; never condense or rewrite the dialogue for elegance.
Accessibility
The most accessible caption style in the library: sentence case, moderate line length and no motion. Keep text ≥ 4.2% of frame width so it stays legible on phones.
Individual prompt
updates with the parameters above# CES style instruction — C06 Editorial Lower Thirds You are an experienced motion designer and video editor working in Claude Code. Apply the **C06 Editorial Lower Thirds** technique to the supplied footage as specified below. **B. Project configuration:** 1080×1920, 9:16, 30 fps · Source video: not provided — ask the user for the path before starting · Video language (on-screen text & captions): English **Captions** — This is the magazine and documentary approach to captions: one or two lines of sentence-case text in an editorial serif or clean sans, generous margins, and a hairline rule in the accent colour. Sentences crossfade over a handful of frames with no bounce or scaling. It signals a premium, considered tone and lets the footage breathe while staying fully accessible. ### C06 Editorial Lower Thirds - **When:** Applies to the whole video - **Layer / track:** Captions layer (topmost text) - **What it does:** Calm sentence-case subtitles sit low-left in a refined typeface under a thin accent rule, crossfading softly between sentences. - **Parameters:** Typeface: Editorial serif; Alignment: Left (editorial); Accent rule: on; Crossfade: 6 frames; Characters per line: 38; Soft bottom scrim: on; Rule colour: #D7FF5F; Safe-zone offset: 14% - **Steps:** 1. Add an editorial subtitle layer across every spoken section of the video on the top track (1080×1920 @ 30fps). 2. Timing source: use the supplied transcript's word-level (grouped into phrases) timestamps for the English dialogue. If it only has line/sentence timing, or no transcript was supplied, transcribe the source audio locally with Whisper word timestamps (e.g. `whisper source.mp4 --word_timestamps True --output_format json`, or WhisperX for tighter forced alignment) and save the result as captions.json. Caption text is the speaker's words verbatim — never paraphrase, "correct", summarise or invent wording; list any low-confidence words for the user to confirm. 3. Segment into subtitles of at most 2 lines × 38 characters, split at sentence or clause boundaries; keep sentence case and the speaker's punctuation. Minimum display 1.0s, maximum 6s (split longer sentences at a comma). 4. Typeset in an editorial serif at regular weight (e.g. Fraunces, Source Serif or Newsreader), cap height ≈ 4.2% of frame width, line-height 1.3, colour #F4F2EB, left-aligned to an 8% margin. Above the first line draw a #D7FF5F rule 12% of frame width long and 0.35% of width thick, 1.2em above the text; it stays static across subtitles. 5. Transitions: crossfade between subtitles over 6 frames (opacity only — no scale, slide or blur); start the fade-in on the next subtitle's first word. 6. Add a soft bottom scrim (black 0% → 45%, covering the lowest 32% of frame) under the text so it holds 4.5:1 on bright footage without a visible box. 7. Placement: anchor the subtitle block's bottom edge 14% of frame height (269px at 1080×1920) above the bottom of the frame, horizontally centered with ≥ 8% side margins, so it stays clear of the TikTok / Reels / Shorts interface (description text and action buttons occupy roughly the bottom 20% and the right-hand 12% of the frame). Never cover the speaker's eyes or mouth; if the face sits unusually low in a shot, lift the block above it for that shot only. - **Assets:** Source video (⚠ MISSING) · optional: Transcript with timing, Brand fonts - **Fallback:** Line-level SRT timing is sufficient for this style. Without a transcript, transcribe locally with Whisper; never condense or rewrite the dialogue for elegance. **G. Asset integrity and restrictions:** - Do not create or present invented testimonials, comments, quotes, reviews or endorsements. - Do not fabricate numbers, metrics, charts or results. Data visualisations use only the supplied data. - Do not create fake screenshots or UI and present them as real. Illustrative graphics must be clearly illustrative. - Do not attempt unsupported 3D reconstructions or perfect subject separation without a mask; use the documented 2D fallbacks instead. **I. Quality verification:** - Check output dimensions and aspect ratio with ffprobe — they must match the configuration exactly. - Check the output frame rate and that the duration is within ±0.5 s of the target. - Check audio/video synchronisation at the start, middle and end (lip-sync and SFX hits within 1 frame). - Inspect frames at every beat boundary for text clipping, overflow and safe-zone violations. - Confirm the output file exists and plays — never claim a render is complete without an actual output file. - Report any missing asset or unimplemented effect explicitly.
More captions styles
Choose one primary caption style per video. It usually runs across all spoken sections as a global layer.
- C01Karaoke FollowShort caption pages sit over the speaker and each word fills with the accent colour at the exact moment it is spoken.
- C02Pop Word CaptionsOne to three words at a time pop onto the speaker's chest with a small scale overshoot and a short upward drift, then hand off to the next.
- C03Typewriter SubtitlesEach subtitle types itself on character by character with a blinking caret, paced so the phrase completes as the speaker finishes it.
- C04Highlight SweepFull caption lines stay steady while an accent-coloured block sweeps in behind one key word per line exactly as it is spoken.
- C05Stacked CaptionsEach phrase is set as a tight stack of two or three short lines that rise into view one after another, the key line set larger.
- C07Explosive KeywordsA regular caption line runs until a key word bursts out of it, filling the frame at several times its size for a beat before snapping back.
- C08Subtitle CapsulesEach short phrase appears inside a rounded label capsule that stretches, pops or slides to fit the next phrase as the speaker talks.
- C09Monospace Terminal CaptionsDialogue prints word by word in a monospace terminal block with a prompt and blinking cursor, older lines scrolling up and dimming.
- C10Bilingual Caption FlowA bold primary caption in the spoken language is paired with a smaller, differently coloured translation line, both kept inside the safe zone.