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Subtitles Tool

Subtitles Tool

Runtime subtitle system for Unity with SRT and ASS support, styling, animations, and pooling for performance.

Get it on the Unity Asset Store: Subtitles Player — SSA, ASS, SRT

Overview​

  • Supports SRT (simple timed subtitles) and ASS (rich styling/animation).
  • Works at runtime; renders through TextMeshPro.
  • Font management via FontsContainer; ready-to-use prefabs and examples.
  • ASS subtitle views are pooled to minimize allocations when many lines are on screen at once.

Key Features (Detailed)​

  • Multi-format playback: SRT for quick usage, ASS for advanced styling/positioning/animations.
  • Font & Style management: Centralized fonts via FontsContainer; ASS styles for colors, outlines, shadows, positioning.
  • Pooling: ShowAssSubtitles reuses subtitle view objects (SubtitleViewPool, up to 32 retained) for low GC pressure.
  • Component-based: Drop-in components for SRT/ASS playback; base classes for extension.

How to Use​

Playback is split across two components: a player that parses the file and tracks time, and a display that renders it.

  1. Add the player — SRTSubtitlePlayer or AssSubtitlePlayer — to a GameObject and assign its Subtitle File (a TextAsset).
  2. Add the matching display component to the same canvas:
    • ShowSRTSubtitles — assign Subtitle Player and Text (a TextComponentWrapper).
    • ShowAssSubtitles — assign Subtitle Player, Text Prefab (a prefab with AssSubtitlePartView) and Fonts Container. Put it on a GameObject with a CanvasScaler: the reference resolution is taken from the ASS script on Start.
  3. (ASS) Make sure the FontsContainer holds the fonts referenced in the ASS file.
  4. Call Play() / Pause() / Continue() / Stop() on the player to control playback.
Subtitles component in Inspector

A canvas with SRT Subtitle Player (subtitle file, current time, playback state) and Show SRT Subtitles (Text wrapper and player references) assigned.

Quick Examples​

Playback control lives on the player component, not on the Show… display component.

SRT

var player = GetComponent<SRTSubtitlePlayer>();

player.Play();       // start from 00:00
player.Play(12.5f);  // start 12.5 seconds in
player.Pause();      // freeze, keep the current position
player.Continue();   // resume from where Pause left off
player.Stop();       // stop and rewind to 00:00

ASS

var player = GetComponent<AssSubtitlePlayer>();
player.Play();

if (player.IsPlaying)
    Debug.Log($"At {player.CurrentTime:F2}s");

The subtitle file is a serialized TextAsset assigned in the Inspector — there is no runtime API for swapping it. To play a different file, use a separate player instance (or a prefab per file) and enable the one you need.

Subtitles playing at runtime

Subtitles rendered in the Game view during Play mode, with Play / Pause / Continue driving the player.

Components​

  • ShowSRTSubtitles / SRTSubtitlePlayer / SRTParser: SRT pipeline.
  • ShowAssSubtitles / AssSubtitlePlayer / AssParser / AssSubtitlePart / AssSubtitlePartView / AssStylesInfo / AssScriptInfo / AssFormat: ASS pipeline and styling.
  • SubtitlePlayer: Playback base class — Play / Pause / Continue / Stop, CurrentTime, IsPlaying, GetCurrentSubtitles.
  • FormatSubtitlePlayer<TParser>: Builds the format-specific parser on Awake; base for the SRT and ASS players.
  • SubtitleDisplayBase<TPlayer>: Shared Update loop for display components; override OnSubtitlesUpdated to render differently.
  • SubtitlesParser / SubtitlePart: Parsing contract and the parsed line model.
  • TextComponentWrapper: Wraps a TextMeshProUGUI and exposes text, colour, outline, shadow, font and alignment to the ASS renderer.
  • FontsContainer: ScriptableObject font registry for ASS styles, created via Assets > Create > ManakhovN > Subtitles > FontsContainer. Fonts are matched by TMP family name.
  • SubtitleViewPool: Pooled subtitle view objects used by the ASS renderer.

Tips & Best Practices​

  • Use SRT for simple subtitles; ASS when you need styling, positioning, or animations.
  • Keep fonts in FontsContainer and reference them in ASS styles to avoid missing glyphs.
  • For performance, keep subtitle files compact; ASS view pooling is on by default.
  • Test timing thoroughly; mismatched FPS/timecodes in ASS can affect sync.

Troubleshooting​

  • Nothing shows: Check that the player has a Subtitle File assigned, that the display component points at that player, and that IsPlaying is true — nothing renders until Play() is called.
  • Missing fonts: Add the font to FontsContainer. Lookup is by the TMP asset's family name, which must match the name used in the ASS style.
  • Performance spikes: Avoid extremely large ASS files; the view pool retains at most 32 objects, beyond that it instantiates.

Requirements​

  • Unity 2020.3 or later
  • Runtime tool (works in builds)
  • TextMeshPro — rendering goes through TextMeshProUGUI; plain Unity UI Text is not supported

Support​

For issues or feature requests, contact: nadirmanakhov@gmail.com

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