Hindi caption templates

Devanagari letters hang from the shirorekha, the stroke along the top that makes each word one connected shape. Every letter carries its own stretch of that stroke, so added letter spacing leaves gaps in it, and several templates add some. If a Devanagari caption looks cut along the top, lower Letter spacing in the Spacing section.

The script also extends above and below that stroke. े and ै sit on top of it, the loops of ि and ी rise past it, and ु, ू and ृ hang beneath the letter. Inside clusters र changes shape, becoming a hook above the next letter in धर्म and a slanted stroke under प in प्रेम, and क्ष is one shape that looks little like क or ष. On a template with two or more rows, if the marks under one row touch those above the next, raise Line spacing.

A template whose font is Latin has no Devanagari letters to draw with, so its Hindi words fall back to Baloo 2, a bold rounded face, while any Latin words keep the template's font. Native script font, below Family, replaces Baloo 2 with another Devanagari face and leaves the Latin alone; its first entry, Match the Latin font, clears that choice. The editor offers sixty Devanagari families, among them:

Romanised output is the editor's default, and it often suits Hinglish speech, since Hindi is widely typed in Latin letters on phones. It has two drawbacks. Some Hindi words are spelt exactly like English ones, so is (इस), us (उस) and main (मैं) can be read as English in a fast caption. And Latin spelling does not reliably mark vowel length: कि (that) and की (of) can both end up as ki.

Devanagari keeps those differences visible and suits viewers who read Hindi in its own script. An English translation reaches viewers without Hindi, but Hindi normally puts the verb at the end of a sentence and English puts it after the subject, so highlighting that moves word by word cannot line up with what the speaker is saying. The translation route can also come back without word timings, which AutoCap then estimates, so play the result through before exporting.

Several Hindi words have more than one spelling in common use, and a video looks tidier with one form each: हिंदी or हिन्दी, हाँ or हां, ज़िंदगी with the nukta dot under ज or without it. On a romanised transcript, give English words and brand names the closest read, because the Latin text is converted from a Devanagari transcript rather than written directly.

Up to one word per caption also arrives marked for emphasis, visible on templates that highlight a word. The automatic pick skips है, का, में and their romanised forms hai, ka and mein, but it may not choose the word you would stress; select a word and press E to add or remove the mark.