AVT_helper

Language: EN | RU

macOS subtitle conversion and DOCX role tables

AVT_helper is a native macOS app for subtitle conversion and DOCX dialogue tables.

It imports ASS, SSA, SRT, VTT, and SRP, exports ASS, SRT, VTT, and DOCX, and can create role-assignment DOCX files with Word highlight colors.

The window shows the imported file as a dubbing sheet: timecode, role, line. Every role is highlighted with a marker color, and after a role assignment the sheet switches to the colors of the assigned voices, so the screen matches the DOCX.

Input encoding (UTF-8, UTF-16, Windows-1251) is detected automatically. Import and export run in the background with a progress bar and can be cancelled, so the window stays responsive on large files.

Install

Requirements: macOS 14 or newer on Apple Silicon. Intel Macs are not supported.

1. Download AVT_helper.dmg and AVT_helper.dmg.sha256 from the latest release.

2. The build is not notarized, so the checksum is the only proof the image arrived whole. Check it in Terminal, from the folder that holds both files:

   shasum -c AVT_helper.dmg.sha256

   The answer has to be AVT_helper.dmg: OK.

3. Open AVT_helper.dmg and drag AVT_helper.app to Applications.

4. The app is signed ad-hoc and deliberately not notarized, so macOS puts a quarantine flag on it and the first launch fails, sometimes with a claim that the app is damaged. Clear the flag once in Terminal, without sudo: after the copy the app belongs to you.

   xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/AVT_helper.app"

5. Without Terminal there is a second path: launch the app, let macOS refuse it, then open System Settings -> Privacy & Security, scroll to the message about AVT_helper and click Open Anyway. Recent macOS releases do not always offer that button for an ad-hoc signature, and then step 4 is the only way in.

Once the flag is gone macOS opens the app normally.

Usage

The interface follows the system language. Pick a different one in Settings (Cmd+,) -> App language; menus and system panels follow after the relaunch the app offers.

1. Click Open subtitles (Cmd+O), drop subtitle files onto the sheet in the middle of the window, or open them from Finder. Recent files are under File -> Open Recent.
2. Choose the output folder in the left rail. It is remembered between launches.
3. Select one or more export formats: ASS, SRT, VTT, or DOCX.
4. Check the roles you need in the role list on the right if you export separate SRT files per role.
5. Click Start (Cmd+Return, also in the Process menu). A long run can be stopped with Cancel.
6. To create a role-assignment DOCX, load a file with roles and click Make role assignment (Cmd+Shift+R).

Existing files are never overwritten: a numbered suffix is added to the new file instead.

A queue of files

Drop or open several files at once and they queue up in the left rail. Start runs the whole queue with the same export settings, marking every file with what came of it. The sheet shows the file you select; the role checkboxes belong to that file, and the other files export all of their own roles. Role assignment stays per file, because every episode has its own cast.

What ASS export keeps

The [Script Info] and [V4+ Styles] blocks of the source file are carried over, so style names still resolve and the frame size survives. Inline override tags inside a line ({\i1} and the like) are dropped at import: the window shows a dubbing sheet, not typesetting. Lines whose style is not declared in the file fall back to Default rather than pointing at a style that does not exist. A [V4 Styles] block from an SSA source is converted to v4+, because the exported events are v4+.

DOCX Output

DOCX files include the file name, detected roles, a timing/role/dialogue table, and role statistics. Role-assignment DOCX files also list assigned voices above the table and highlight assigned roles with the selected Word highlight colors.

License

BSD 3-Clause. See LICENSE.