The Pyramid — Subtitle

The "Subtitle Pyramid" is a concept used in professional media localization to balance readability with viewer immersion. It represents a hierarchy of priorities that subtitlers must follow to ensure the audience can follow the dialogue without missing the visual action. 🟢 Level 1: Technical Legibility (The Base)

When a subtitle fails, it is usually because the creator ignored the base of the pyramid. You can have the most poetic translation in the world, but if it flashes on screen for only half a second, the viewer loses the experience entirely. subtitle The Pyramid

Fixed at roughly 15–20 characters per second (cps). The "Subtitle Pyramid" is a concept used in

Timing the text to appear and disappear exactly with the speaker's breath or a camera cut. Why the "Pyramid" Matters You can have the most poetic translation in

The tip of the pyramid is the hardest to achieve. This is where the subtitle preserves the "soul" of the scene.