[Feature Request]Handle Youtube .vtt files <c> </c>, extra spaces and duplicates

[MonsterSe7en]

Hey, I used subtitle edit to convert .vtt files downloaded from Youtube to Plaintext format

It removes most of the .vtt syntax but leaves behind
some text here that needs to be retained

It also has duplicate lines

---

.vtt file open with Subtitle Edit

Converting to plain text leaves the below data

Plain text version of the screenshot above

Also note the duplicate

this<00:00:00.399> was<00:00:00.919> pretty<00:00:01.280> good<00:00:02.040> I<00:00:02.120> will<00:00:02.320> admit<00:00:02.600> I<00:00:02.800> had
this was pretty good I will admit I had
this was pretty good I will admit I had
my<00:00:03.159> doubts<00:00:03.480> but<00:00:03.639> after<00:00:03.840> seeing<00:00:04.200> the<00:00:04.319> first
my doubts but after seeing the first
my doubts but after seeing the first
episode<00:00:05.160> The<00:00:05.319> pacing<00:00:05.640> and<00:00:05.799> the<00:00:05.879> fluid
episode The pacing and the fluid
episode The pacing and the fluid
animation<00:00:07.040> I<00:00:07.160> think<00:00:07.319> solo<00:00:07.680>

---

Steps to download .vtt file from youtube

1. Install yt-dlp from https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp
2. run the below command with a youtube url of any youtube video

yt-dlp --write-auto-sub --skip-download --sub-lang en [YouTube URL here without the square brackets]

[niksedk]

Please attach one or more sample subtitle files, so we can try it out...

[MonsterSe7en]

Compressed vtt files.zip

Glad .zip files are allowed.

Unable to upload .vtt files as they aren't allowed by GitHub

[MonsterSe7en]

Is it just me or does this .vtt file downloaded from YouTube have elements of .ass files....

(Not a subtitle expert)

[MonsterSe7en]

Think the below links may serve as excellent starting points saving you time

https://gist.github.com/glasslion/b2fcad16bc8a9630dbd7a945ab5ebf5e

https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/topic/20834/fix-vtt-to-txt-text-from-youtube-dl-subtitles-captions-duplicate-lines-problem

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/56927772/convert-webvtt-file-from-youtube-to-plain-text

[niksedk]

1. Change the format to SubRip in the toolbar
2. Select all lines in the list view (ctrl+a), right-click, choose "Remove formatting" - "All"
3. Tools - Merge lines with same text
4. File - Export - Plain text...

[MonsterSe7en]

Wow!! That was a brilliant answer... Thank you

Is there a way to implement the same in a Batch Convert (Calling Subtitle Edit via Command Prompt would by the best outcome)

Below is a powershell script I use

# Define input and output folders
$inputFolder = "C:\C temp\New folder"
$outputFolder = "F:\Multimedia Subtitles\Anime\Solo Leveling\Aninews Solo Leveling"

# Convert to Plaintext Batch
& "C:\Program Files\Subtitle Edit\SubtitleEdit.exe" /convert *.* Plaintext /inputfolder:"$inputFolder" /outputfolder:"$outputFolder"

And I need to mention that Subtitle Edit is an excellent piece of software. Can't believe the features I needed were already present. I just needed to find them...

Thank you for your work!! SubtitleEdit is a powerful tool. Thank You!!