Tutorial · Python · ~10 min

Remove Subtitles from Video Before Dubbing

Dubbing over hardcoded subtitles looks broken — the old text stays under the new voice. Erasing first makes every language track clean.

PythonDubbingAPI

Why this matters

Voice actors can't dub over legible foreign text without visual confusion, and the hardsubs would still show in the final export.

The standard order is: erase burned-in text → dub → add localized soft subtitles. Erasing is the one step that touches pixels, so it happens once on the master.

How it works

Submit the episode with region detection on. The API returns a subtitle-free master plus a mask preview you can eyeball before dubbing starts.

Submit a job with an input URL (S3, GCS or HTTPS), poll the job URL, and download the rendered output. No GPU, no queues, no ffmpeg builds to babysit.

Code

Python
import requests, time

API = "https://api.mlslabs.io/v1/subtitle-eraser/jobs"
headers = {"X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"}
payload = {"input": "s3://bucket/episode.mp4", "regions": "auto"}

resp = requests.post(API, json=payload, headers=headers)
job = resp.json()
while job["status"] not in ("succeeded", "failed"):
    time.sleep(3)
    job = requests.get(job["url"], headers=headers).json()

print("Output:", job["output_url"])

Pro tips

  • Erase on the highest-quality master you have; dubs inherit it.
  • Keep the mask preview in your QC ticket so editors can verify.
  • Coordinate erase → dub → sub as three API calls in one pipeline.

Pricing note

Usage is metered per minute of media processed; the first tier is free each month. Volume discounts kick in automatically.

FAQ

Common questions

Can I erase only the bottom subtitle band?

Yes — pass explicit regions to erase only that band and preserve any other overlay.

Does erasing degrade the video?

Inpainting reconstructs the covered pixels; on clean footage the result is visually lossless, on busy footage the high-quality preset helps.

Do you also time the dubs?

No — erasing is our job. Timing and sync belong to your dubbing platform.