Convert ASS subtitles to SRT, with every line and time in place
ASS and SSA files are common for anime and styled fan subtitles, but many TVs, streaming boxes and video editors accept only SRT. Upload the .ass file, or a ZIP with a whole season, and download SRT with every dialogue line on its original timing. Italic, bold and top-of-screen placement become SRT tags; effects that SRT cannot hold are removed. Jobs with up to 3,000 lines are free in full, and bigger batches are $5, paid once.
- Reads .ass and .ssa, recognized from the content even if the extension is wrong
- Start and end times carried over exactly; ASS itself stores hundredths of a second
- {\i1}, {\b1} and {\u1} become <i>, <b> and <u>; {\an8} stays as a position code
- Positioning, karaoke, fades and drawings removed, since SRT has no place for them
- Up to 50 files or a ZIP per job, 50,000 lines in total
What survives the trip from ASS to SRT
An ASS file is a small script: a [Script Info] block, a list of styles with fonts, colors and outlines, and an [Events] block in which every Dialogue line has a start, an end, a style name and the text, with override tags in curly braces. SRT has none of that structure. Each entry is a number, a time range and one or two lines of text, with a handful of HTML-like tags.
So the converter keeps what both formats share. The text of every Dialogue line comes across, with \N breaks turned into real line breaks and the hard space \h into a non-breaking space. Times are rewritten from 0:01:02.35 to 00:01:02,350. Italic, bold, underline and strikeout tags are translated, and an alignment code such as {\an8} is kept at the start of the line, which most SRT players read as "show at the top". Fonts, colors and outlines from the style list are not carried; the player shows the text in its own subtitle style.
Signs, songs and drawings
Fansub files often carry typesetting on top of the dialogue: signs placed with \pos or \move, karaoke timing with \k for opening songs, fades, and vector drawings made with \p1. None of these exist in SRT. Position and effect tags are stripped, so a translated sign becomes an ordinary line. Drawing lines are left out entirely, because in SRT they would appear as long strings of coordinates. Comment lines are not dialogue and are not exported.
When two events overlap in time, for example a sign and a line of speech, both become SRT entries with overlapping times, and most players stack them on screen.
Check it, then download
After upload, the converted lines appear on screen in SRT layout, so you can see exactly what will be written and correct any line by hand. The same upload also downloads as VTT, SBV, TTML, MicroDVD SUB or plain text, or back to a clean ASS file with one Default style.
How the tool works, what it costs and how your files are handled is on the Subtitle Converter page; prices for every tool are on the pricing page.
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Questions and answers
Can ChatGPT convert ASS to SRT?
For a few dozen lines it usually can. A full episode has hundreds of Dialogue lines, each with tags to strip and a time code to rewrite, and a chat reply tends to stop partway or slip on some of the times. This converter handles every line by rule and copies the times.
Will the fonts and colors carry over?
No. SRT has no styles, so lines appear in your player's default font and color. Italic, bold, underline and top-of-screen placement are what carry over.
Does it work with SSA files?
Yes. SSA, the older SubStation Alpha format, is read the same way and converts to SRT with the same rules.
What does converting ASS to SRT cost?
A job with up to 3,000 subtitle lines in total, such as one movie or a few episodes, is free in full, download included. Bigger jobs, up to 50 files or a ZIP and 50,000 lines, are $5 paid once. Unlimited is $19 a week.
Can I convert a whole anime season?
Yes. Put the .ass files in a ZIP, folders included, and upload it. Each file comes back as SRT under its own name, together in one ZIP.
My ASS file has Arabic or Russian text in an old encoding. Will it read?
Files in Windows-1256 (Arabic and Persian), Windows-1251 (Cyrillic), Greek, Hebrew and Western Windows encodings are recognized from their bytes, and the SRT is saved as UTF-8.