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title: Advanced Usage and Tips for TTML Editor
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# Advanced Usage and Tips for TTML Editor

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### Before You Start
We assume that you have already read the [previous article](./introduction) and mastered the basic usage. In the following article, we will introduce some fancy tricks of the editor to you.

**This document will be periodically updated with the iteration of the editor.*

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## Starting with Importing

Generally, the most frequently used, customizable, and flexible way to import is through plain text.

[![pFMRaLT.png](https://s11.ax1x.com/2024/02/01/pFMRaLT.png)](https://imgse.com/i/pFMRaLT)

You can see many options and drop-down menus on the right side of the import tool, which can help you make the imported text ready to use.
The implementation of these functions is thanks to the editor supporting some special symbols to allow users to preprocess the lyrics text.

For example:
- You can use **separators** to manually separate lyrics lines and translation lines.

[![pFMblPf.png](https://s11.ax1x.com/2024/02/01/pFMblPf.png)](https://imgse.com/i/pFMblPf)  

- You can use **backslashes (\\)** to manually divide words.

[![pFMberd.png](https://s11.ax1x.com/2024/02/01/pFMberd.png)](https://imgse.com/i/pFMberd)  

- You can use **line prefixes** to set background and duet lyrics.

[![pFMqThV.png](https://s11.ax1x.com/2024/02/01/pFMqThV.png)](https://imgse.com/i/pFMqThV)  

- ~~You can use some symbols to set empty beats.~~ (Coming soon, stay tuned)

- You can mix them up. However, please be aware that for some sentences that cannot be translated, have no actual meaning, or have no corresponding content, you still need to use something to occupy the translation or transliteration line, or else other lines will be imported to where they shouldn't be.

[![pFMLFje.png](https://s11.ax1x.com/2024/02/01/pFMLFje.png)](https://imgse.com/i/pFMLFje)

Usually, we recommend pre-setting lyrics text with formatted characters in an external text editor (like Notepad). By enabling corresponding preprocessing functions, you can achieve more flexible and precise text import.

For cases where a word has multiple syllables in languages like English and French, we suggest splitting these words by syllables and dividing them as needed based on the singer's connected speech. This can make the display effect of the lyrics closer to the performance effect, as shown in the illustration above.

Also, if the lyrics text contains punctuation marks, we recommend merging them with the nearest text into one word to save keystrokes during typesetting and improve accuracy.  
**If you have fast fingers or are an advanced player of "A Dance of Ice and Fire," then forget what I just said.*

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## Everything's Set, Only Lack of Speed

Now that you have imported the lyrics and are ready to start typesetting. Next, we will introduce you to some small tricks during typesetting to improve your accuracy and the comfort of the performance.

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### Keep Up with the Rhythm, Get Excited!

Usually, a well-presented set of lyrics needs to be typeset two to three times from start to finish:

- First, ensure that each word aligns as closely as possible with the singer's singing;

- Second, ensure that the timing of special lyric lines is correct, such as background lyrics;

- Third, shorten the duration of certain words appropriately based on the rhythm of the song and the singer's singing rhythm to achieve a rhythmic pause.

To achieve this is simple. You just need to do two things:

1. Be familiar enough with the song, know which part of the accompanying music will have an obvious rhythm and pause.

2. Proficiently use the `H` key to set the end marker.

As mentioned earlier, shortening the duration of certain words can create a pause that meets psychological expectations. Of course, we hope you can set pauses according to the rhythm of the music, which will make your lyrics more rhythmic.