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Sthang Studio
Sthang Studio helps Khmer creators turn video and audio into timed captions, review and style them against the real footage, then export UTF-8 SRT or a locally rendered captioned MP4.
Its current Khmer-first workspace is Captions.
Public status
Sthang Studio 0.85.6 is a public Beta. Reviewed GitHub Release packages are available for Windows 10 or 11 x64 and native Apple Silicon macOS 12.3 or newer. Updater-capable Windows installs can also receive 0.85.6 through Studio's signed public in-app updater. The Mac 0.85.6 package is a one-time manual GitHub bootstrap with a Finder launcher; later Mac in-app updates require separately promoted releases.
What 0.85.6 includes
- Fine Timing for precise caption edges, whole-cue movement, waveform-focused review, bounded nudges, overlap protection, shared-edge editing, and timing undo/redo.
- Word timing with local Sync words proposals, per-word adjustment, review states, and optional spoken-word highlighting in native preview and captioned MP4.
- Six original Studio Looks plus native Glow, Fade, Rise, and Soft Pop with independent Motion and Word emphasis, appearance undo/redo, reset, and explicit replay.
- Guided editable caption handoff with SRT, WebVTT, TTML, word-by-word SRT/VTT, styled ASS, Studio caption data, and a ZIP kit for continuing work elsewhere.
- Compatible local Khmer font discovery plus Add font... for creator-selected TTF and OTF files. Added fonts stay in Studio's local state and are not installed into the operating system.
- UTF-8 SRT export and local captioned MP4 rendering.
- Gemini 3.8 Flash as the primary context-aware wording model with Gemini 3.7 Flash fallback. Khmer-first output is rejected before persistence when it unexpectedly returns English-only or Thai/Lao script, while normal Khmer/English code-switching and explicitly protected terms remain supported.
- Source-watcher recovery, Windows UTF-8 local-timing I/O, mobile/accessibility polish, and the Windows OTA restart correction for command-sensitive install paths.
Install on Windows
Extract the entire Windows ZIP and run Install Sthang Studio.bat. Setup installs Studio into the stable per-user application location so the downloaded setup folder can be deleted after installation.
Install on Apple Silicon macOS
Extract the entire macOS ZIP, then double-click Install Sthang Studio.command for the one-time 0.85.6 bootstrap. Setup installs Studio under ~/Library/Application Support/Sthang Studio/app, creates ~/Applications/Sthang Studio.app for normal Finder launches, and keeps ~/Applications/Sthang Studio.command as a recovery fallback.
The 0.85.6 bootstrap and Finder launcher are not signed or notarized. If Gatekeeper blocks the downloaded installer the first time, Control-click Install Sthang Studio.command, choose Open, then confirm Open. Intel Macs and Rosetta execution are not supported.
The reviewed target is Apple Silicon with macOS 12.3 or newer. When compatible native Node.js, Python 3.12, or FFmpeg/ffprobe are missing, setup can provision the reviewed checksum-pinned runtimes into Studio's private application-state folder. Ordinary setup does not install Homebrew, invoke sudo, modify shell startup files or global PATH, or replace system runtimes.
Processing boundary
Generate and Regenerate send normalized WAV audio, relevant context, and requested wording directly to Google Gemini using the user's own key for AI-assisted wording.
Version 0.85.6 uses Gemini 3.8 Flash first and Gemini 3.7 Flash as the context-aware fallback with the same Accuracy/topic context. The Gemini 3.5 Transcribe compatibility path is experimental/manual and is not part of the default automatic chain.
Caption timing, editing, and project storage remain local. Native preview and render work and creator-added fonts stay local too. History and exports stay local.
Your key is saved in Windows user-protected in-app storage or the macOS Keychain on Apple Silicon installs and source builds. Advanced setups can use GEMINI_API_KEY from the environment or a .env file.
Studio sets store: false on Gemini interactions. Audio is still uploaded through the Gemini File API. Studio does not delete these uploads; Google controls their retention for up to 48 hours.
Studio privacy details. Google's terms and data handling apply to that processing.
Optional sharing
Khmer Caption Contributor and product analytics are separate privacy choices. Both stay off unless you explicitly opt in, and the core caption workflow does not depend on either choice. Contributor sharing is limited to eligible post-consent caption corrections and bounded evidence described in the Studio privacy notice. Analytics uses allow-listed product events and coarse workflow information rather than caption text, transcript text, audio, or video.
Updates
Windows
Version 0.85.6 is live on Studio's public signed Windows update channel. Studio checks at most once per browser session/startup, plus when you explicitly choose Check for updates. It does not continuously poll, auto-download, or auto-install.
Updating still requires two explicit decisions: Download & verify, then Install & restart. The new version is staged and verified before activation; setup or health failure leaves or restores the previous working version. Projects, media, captions, history, correction memory, jobs, exports, compatible caches, the .env fallback, and Windows-protected Gemini key storage stay in the stable user-state area rather than being replaced by the update package.
The curated GitHub Release remains the manual Windows recovery/download path.
macOS
Version 0.85.6 is a one-time manual GitHub download and bootstrap on Apple Silicon. After that bootstrap, launch Studio with the Finder launcher. Mac in-app updates are not live for 0.85.6; later Mac in-app update releases will be separately promoted before Studio can offer them. Existing Studio project/state locations remain separate from the disposable downloaded setup folder.