Select unlocked text layers in the active composition, then click Read time. By default, each layer keeps its in point and gets a new out point based on its current text.
Choose a reading speed
Click Pad to switch the number field to WPM. Right-clicking anywhere in the field also switches it. Set the reading speed, then click Read time.
A higher WPM gives shorter durations. A lower WPM gives readers more time.
Duration is words ÷ WPM × 60 + read padding, rounded to the nearest composition frame, with a minimum of one frame. The defaults are 200 WPM and 0.5 seconds of extra time. A 20-word layer therefore lasts 6.5 seconds at 30 fps.
Words are separated by whitespace, including spaces and line breaks. Punctuation does not add pauses. Blank text gets the read padding, or one frame if that padding is zero. Adjust Read padding (seconds) in settings when every layer needs more breathing room. Pad, measured in frames, belongs to keyframe and marker trimming and has no effect here.
Arrange captions end to end
Shift-click Read time to sequence the text layers. Snippy orders them by their existing in points, using the layer order in the Timeline panel to break ties. The first layer keeps its in point. Each later layer starts when the previous one ends.
Sequencing moves each later layer’s timing as a whole before setting its new duration. Its animation moves with it. This can change existing overlaps or gaps.
Turn on Sequence read-time layers in settings to make sequencing the default. Shift-click then times layers individually for that action instead.
Check the end of the composition
Read time can put an out point beyond the composition’s duration. It does not resize the comp. If you need the comp to include the resulting layer spans, use Fit comp afterward and remember that it includes every layer.
Non-text layers are skipped and counted as not text. If none of the targets is a text layer, you see No text layers selected.