Add captions to your video

Subtitles already in your video

If your MP4, MOV, MKV or WebM video already contains text subtitles, upload it normally. You do not need a separate caption file. You can add extra caption files for other languages.

Image-based subtitles, such as PGS or VobSub, need a text version. Burned-in subtitles are part of the picture and cannot be turned off. Each embedded track can be up to 1 MB, with up to 32 tracks per video.

DaVinci Resolve

1. Add a subtitle track to your timeline.
2. Open the Deliver page. In Render Settings, open the Video tab and expand Subtitle Settings.
3. Enable Export Subtitle. Set Format to As a separate file and Export As to SRT.
4. Select the subtitle track you want to export, then render the video. Resolve saves a separate caption file with the export.

Do not choose Burn into video if you want viewers to be able to hide the captions. Export the same timeline range for both files so their timing matches.

You can instead choose As embedded captions when your export format supports text captions, then upload that video without a separate caption file.

Premiere Pro

1. Finish the captions on your sequence. Enable the caption track you want to export.
2. Open File > Export > Media, then expand Captions in the export settings.
3. Set Export Options to Create Sidecar File. Choose SubRip Subtitle Format, SRT, as the file format.
4. Export the sequence. Premiere saves the caption file alongside the video.

A separate SRT file works with most export presets. Embedded text captions also work when your export format supports them. Do not burn captions into the picture if you want viewers to be able to hide them.

Position, color and speakers

For custom positions, colors and speaker names, use WebVTT or ASS/SSA. SRT also supports basic text formatting and font colors. SBV supports timing and text only.

WebVTT supports individual caption positions and text styling. Use individual positions rather than region blocks. External fonts and linked resources are not supported.

Captions without a position move above the player controls when those controls appear. Explicitly positioned captions keep the position from your file.

ASS and SSA support basic formatting and static positions. Centered or bottom-aligned text may sit slightly differently. Animated effects, drawings and bundled fonts are not supported.

Upload to labi.mov

1. Open Upload in Studio and choose your video.
2. If you need separate tracks, choose one or more files in Caption files. You can select them together or add more files later. Skip this when your video already includes subtitles.
3. Give each track a name viewers will recognize, such as English or Bulgarian. Enter its language code, such as en or bg. Each uploaded track needs a different language code, with up to 32 files per video.
4. Start the upload. Once processing finishes, open the video and check the timing.

If captions start too early or too late, check that their timestamps begin at the start of the exported video, not at a timeline timecode such as 01:00:00:00.