YouTube

Transcripts

If you haven’t made captions before, you may want to try using transcripts. Transcripts are simple since they only contain the text of what was said in the video and don’t require any time codes.

Automatic timing

The key benefit of a transcript is automatic timing--once you add your transcript, speech recognition technology automatically matches your captions with what is said in the video. Videos that are less than an hour long with good sound quality and clear speech are best. Remember that the transcript must be in the same language as is spoken in the video.

Automatic timing is available in the following languages:

Formatting

You can create a transcript in one of two ways:

1. Type the text directly in YouTube

Go to your Video Manager and add captions. You'll be able to type what was said in your video directly into the video transcript text box.

2. Create a transcript file

In order to create a transcript file, type the text of what was said in your video and save it as a plain text file (.txt). You can do this by converting other formats (like Microsoft Word, HTML, PDF) into a plain text file or you can use native programs on your computer like TextEdit or Notepad.

In order to get the best results, use these formatting tips:

• Use a blank line to force the start of a new caption.
• Use square brackets to designate background sounds. For example, [music] or [laughter].
• Add >> to identify speakers or change of speaker.

Here's an example of what your transcript file might look like:

For non-English language transcript files, we recommend saving the file with UTF-8 encoding to improve display accuracy:

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