To display the video narration in real time at the bottom of the screen, add a caption track to your video. In this article, learn how to:
- Add autogenerated captions
- Review & edit autogenerated captions
- Manually add captions to a video
- Play a video with captions
Add autogenerated captions
Autogenerated captions are automatically generated for all inserted media with English speech and can be enabled for playback. To add the autogenerated caption track:
- On your computer, open a video in Google Vids.
- In the menu, click View
Closed captions
- Tip: The autogenerated captions will play once you start playback in editor mode.
- Optional: To review the autogenerated captions while playback in full screen playback mode, at the bottom of the playback screen, click Closed captions
Closed captions Review & edit autogenerated captions
- To review and make edits to the autogenerated captions, click Insert
.
- To review the caption track by timestamp:
- In the closed captions side panel, on the autogenerated track, click More
- In the closed captions side panel, on the autogenerated track, click More
- To make edits to the autogenerated track, click More
- Next to the duplicated caption track, click More
Manually add captions to a video
Important: Captions only show up as an option at the time of playback if they’re toggled on. Learn how to play videos with captions.
- On your computer, open a video in Google Vids.
- In the menu, click Insert
- In the closed captions side panel, click + Caption track.
- Click Upload file or Type manually.
- Select the language of the caption.
- Optional: You can add a track title.
- If you upload multiple files of the same language, a track title makes it easier to find your caption file.
- Click Create new track.
- To update the caption settings or timing, in the captions side panel, next to a caption track, click More
- To duplicate the track and make edits on a new copy, click More
- To update the caption settings or timing, in the captions side panel, next to a caption track, click More
You can upload these caption file types:
Basic file formats
If you’re new to the creation of caption files, we recommend that you use one of the these basic file types:
|
Format name |
File extension |
More info |
|---|---|---|
|
.srt |
|
|
|
.sbv or .sub |
|
|
|
MPlayer subtitle (MPsub) |
.mpsub |
Supports "FORMAT=" parameter. |
|
.lrc |
|
|
|
Videotron Lambda |
.cap |
This file type is primarily for Japanese subtitles. |
If you’re new to the creation of caption files, you can use SubRip (.srt) or SubViewer (.sbv). They only require basic time info, and you can edit them with any plain text editing software.
The main difference between SubRip and SubViewer files is the format of the caption start and stop times. Here are examples of both formats:
SubRip (.srt) example
1
00:00:00,599 --> 00:00:04,160
>> ALICE: Hi, my name is Alice Miller and this is John Brown
2
00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:06,770
>> JOHN: and we're the owners of Miller Bakery.
3
00:00:06,770 --> 00:00:10,880
>> ALICE: Today we'll be teaching you how to make
our famous chocolate chip cookies!
4
00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:16,700
[intro music]
5
00:00:16,700 --> 00:00:21,480
Okay, so we have all the ingredients laid out here
SubViewer (.sbv) example
0:00:00.599,0:00:04.160
>> ALICE: Hi, my name is Alice Miller and this is John Brown
0:00:04.160,0:00:06.770
>> JOHN: and we're the owners of Miller Bakery.
0:00:06.770,0:00:10.880
>> ALICE: Today we'll be teaching you how to make
our famous chocolate chip cookies!
0:00:10.880,0:00:16.700
[intro music]
0:00:16.700,0:00:21.480
Okay, so we have all the ingredients laid out here
Advanced file formats
If you want to have more control over the caption style, markup, or position, use these file formats.
|
Format name |
File extension |
More info |
|---|---|---|
|
Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange (SAMI) |
.smi or .sami |
|
|
RealText |
.rt |
|
|
.vtt |
|
|
|
Timed-Text Markup Language (TTML) |
.ttml |
|
|
Distribution Format Exchange Profile (DFXP) |
.ttml or .dfxp |
These file types are interpreted as TTML files. |
Play a video with captions
You can choose to play your video in editor mode or in full screen playback mode with captions. When you play the video with captions on, they'll show at the bottom of the screen.
- On your computer, open a video in Google Vids.
- To turn on closed captions before you play the video, click View
- Select the track to use.
- To turn on closed captions before you play the video, click View
- To play the video in full screen, at the top right, click Play
.
- You can also press the shortcut for your browser:
- Chrome OS: Ctrl + Search + 5
- Windows: Ctrl + F5
- Mac: ⌘ + Shift + Enter
- You can also press the shortcut for your browser:
- To play the video in Editor mode, above the timeline, click Play
- To use the spacebar to play or pause in Editor mode, the focus must be on the timeline. To move the focus to the timeline, use these keyboard shortcuts:
- Chrome OS or Windows: Ctrl + Alt + Shift + T
- Mac: ⌘ + Opt + Shift + T
- To use the spacebar to play or pause in Editor mode, the focus must be on the timeline. To move the focus to the timeline, use these keyboard shortcuts:
- To turn "Closed captions" on or off in full screen playback mode:
- At the bottom right of the playback screen, click Closed captions
- You can also use these keyboard shortcuts:
- Chrome OS or Windows: C
- Mac: C
- You can also use these keyboard shortcuts:
- Select the track you want to playback.
- At the bottom right of the playback screen, click Closed captions
Tips:
- Once you upload the captions, you can store and edit them.
-
Captions are specific to browser sessions. If you turn on captions in your playback session, it won’t turn on captions when you share the video.
Learn about Google Vids availability.