How to add subtitles on youtube?

YouTube has revolutionized the field of marketing through the creation of audiovisual content on the video hosting site. The platform has recently changed the classic principles relating to the creation of a video by developing the subtitling of videos on Youtube. The advent of this process on the site was spontaneously welcomed by youtubers to the point of becoming a trend in recent years. To enjoy the benefits of this tool, you need to know how to add subtitles on youtube. This mini-guide introduces all common processes to embed subtitles on video step by step.

The manual technique to add subtitles on youtube

To add subtitles to a video on Youtube, the youtuber can use manual input. To achieve this, it is imperative to upload a video so that you can add subtitles . Here is the manual captioning process.

Connect to youtube channel

To create subtitles , start by logging into the Youtube Studio app . Then select the Subtitles setting from the left menu, then choose the video you want to edit. When you go through your Youtube account , access to the subtitle modification parameter is quite long.

In reality, you have to open your youtube channel and click on the Video Manager button or access this setting through Creator Studio . On the video you want to edit to add subtitles , click the down-pointing arrow next to the Edit button. This takes you to the Subtitles menu. Finally tap the Add icon under the “ Subtitles ” menu and select the Enter manually option .

Start typing subtitles

After clicking Add Subtitles , press the Create Subtitles button in the subtitle interface. The text box in which to enter a subtitle appears next to the video to be processed. At this level, the youtuber must click on Add a language to define the input language. This action organizes the subtitles for viewing the video.

Then, you will have to watch the video and click on pause to take the time to write the subtitles yourself . The technique consists of listening to the content of this video and then transcribing the text in the space provided for the exercise. Click on the Plus button as you go to add a subtitle until you complete the video duration .

Adjust subtitle length

While typing subtitles for youtube video, the edited subtitle appears in the timeline below the video and transcript area. Keep in mind that the entered subtitle is placed in the video where the youtuber pauses. Thus, it is important to adjust the length of each subtitle in the timeline.

Just click on the bar on either side of the text to drag it below the video to change the display time of the subtitle. This task allows to indicate the beginning and the end of the presentation of the subtitles at each moment of the posted video. The YouTuber must ensure that users can easily read the subtitles. Once the adjustment is complete, click Publish to make the subtitles visible on youtube .

Add subtitles to youtube video from srt file

It is possible to add subtitles to a video on Youtube from a subtitle file . It is indeed a fairly simple subtitling solution for youtubers to achieve .

Create a file for subtitles

From a text editor like Windows Notepad or TextEdit on Apple OS, the youtuber can create a file to add subtitles to a new video. Just write text in a specific format. In this regard, this file format on presents as follows:

• the number of the subtitle on the first line,
• the display duration of the subtitle on the second line and
• the subtitle transcription text on the third line.

In practice, the numbering starts with the number 1, then it continues in ascending order. Then, the youtuber indicates the time code as 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:20,100. On the next line, you write the text of the soundtrack on the indicated passage. When the transcription is long, write the text on the fourth line and not beyond. Respect this format until the end of the subtitles. 

save srt file

At the end of editing the subtitles, press the File button of the text software to create an srt file . To do this, select the Save As tab to choose the type of text file. During the recording process then indicate the extension .SubRip or .srt (abbreviated) after the file name. This is indeed the default format of a subtitle file .

Besides, click the Type option to choose All Files category from the drop-down menu. In the encoding box (located at the bottom of the recording window) check that the encryption code of the subtitle file is UTF-8, then save. Because, documents created to add subtitles work with this encoding.

Import subtitle file from youtube

Once the writing of the subtitles in the text editor is completed, open your youtube channel . Then navigate to the video you want to add subtitles to and open the subtitle settings. Next, choose the Import File option. At this moment, a window opens to allow the youtubeur to download the right document on the youtube platform .

Next, press the Subtitle File button in the opened window to bring up your computer's directory. The youtube user must indicate beforehand whether they want to import the subtitle file with or without the synchronization data . After choosing the option that suits you, select the srt file you created and click Import.

Adjust the timeline and publish the video

The system then organizes the subtitles you have entered according to the indicated timeline. Once the process is complete, consider adjusting the captions by changing the timecodes and text in the transcript. Use the bar around the texts to adjust the display duration. Before publishing a video with subtitles, it is useful to view the scenes to check the accuracy of the subtitles.

Add subtitles to youtube by auto sync

Adding subtitles to a youtube video by auto sync , is a fairly simple subtitling solution. This option allows the youtuber to write the text directly on the youtube platform .

Access the video to be set up for subtitling

Log in to your customer area on YouTube Studio, then select the Subtitles menu . Next, click on the video you want to configure to add subtitles and press the Add language button . Thus, choose your input language and under the menu click on Add under the "Subtitles" icon.

Before selecting automatic synchronization to embed subtitles , check that the language of the transcription is compatible with Youtube's voice recognition technology. Also, the web videographer must write the text in the language spoken in the video on youtube. Remember, this technique of subtitling is not suitable for audiovisual content beyond the clock hour.

Transcribe the soundtrack

To transcribe youtube video soundtrack , you have to watch and write everything you hear while watching. At this stage, don't think about timing and text format. However, professional YouTubers can opt to create a transcript file . It is indeed a question of creating a specific document for the content of this video .

The formatting and formatting of a transcription file

To add subtitles by automatic synchronization from a transcription file, the youtuber must respect a certain number of editorial rules. Regarding the formatting of the text file, it is imperative to write the soundtrack as follows:

• place square brackets around words indicating background noise,
• use an empty line to signal the start of a new subtitle and
• use the closed quotation marks >> to indicate a dialogue or a change of interlocutor.

At the end of the writing, the youtuber must save the file in plain text format. This means that after the file name comes the mention .txt. It is recommended to use a text editor like Notepad which automatically generates this format.

Import the file and publish the video

After creating the transcript file, import the document in raw format to the platform. If you did a direct transposition of the dialogues from the youtube video , hit the adjust timing button or just save the change. Youtube 's voice recognition algorithm will synchronize the soundtrack with the subtitles you have written. He also takes care of publishing the video as soon as the automatic subtitling is completed.

Notorious settings after embedding subtitles on Youtube

After adding subtitles to a video posted on Youtube, it is useful for the youtuber to enable subtitles. Enabling this setting allows it to change the default saved settings for displaying subtitles. These configurations can be modified via a computer or on a smartphone.

The youtube user can customize the elements like font, size, color and opacity of the subtitles. Also, some options allow you to tell Youtube to embed subtitles automatically on some of your content on the video hosting site. Also, adjusting the closed caption display resets the default settings.