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How to Add Subtitles to a Video

Karen Donovan

Making a video is a way to share a visual medium with the world. While you record stunning videos and amazing audio, depending on the global reach, not everyone viewing it can understand the content.

The solution is to include subtitles and the media so people can read along in their language and get the message you provide along with fully emerging in the imagery. You may want to do it yourself with video editing software. Alternatively, you can hire professional subtitling services. Either way, subtitles enhance the viewing experience and demonstrates to your audience that you care about providing context and language to reach those who cannot understand.

Not sure how to go about including this additional visual element? This is how to add subtitles to a video.

Why Add Subtitles?

Here are a few reasons you need to add subtitles to your videos.

  • It creates a more engaging video
  • Your audience doesn’t need to have the sound turned on
  • Your watch time will increase as it grabs attention
  • It provides accessibility to the hearing-impaired

This is why adding subtitles to provide transcription or translation of the spoken language is beneficial.

Use a Video Editor

This is kind of obvious, and there are many to choose from. If you are using a basic or free video editor, it may not be capable of adding extra effects, including subtitling. Still, you can upgrade or download one of the popular software suites.

Automatic & Manual

Most editors have audio tools that turn your recordings into subtitles once the video is done, but you can also record and import audio for an immediate transcription. This enables you to edit words but also the audio itself with precision.

Some auto-transcription tools get words wrong and make incorrect translations, but you can go in and individually make changes on the fly.

Another feature with many software video editors allows you to remove words you don’t want, even though you recorded them in the original language. This clears up subtitles for better reading by removing words like:

  • Ums
  • Ahs
  • Likes
  • Curse words
  • Misspoken words
  • Repeated words and phrases

You can even pick better phrases that describe what is in the video so the viewer can understand more easily.

Manual subtitling is a longer process but gives you greater control of what you want displayed on the screen. You can write the audio in a captions track and then overlay it on the video, allowing for exact placement when syncing the audio with someone speaking on screen. Some software will allow you to pick a segment of a track and have it repeat on a loop so you can have time to transcribe it.

Ultimately, these video editors make your job of subtitling very easy.

YouTube Subtitles

YouTube is one of the most popular video content platforms and is the go-to place for people to search for content they want to learn about or enjoy. To reach more people, adding subtitles there is also essential.

It is an easy process to place subtitles on your content by:

  • Uploading your video
  • Opening the YouTube studio editor
  • Going to the subtitles panel
  • Choosing new subtitles

You can choose the language you want to include, as long as it is supported on the platform, by searching in the search bar or selecting from the drop-down menu. YouTube has simple auto transcription, and you can edit as needed.

If you already have a file to upload with your pre-made subtitles, choose “transcribe and auto sync.” Finally, you can add subtitles by typing them as the video plays in the editor.

Subtitle Services

Adding subtitles to your videos is important, but it is a task that can be tedious and time-consuming, and you may not have the skill set or desire to do it.

For those who want or need it, great companies are dedicated to subtitling services among their offerings. They can enhance your videos with subtitling in 100+ different languages with extreme accuracy and fast turnaround. It is best to choose companies with a proven track record and guaranteed quality of service so you get what you pay for and more.

These companies have cutting-edge software and well-trained staff to produce high-quality enhancements for your videos, leveraging AI technology in translation, synthetic voice generation, and innovative dubbing technology.

You are producing videos to inform, instruct and entertain as many people as possible, and by adding subtitles, your reach is much greater.