How to Add Subtitles to Youtube Videos Automatically OR Manually : Closed captions are a great addition to your YouTube videos for several reasons. First, they let you reach more people, like those who don’t speak English. YouTube uses Google Translate to translate closed captions for each audience.
Second, captions will let you reach deaf or hard-of-hearing viewers who need on-screen text. Third, many people watch videos without sound, so if you don’t add captions, they may miss important dialogue. 80% of people who watch videos with subtitles are neither hard of hearing nor deaf!
And fourth, YouTube indexes the metadata in your closed captions so that it shows up in search results. This lets you reach a bigger audience. Adding subtitles to your YouTube videos can help them rank higher. Now that you know how important captions are, keep reading to find out how to add them to your YouTube videos.
Why you should create your subtitles
You might be surprised how many people watch videos with subtitles but without sound. A Verizon study found that 69% of people watch videos in public with the sound turned down. This number drops to 25% when they are alone. This is a strong argument for not only adding subtitles but also writing your own.
Check out the analytics for your videos in YouTube Studio to see how people are watching them. YouTube uses Google’s voice recognition to write captions, but if you’ve ever used it, you know it’s not an exact science. It’s likely that words will be misread, sometimes in funny ways, and important punctuation is often left out.
This service can be a good place to start, but its problems mean you have to write your subtitles. You will also need to add subtitles that don’t use words to describe sounds like foley, music, and SFX. The good news is that YouTube’s built-in captions can do much of your hard work.
Just download them. sbv caption file and use your favorite text application to fix the time codes and the copy. On Apple devices, you can edit with Notepad just fine. Then upload the file with the changes, and you’re done! You have closed captions that are perfectly timed.
How to attach subtitling to your YouTube videos
Closed captions can be made in YouTube Studio with the right tools. You can perform one of the 3 things:
- The speech recognition software on YouTube can turn your video into captions automatically.
- You can type manually or…
- Upload a file.
Follow these steps to automatically add closed captions to a new video on your YouTube channel:
- Go to your YouTube Studio and sign in.
- Pick vedio Subtitles from the menu on the left.
- Click the video you want to change.
- Click Plan Language and choose the language you want to use.
- Click ADD LANGUAGE after clicking CONFIRM.
Do the following to type subtitles manually:
- Choose Type by hand.
- Watch the video and Type in the captions. Don’t forget to add text like [applause] or [thunder] so people can understand what’s going on in the video. You can also take a break while you type.
- Repeat step 5 to add more subtitles, then click PUBLISH.
To change captions, click Assign Timings. The captions will show up in boxes with their time codes. Click the box that says, Pause while typing to be able to type while the video is playing. You can speed up the revision process by using keyboard shortcuts. Change the length of the bars below the video to fix the timing of the subtitles. When you’re done making changes, click the Save Draft or Publish button.
If you want to upload subtitles, follow these steps:
- Choose UPLOAD SUBTITLES/CC.
- Desire With Timing or Without Timing, and click Continue.
- Select a file to send.
- Choose Save.
How to put closed caption text on a video
YouTube says your file can have time codes for when so every line of text should be shown, as well as information about its position and style. This is especially helpful for deaf or hard-of-hearing viewers.
YouTube says you should write your captions with SubRip (.srt) or SubViewer (.sbv). YouTube Help has instructions and examples for everyone, from beginners to experts. Once yours.srt file is done. You can use it on other sites like Facebook and Vimeo.
Captions software
If you don’t have much time or are required to subtitle a long video, you might want to hire a company like Rev.com. You’ll pay $1.25 per minute of video and get a 99% correct answer in 24 hours. Rev.com also offers translation in other languages, so if you understand your secondary audience and have YouTube videos in more than one language, it may be worth paying for this service.
Want a faster way to caption on your phone or tablet? Try something like AutoCap for Mobile or Clips, a free app for Apple devices that lets you add captions. AutoCAD can transcribe up to five minutes of audio, but you have to add the rest of the audio yourself. Or, if you sign up for the service, you can get 10 minutes of transcription. Videos are independent, but they have a watermark that can be taken off if you sign up for a membership.
Conclusion
People watch videos without sound for many reasons, like when they are in a public place or when they are doing other things at the same time. Subtitles also help you reach people who don’t speak the same language as your video. Don’t miss the chance to get your text or creative vision across clearly through subtitles by not following the simple steps above.