Timed transcript first
SRT quality starts with accurate segment timing and reviewed speech, not simply adding numbers to plain text.
AUDIO SUBTITLE WORKFLOW
Convert audio into timestamped SRT subtitles.
Upload spoken audio, create a transcript with segment timing, review the words and cue boundaries, then export a standard SRT file.
Upload audio for SRT →What this workflow gives you
Cue controls
Adjust maximum cue length and duration so subtitles remain readable at the pace of the recording.
Playback verification
Use timestamps to check names, numbers and cuts against the source before publishing the subtitle file.
How it works
- Upload a supported audio file. Choose MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC, OGG or another supported recording with audible speech.
- Transcribe and correct the text. Review the automatic draft with playback and check speaker changes or overlapping dialogue.
- Export SRT. Set cue limits, preview the timed output and download the numbered subtitle file.
How an SRT file is structured
SubRip subtitles are a sequence of numbered cues. Each cue contains a start time, an end time and one or more lines of text. The timing uses hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds. Players use those time ranges to decide when each subtitle appears.
Audio does not contain visual scene changes, so cue breaks must follow speech timing and readability. Avoid extremely long lines, cues that flash too quickly and breaks that separate tightly connected words. Listen around each boundary when the recording is fast or speakers overlap.
WebVTT is another timed-text format designed for web media. Choose SRT for broad editor and platform compatibility, and VTT when a web player or workflow explicitly requests it. The W3C maintains the WebVTT specification and guidance for timed text.
Primary reference: W3C WebVTT specification.
Questions and limits
Can an MP3 be converted directly to SRT?
Yes. Media2Text accepts MP3 audio and can export the reviewed timestamped transcript as SRT.
Does SRT include speaker names?
Media2Text SRT and VTT exports omit speaker names. Use a supported document export if you need speaker labels.
What if word-level timestamps are unavailable?
Media2Text uses stable segment timing for cue boundaries; word-level timing is only used when the source and transcription result provide it.
Should I choose SRT or VTT?
SRT is broadly compatible with editors and platforms. VTT is designed for web timed-text workflows and supports additional cue features.
Related transcription tools
When to make subtitles from audio instead of video
Editors often receive a separate audio track: a podcast master, a voice-over, a mixed interview or the WAV from a field recorder. Creating the SRT from that clean audio can be more accurate than transcribing a compressed video export, and the file is smaller to process. As long as the audio starts at the same point as the video timeline, the subtitle timing will line up when you import it.
Keeping timing in sync
If your video edit has a lead-in, slate or countdown that the audio file does not, the subtitles will appear early by exactly that offset. Most editors can shift an imported subtitle track; alternatively, export the final mixed audio from the same timeline you are captioning.
Choosing cue length
Readable subtitles usually show one or two short lines at a time and stay on screen long enough to read. Fast speakers produce dense cues, so review busy passages and split long sentences where there is a natural pause. Word-level timestamps are used when the transcription engine returns reliable word timing; otherwise cues follow segment timing.
SRT, VTT or a document export?
SRT is the most widely accepted subtitle format in video editors and upload forms. VTT is the web standard used by HTML5 video players and supports a few extra styling options. If you need a readable script rather than captions, export TXT, Markdown or DOCX instead, or export both from the same transcript.
Speaker names are useful in a document but usually distracting in subtitles; decide before export whether to include them. You can also create a translated transcript track and export subtitles in another language that keep the original timing.
Supported audio and limits
Supported audio formats include AAC, AMR, AWB, FLAC, M4A, MKA, MP2, MP3, OGA, OGG, OPUS, WAV, WEBA, WEBM and WMA. Each file can be up to 6 GB. The free trial covers up to 2 lifetime transcription tasks sharing 75 minutes in total, and paid plans allow files up to 5 hours 15 minutes.
Related workflows
For cue length, reading speed and importing captions into editors and YouTube, read the guide to creating SRT subtitles.
If you only have the video file, use video to SRT, which extracts the audio in your browser so the full video is not uploaded. For a plain transcript see audio to text, and for podcast files see MP3 to text. The public video transcription tutorial walks through an MP3-to-SRT example step by step.