Create an SRT subtitle file from video.

Subtitles need more than accurate words

A useful subtitle must be correct, synchronized and readable. Even when the transcript words are accurate, automatic cue boundaries may need adjustment around pauses, sentence structure, speaker changes and quick edits.

Transcription covers spoken audio. It does not describe silent action or automatically capture every title card. Accessibility work may require separately authored descriptions and a review of meaningful on-screen text.

The original video remains on the device during supported browser-side audio preparation. Prepared audio is still uploaded for transcription and follows the published retention policy, so review privacy requirements before processing confidential footage.

Primary reference: W3C guidance on captions.

A practical subtitle workflow for video

1. Transcribe the final cut

Subtitles should match what viewers hear in the version you publish. Transcribe the locked edit rather than raw footage, so you do not have to re-time cues after trimming. Because the audio is extracted in your browser, even a large MP4 or MOV file does not need to be uploaded in full.

2. Correct words before timing

Fix names, brand terms and numbers first using find and replace. Corrections are faster in the transcript view than inside a subtitle editor, and the timestamps remain attached to each segment.

3. Review dense passages

Fast dialogue, overlapping speakers and music can produce long or crowded cues. Play those sections back at normal speed and split or shorten text where needed. Word-level timing is used when the transcription engine returns reliable word timestamps; otherwise cues follow segment timing.

4. Export and import

Export SRT for most editors and upload forms, or VTT for web players. Import the file into your editor or platform, then watch the first and last minutes to confirm the offset is correct.

The full SRT subtitle guide explains the file format, readability rules and common import problems.

Burned-in or separate subtitles?

A separate SRT or VTT file lets viewers turn captions on or off and lets platforms index the text. Burned-in captions are part of the picture and are common on short-form social video. Media2Text produces the subtitle file; burning captions into the picture is done afterwards in your video editor.

Subtitles in another language

After transcription you can create a translated transcript track that keeps the original speaker labels and timestamps, then export subtitles from the translation. Translation does not dub audio, and nothing in the result describes silent on-screen action, so add sound descriptions or on-screen text manually if your audience needs them.

Formats, limits and related tools

Supported video formats include 3GP, MKV, MOV, MP4, MPG, TS, WEBM and WMV, with files up to 6 GB. The free trial includes up to 2 lifetime transcription tasks sharing 75 minutes in total, and paid plans accept files up to 5 hours 15 minutes. If you already have a separate audio master, audio to SRT may give cleaner results. For a full written transcript, see video to text; for online videos, see video link to text.

Common subtitle problems and quick fixes

If every cue appears slightly early or late, the subtitle file is usually fine and the video simply has a different start point; shift the whole track in your editor. If a cue is too long to read, split it at a natural pause. If names are wrong throughout, correct them once with find and replace in the transcript and export again rather than editing each cue by hand.