6 super easy ways to add subtitles and captions to videos

Subtitles and captions are used to display text for videos. Although they look quite similar, they display different text. Subtitles display text spoken by a character in a movie for better understanding. Captions are used to display all the sounds that occur in a movie such as knocking on the door, shouting, ringing the phone, serving the deaf. Depending on the needs of the user, this article will introduce you to 6 tools to add subtitles or captions to videos.

Ways to add subtitles and captions to videos

• 1. Add subtitles and captions with Windows Movie Maker
• 2. Add subtitles and captions with Youtube Editor
• 3. Add subtitles and captions with Pinnacle Studio
• 4. Add subtitles and captions with CaptionMaker
• 5. Add subtitles and captions with Aegisub
• 6. Add subtitles and captions with Google Drive

1. Add subtitles and captions with Windows Movie Maker

Windows Movie Maker is an easy-to-use and powerful video creation and editing software application designed for Windows 11 and the latest Windows 7/8/10. The older version works for Windows XP and Vista. Windows Movie Maker contains features like effects, transitions, titles, audio tracks, timeline narration, and Auto Movie.

Windows Movie Maker is a video editing program created by Microsoft. The program allows users to integrate video, audio, still images, and recordings to create a personalized movie. Windows Movie Maker (WMM) was first included in Windows ME, commonly known as Windows 2000, the successor to Windows 98. It was introduced to the market on September 14, 2000. Movie Maker “is part of the Windows Essentials software suite and provides the ability to create and edit videos and publish them to OneDrive, Facebook, Vimeo, YouTube, and Flickr”.

New transitions can be created and existing effects modified using XML code. Windows Movie Maker is also a basic audio editing program. Windows Movie Maker can apply basic effects to audio tracks such as fading in and out. Audio tracks can then be exported as audio files instead of video files.

With Windows Movie Maker, you can quickly turn your photos and videos into polished movies. Add special effects, transitions, audio, and captions to help tell your story vividly. Then share your movie with friends and family!

Windows Movie Maker has always been one of the most popular software for simple video editing . The software can combine video files, add audio and music to videos, apply video transition effects, create slideshows, and much more. This tool is quite easy to use. Here is how to add subtitles and captions to videos with Movie Maker.

• Cut and merge video clips with built-in Windows utilities

Step 1: Download Windows Movie Maker if you don't have it yet. If you're using Windows 10, read the article Instructions for downloading Windows Movie Maker on Windows 10 to learn how to download it. 183263

Step 2: Open Movie Maker and load the video.

Step 3: Then click on the Home tab and select Caption .

Step 4: Windows Movie Maker will add a special window to enter text for the video.

Step 5: Edit the caption if needed.

Step 6: Save the video to apply the changes.

This is a convenient and simple software that provides a multifunctional text editor, changing text position, font and size. In addition, you can choose transition effects for the text and make it appear in an unusual way.

2. Add subtitles and captions with Youtube Editor

YouTube offers several ways to add subtitles, captions, and text to your videos. This text can be a caption, text, or speech bubble.

• 7 ways to download videos on Youtube quickly and simply

Step 1: Sign up for a YouTube account with your Google account.

Step 2: Upload video to Youtube.

Step 3: Once done, open Video Manager by clicking your account icon in the top right > Creator Studio > Video Manager > Videos.

If you don't see Creator Studio , go to YouTube Studio , select Creator Studio Classic at the bottom of the left menu, then select Video Manager > Videos .

Step 4: Next to the video you want to add subtitles to, click the drop-down menu next to the Edit button, select Subtitles .

If you have not selected the primary language in the video, you will be asked to add this information, please select a language, there are about 192 different options.

Once you've made your selection, click the Add New Subtitle button and choose how to add subtitles to your video or edit subtitles for your video:

• Upload file: This file contains both the text and timecode of when the captions appear in the video.
• Record and auto-sync.
• Create new subtitles: You create subtitles yourself with specific time stamps on the video
• Use automatic captions : contributed captions, such as song lyrics, will often have automatic captions.

Here Quantrimang.com chooses Create new subtitle :

Step 6: When done, click the Save Changes button .

Very simple and easy to do!

3. Add subtitles and captions with Pinnacle Studio

Pinnacle Studio is a fairly complex video editing software that allows users to add captions to movies in a similar way to Windows Movie Maker.

Pinnacle Studio is a video editing program that is friendly to both beginners and intermediate users. A flagship project from Corel, this thorough video editor has advanced features and a simple interface. Keen editors can choose from three packages: Pinnacle Studio Basic, Ultimate, and Pro. Beginners will appreciate Pinnacle Studio Basic’s user-friendly interface, which is well-organized, efficient, modern, and simple.

Just a few of the features that editors will love are split-screen video and an intuitive user interface. Multi-camera and multi-track video editing is included, as well as morphing, paint effects, and 360-degree video editing. Other features of the program include wide-angle lens correction, NewBlue Effects, and a 3D title editor.

The interface is designed to streamline all editing processes and provide quick access to tools. Users can also streamline their workflow by changing editing parameters.

In addition to basic editing, organizing, and exporting tools, Pinnacle Studio also has a range of professional-grade editing tools. These include multi-camera editing, split-screen, 360 video editing, and 4K compatibility. In addition to giving editors the flexibility to create unique workflows, whether one is importing, organizing, or building the perfect project from media clips. Raw footage can easily be transformed into a polished video perfect for sharing with friends and family.

To add text to video using Pinnacle Studio, follow these simple instructions:

Step 1: Download Pinnacle Studio .

Step 2: Add videos to Pinnacle Studio.

Step 3: Select Titles.

Step 4: Choose the title type and position, put it in the edit line.

Pinnacle Studio is a smart software with many text editing options. However, it is quite heavy and is not free but has a 30-day trial version.

4. Add subtitles and captions with CaptionMaker

CaptionMaker is another tool that will help you create subtitles and captions on Windows and Mac. The software is not free, but there is a demo version available. So you can download it and try its features before deciding to use it. CaptionMaker is highly customizable, users can change the font, text background color, choose the number of lines, position, and much more.

To add captions with CaptionMaker:

Step 1: Download CaptionMaker for PC or Mac.

Step 2: Run the software on your PC or Mac.

Step 3: Import the video file via File > Open Movie .

Step 4: Set the required time for the caption.

Step 5: Enter text in the Caption/Subtitle field .

Step 6: Choose subtitle style, caption (font, position, etc...)

Step 7: When finished, click File > Save to to save the movie with subtitles and captions.

CaptionMaker is a great tool, if you want to have a professional caption, you should not miss it.

5. Add subtitles and captions with Aegisub

Aegisub is a cross-platform text editor like Notepad that creates subtitles and captions with just a few clicks. The software has a built-in video player, so there is no need to open the video in a separate video player.

To add subtitles and captions to videos using Aegisub, please read this tutorial on how to create subtitles for videos using Aegisub .

6. Add subtitles and captions with Google Drive

Google Drive is known as a cloud service that can store your data and give you access to it from any device, from anywhere in the world. Only a few users know that Google Drive can also help you add subtitles to your videos. It is easy and completely free. Here is how you can add subtitles, captions with Google Drive.

Step 1 : Log in or register drive.google.com.

Step 2 : Click New > Upload file ...

... and select the video you want to add subtitles to.

Step 3 : Once the video appears in your Google Drive, right-click on the file and select Manage subtitles .

Step 4 : Now, click on Add New Subtitle option.

Step 5 : Select the subtitle file in SRT format.

Step 6 : Select the language of the new subtitle and enter a title for the subtitle track

Step 7 : Click Upload to add subtitles to the video.

This is a convenient and simple service that provides the option to add pre-existing subtitles. In case, you want to turn off the subtitles, just right-click on the file, select Manage Subtitles , find the added subtitle, click on the 3 vertical dots icon next to the subtitle and click Remove to turn it off.

If you're having trouble adding captions to your Google Drive videos, Google suggests three possible solutions:

• Make sure the subtitle file is in SubRip (*.SRT) or SubViewer (*.SUB) format.
• Make sure the subtitle file is not larger than 2MB.
• Make sure the subtitles don't extend beyond the video (this can cause auto-sync issues)

Note that video captions on Google Drive have the same sharing settings as the video they belong to. This means that anyone with editing permissions for the video will be able to upload, download, and edit your video captions.

Good luck!