Add subtitles to video: choose a track or a rendered export

Pick the output your destination actually needs

For review on a desktop, a separate SRT is often enough. For a compatible web player, VTT can be loaded as a caption track. For a platform or workflow that needs text visible inside every video frame, use a video editor to render the captions into a new video. Check your destination before spending time on styling.

A separate track preserves the original video and can offer multiple language choices when the player supports them. Burned-in captions appear as part of the picture and cannot be switched off. They also cover pixels permanently, so placement and text size need to work for the intended crop.

Prepare the subtitle file in ClipLocale

Select a local video, sign in when starting recognition, choose the spoken and target languages, and confirm the range to process. Review the generated cues against the video, then download original, translated, or bilingual SRT/VTT. Downloading a subtitle file does not alter the source video.

Use the example workspace to inspect an export without an account. The example timeline is simulated and its captions are prepared demonstration text. For your own video, extracted audio and subtitle text are processed online, even though the video stays on the device. Save the file before closing the tab.

Play a separate SRT track in VLC

In desktop VLC, open the video and use Subtitle → Add Subtitle File to select the SRT. Menu wording can vary by version and language. Play through several cue boundaries and inspect characters that might reveal an encoding issue. This route loads captions for playback; it does not create a captioned video export.

Keep the video and subtitle file together when handing them to someone else, and explain that the file is a separate track. If you rename files for automatic matching in a player, retain the subtitle extension. A recipient who only receives the video may never see the separate subtitles.

Render captions in a video editor when required

In a video editor that supports SRT import, add the original video to a timeline, import the SRT as a subtitle or caption track, and align the track with the video start. Inspect whether captions are displayed as text objects or remain an optional track in the export settings. Import support does not automatically imply burned-in output.

Choose a font with glyphs for both languages if the file is bilingual. Check the smallest intended screen and the target aspect ratio, particularly vertical crops. Leave captions away from faces, demonstrations, and platform controls. Then choose the editor’s option to burn or render captions into the picture and export a short test segment before rendering the entire video.

1. Import the same video used to check the subtitle timing.
2. Import SRT into a supported subtitle track and confirm the start position.
3. Style the captions for the intended resolution and crop.
4. Enable rendered captions, export a short segment, and reopen it without loading any subtitle file.

Verify which output you created

To verify burned-in captions, reopen the exported video in a clean player session with no subtitle file loaded. Text should still be visible. To verify a separate track, switch subtitles off and on and confirm the picture itself is unchanged. These checks prevent confusing a successful editor preview with the delivered output.

After either route, listen near the beginning, middle, and end to catch timing drift. Confirm that the exported video duration covers every subtitle cue and that a bilingual file has not lost its second line. ClipLocale does not perform this final video render or certify another editor’s result.