Make your Own SRT  Subtitles for YouTube, Vimeo and other Online Video Sites. 

In the subtitling world, .SRT  is one of the most commonly used caption formats for online videos. There are many benefits to using the .SRT subtitle format. Here are just a few reasons why the SubRip format has become so universally popular and why it’s a good choice for amateurs learning to write SRT subtitles for videos:

• The .SRT subtitle format is basic and can be edited using a simple text reader. 
• .SRT is highly compatible and widely used on a variety of online platforms and is accepted by a vast range of video service providers.
• If you are looking for cheap subtitle services, .SRT is likely your best option when it comes to value for money.
• Conversions are simple when it comes to .SRT files. Because text is easily readable using notepad or other plain text readers, it can be relatively simple to convert manually and a breeze for subtitling companies to do using software.
• Upgrades can be easily implemented to add extra styling or formatting including caption colours, italics, positioning, alignment and backgrounds. This involves a very straightforward addition of coding and change to file extension to create a WebVTT subtitle.

So now you know why to choose the .SRT format for your subtitling work, let’s look at how to write SRT subtitles for videos.

How to Write .SRT Subtitles for Video using Subtitle Workshop

1. Open up the Subtitle Workshop programme.
2. Go to ‘File’ and select ‘New Subtitle…’
3. Next, import your movie by going to ‘Movie’, selecting ‘Open…’ and locating your movie file.
4. Using ‘Ctrl + space’ on your keyboard, play your video.
5. When you come to the start of speech, insert a ‘show’ time in the subtitle timings window (you can either do this manually or by using ‘Alt + C’ on your keyboard).
6. In the text box, type in the text for your subtitle (stick to anywhere between 16 and 55 characters per line and a maximum of two lines).
7. Once your subtitle is finished, insert a ‘hide’ time in the subtitle timings window (either manually or by using ‘Alt + V’ on your keyboard).
8. Go to ‘Edit’ and select ‘Insert Subtitle’ or use the ‘Insert’ key on your keyboard to create the next subtitle.
9. Repeat steps 4-8 until your .SRT subtitle file is complete.
10. Play back the video, and make timing or text edits as required.
11. Go to ‘File’ and select ‘Save As’.
12. Choose ‘SubRip’ for your subtitle file.
13. Be sure to give your subtitle a file name identical to that of your video.
14. View our video demonstration on How to Write .SRT Subtitles here. 

Proofreading for Quality Subtitles

Once you have finished writing your subtitle file, be sure to reopen and check the finished product using your video editing software. Also watch it back on the online platform where it will be shown, for example, for YouTube or Vimeo subtitles. This will allow you to pick up any coding errors or incompatibility issues. For example, foreign subtitles may need to be saved with UTF-8 coding in order to display foreign characters properly in subtitle translations.

Subtitle Services for Online Videos

The subtitling process can be hugely time consuming, especially for a novice but if you’re willing to put in the time, good luck with your venture! If you have a budget for adding captions and are willing to shop around, many subtitling companies offer .SRT subtitles at highly competitive prices which can save you a lot of time.

Now you know how to write SRT subtitles for videos, visit our Subtitle Service pages for more information on subtitling. If you are an experienced subtitler and are interested in working with Capital Captions, feel free to email us at info@capitalcaptions.com.