Wanting to find out how to add subtitles to YouTube videos? It’s a great thing to do in order to open up your videos to a wider audience, allow people to watch your videos muted, and keep viewers’ attention. It doesn’t have to be a time-consuming task, so let’s take a look at your options!
Why Should I Add Subtitles To YouTube Videos?
Adding subtitles to YouTube videos may seem time-consuming with not much payoff. However, you may be surprised by how many people watch videos with subtitles on. Verizon showed that 69% of viewers watch videos on mute in public, and 80% will watch the entire video is captions are available. It also makes your videos more inclusive for those hard of hearing, and opens up the range of people your video can reach. In fact, your video analytics stats in YouTube Studio will show exactly how your viewers are watching your videos.
How Do I Add Subtitles To YouTube Videos?
There are three options to add subtitles to YouTube Videos. They are:
- Automatically generating captions with YouTube’s speech recognition software
- Typing your captions manually
- Uploading a file yourself
Auto Generated Captions
YouTube can use Google’s voice recognition to write captions for you. However, they aren’t the most accurate subtitles. You can use this as a base, and improve upon it to save some work. That way, you can also indicate sounds such as background music, Foley sounds and sound effects.
Here are the steps to add captions to your YouTube video using auto-sync:
- Sign in to YouTube Studio
- Select Subtitles (left menu)
- Choose your video
- Select ‘Set Language’ and choose your language
- Click ‘Confirm’, and ‘Add Language’
Typing Manually
To manually type subtitles, here are the steps:
- Select ‘Type manually’.
- Play your video and enter the captions.
- Add in any additional things such as SFX or sounds that don’t include speech
- Click ‘Confirm’, and ‘Add Language’
- Select ‘Publish’
Top tip: If you need to edit your captions, click ‘Assign Timings’. Then, you will see your captions in boxes with their time does. Select the Pause whilst typing’ box, and you are free to type away.
If your subtitle’s timing is off, adjust the bars below the video. Save your draft or Publish when you’re done!
Upload A File
To upload your own subtitle file, these are the steps:
- Select ‘Upload Subtitles/CC’
- Decide between With Timing or Without Timing and press Continue
- Choose a file to upload
- Press Save
Formatting Closed Caption Text
Your YouTube files can contain time codes which dictate when each line of text should be displayed, plus position and style information. This is important for deaf or hard of hearing viewers!
YouTube recommends using use SubRip (.srt) or SubViewer (.sbv) to write your captions. To generate auto captions, you can download the .sbv caption file, correct your time codes and copy into a document. Then, upload the correct file and your captions will be synced. Head to YouTube Help for further guidance and examples.
Good news: once you’ve perfected your .srt file, it can also be used for Facebook and Vimeo!
How Audiosocket Can Help
This article is all about creating great YouTube videos, and that’s where we can help! With your videos, you will most likely need music.
If you are looking for authentic, top-quality music for your project, why not check out Audiosocket? Your content deserves the best, so sign up today and access tens of thousands of songs to bring your vision to life! You can access Audiosocket’s music catalog for just $15 a month as a Personal creator. Not only that, but this allows you to license an unlimited number of tracks at no additional cost. Talk about win-win!
Also, feel free to check out our helpful articles on smartphone accessories for video creators, using background songs for videos and best free video editing software in 2021!
