Subtitles make your videos clear and accessible, captions give them the social media look. The new editor has a separate tool for each. Here is when to use which, and how both work.
Subtitles or captions? The difference
Subtitle: classic subtitles for clarity and accessibility. You create them per element on the timeline, can cover several languages and work with SRT files.
Captions: animated word-by-word overlays in a social media style. They follow one style for the whole project and can be shown, hidden and positioned.
Creating subtitles
On the timeline, select the video or audio element that needs subtitles.
Open the Subtitle tool on the left.
Under Method, choose how the subtitles are created:
Automatic subtitles: cofenster creates them from the audio track.
Manual subtitles: you write them yourself.
Upload subtitles file: you upload an existing SRT file.
Set the Spoken language to the language spoken in the video and click Create subtitles.
Note: A wrong spoken language setting is the most common reason automatic subtitles fail.
Reviewing and editing subtitles
Once the subtitles are created, the Subtitle tool shows these settings for the selected element:
Visibility: show or hide the subtitles in the video.
Position: choose where the subtitles appear, for example at the bottom.
Language: switch between the element's subtitle languages. Next to it you can download the subtitles as a file or remove the language.
Editor: every subtitle line with its start and end time. Click a line to correct the text. Your changes are saved automatically, and the arrows undo or redo them.
Tip: Always read through automatic subtitles before exporting, especially names, product names and technical terms.
Your subtitle style applies to the whole project. You find it at the top of the Subtitle tool under Style. With no element selected, the Subtitle tool also lists all subtitle languages in your project.
Subtitles in several languages
Create the subtitles in the spoken language first and review them. Then add more languages:
Select the element and open the Subtitle tool.
Open the language menu under Language and click Add language.
Choose the language and a Method:
Translate automatically: cofenster translates your subtitles for you.
Create manually: you write the translation yourself.
Upload SRT file: you upload a translated SRT file.
Click Add language. You then switch between the languages in the language menu.
Which languages are supported is listed in the article Subtitle and voiceover languages in cofenster.
Creating and controlling captions
Open the Captions tool at the bottom.
Use Visibility to show or hide captions.
Use Position to set where captions appear, for example at the bottom.
Under Style, pick the design. The style applies to all captions in the project.
Note: Want captions in your brand font and colors? Your Customer Success Manager activates this feature for your account. Just reach out via chat.
Common problems and fixes
Subtitle creation fails: Check that the spoken language matches the audio and that the selected element contains clearly audible speech. Then run the creation again. If it still fails, message us in the chat and name the project.
Subtitles do not show in the video: Select the element and check in the Subtitle tool that Visibility is set to Shown.
Subtitles missing from the export: Before exporting, check that the subtitles are attached to the right element. Subtitles are created per element, not per project.
An SRT file will not import: Open the file in a text editor and check the format (number, timestamps, text, blank line). If in doubt, re-export it as UTF-8.
Captions do not appear: Check in the Captions panel that visibility is switched on.