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How To Create A Subtitle File For A Video On Windows 10

A subtitle file works on any media player that supports them. Subtitle files aren’t hard to find for movies or TV series. If you buy a Blu-ray or a DVD, subtitles are normally included. If you’re creating your own videos, you’re going to have to create a subtitle file for it yourself.

Create A Subtitle File

In order to create a subtitle file, you first need to transcribe the video. You can type out everything or you can use transcribing software. If you can’t find one that’s free you can use the dictate feature on your phone. Both iOS and Android have a great dictation feature so use that if you don’t want to buy a good transcribing app.

Once you have the transcription, you’re going to need an app to create the subtitle file. There are paid apps that make it easier to create a subtitle file but a simple, free option is to use a text editor like Notepad.

Open Notepad.

In a subtitle file, you can specify the color of the on-screen text. Each line of the subtitles must have two things; their sequence number and how long they must be visible on the screen. You can also, optionally use the <i> and </i> HTML tags to italicize text.

In the following example, the ‘1’ is the sequence. This is the first line that will appear when the subtitles start to play.

Subtitle Syntax

The time in the next line, i.e., 00:00:45,914 –> 00:00:48,850 decides when the line will appear, and when it will disappear. It’s syntax is as below;

[Sequence] [Time the subtitle is displayed begins] –> [Time the subtitle is displayed ends] [Subtitle]

Time Syntax

The time syntax is as follows,

[hours]: [minutes]: [seconds], [milliseconds]

Example: 

1
00:00:45,914 –> 00:00:48,850
<font color=”#ff00ff”>DIANA</font>: <i>I used to
want to save the world.</i>

You want to follow this with the next line, and the next. You have to specify the color of the text in each line which is why people prefer to use dedicated apps to create a subtitle file.

Once you’ve typed everything out, you need to save the file with the SRT file extension. Again, you can do this with any text editor, including Notepad.

Publishing Subtitles

It’s always a good idea to include the subtitle file wherever it is you decide to publish your videos. With YouTube, you can include the subtitle file or use its own subtitle creation tool. If you’re publishing the video elsewhere, you can hard code the subtitles. This has the advantage of users always getting subtitles but it comes with the disadvantage of not being able to turn them off. Make sure users can download the SRT file, and you’ll be good to go. Most, if not all media players, support subtitles.

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