Captions

The Captions panel allows users to generate, edit, and export caption files to go along with their video. Users are also able to apply closed captions to their videos viewed in the Vyond player. Vyond currently supports VTT and SRT file imports and exports. 

This article covers: 

• Closed vs Open Captions
• Adding Captions
• Translating Captions
• Editing Captions
• Adjusting Caption Settings
• Adjusting Caption Font Size
• Deleting Captions
• Downloading Caption Files
• Downloading a Video w/ Open Captions
• Viewing Captions in Vyond Player
• Tips and Tricks

Closed Captions vs. Open Captions

Closed Captions: 

• • Closed captions can be turned on/off by viewers. These are not permanently embedded in the video. Viewers have the option to enable or disable them using their video player settings.
  • Closed captions can often be customized by viewers. This means that viewers can usually adjust the font size, color, background, and other display settings to suit preferences or accessibility needs.
  • Closed Captions provide accessibility for individuals who may require captions while keeping the feature optional. 
  • Check out the Downloading Captions section to see how to export closed captions. 

Open Captions:

• • Open captions remain visible on the screen and cannot be turned off by viewers. They are "burned" into the video and are a permanent part of the content. Everyone who watches the video will see the captions.
  • Open captions are part of the video itself and cannot be customized or styled by viewers. They are a fixed part of the video and are consistent in appearance.
  • Open captions are typically used when the video creator wants captions to be a permanent part of the content, ensuring that everyone sees them. 

Adding Captions 

1. Open the Captions/Notes panel in the navigation bar. 

2. Open the Add Captions menu and select an option. 

• Auto-captioning: Generates captions from dialog. This includes: 
  • Mic Recordings
  • Uploaded Audio
  • Uploaded Video 
  • Text-To-Speech
• Auto-captioning with audio cues: Generates captions from dialog and audio cues. These will be included ONLY if there are audio cues in the video. This includes:
  • Vyond background music display names 
  • Shutterstock music display names
  • Shutterstock video display names
  • Sound effect display names

3. Uncheck Show in Preview to hide the captions while previewing within Vyond Studio. Unchecking this option does not remove closed captions. 

Translating Captions

Note: If line breaks have been added to captions prior to translating, the translation may contain inaccuracies. Please translate captions before adding line breaks. 

1. Open the Captions/Notes panel in the navigation bar. 

2. Open the Settings section. 

3. Click Translate Captions, which will open the Translate captions panel. 

4. Select a language to translate your captions to using the dropdown menu. 

5. With a language selected, select Translate. 

6. Once the captions have been translated, Save the video to apply the captions. 

Editing Captions 

1. Open the Captions/Notes panel in the navigation bar. 

2. Hover your cursor over the section you wish to edit. Click to the right of the text you want to edit to enter edit mode.

To save changes, either click away from the text input field or hit Enter on your keyboard. 

3. Split a line or add in a Line Break by right-clicking on the text input field and selecting an option from the menu.  

• Split: Select this option in the menu, or use cmd/ctrl + E on your keyboard, to split a caption unit into two units. 
  • This will divide the text from the position of the split point and evenly split the duration between both halves. 
    
    • Ex: You have captions for a 6 second audio clip and want to split it so the captions are not too lengthy. Regardless of where you split the caption, the end result will be two caption units that each have a duration of 3 seconds. 
  • After splitting a caption unit, the second half will be opened in edit mode.
  • Split is disabled when the duration of a caption unit is less than 0.5 seconds.
• Line Break: Select this option in the menu, or use Shift + Enter on your keyboard, to break the text after the insertion point into a second line. 

4. Edit timestamps by clicking to the right of the caption unit timestamp. 

• • New time must include all numerical places from the previous clip.
    • To change the end time for example above, the new value must remain in the format :00,000. If we were to make the above example 2 seconds longer, it would be entered into the caption panel as :06,000
  • End time must be greater than the start time. If not, changes will not be accepted and will revert to previous version. 

  • Start time must be greater than the end time of the previous caption unit above it. If not, changes will not be accepted and will revert to previous version. 

  • End time must be lesser than the start time of the following caption unit below it. If not, changes will not be accepted and will revert to previous version. 

Adjusting Caption Settings

1. Open the Captions/Notes panel in the navigation bar.  

2. Open the Settings tab. Choose to edit the caption font, text color and size, background color, or background opacity. 

Adjusting Caption Font Size

1. Open the Captions/Notes panel in the navigation bar.  

2. Open the Settings tab. 

3. Open the Size dropdown menu to adjust caption sizing. Choose an option from the provided list of values. 

4. Add in your own size values by clicking on the caption value and inputting a new value, or using the up/down keys on your keyboard to increase the font size by +/- 1px. 

Deleting Captions

1. Open the Captions/Notes panel in the navigation bar. 

2. Click the Delete all trash can icon. 

Caption deletions can be undone using the toolbar Undo button, or cmd/ctrl + Z. 

Downloading Caption Files

1. Open the Captions/Notes panel in the navigation bar. 

2. Click the Download button. 

3. Select a download format. 

Captions can also be downloaded, when available, from the Home, Preview, and Videos page. 

Preview page

Homepage 

Downloading a Video w/ Open Captions

To download a video with burned-in open captions, ensure the Include captions option is toggled-on, or the MP4 With Captions option is chosen. This will produce a video with permanent captions showing. 

Within Vyond Studio  

Homepage and Preview page 

Viewing Captions in Vyond Player

Captions added to a Vyond video will display when previewing the video from the Vyond Player, which opens when following a sharing link or previewing a video from the homepage. The option can be toggled on/off by the viewer and will show as disabled if no captions are available.  

Tips and Tricks

• When Show In Preview is checked, captions will display while previewing within Vyond Studio. Uncheck the box and click the SAVE button to remove captions from your Preview. 
• Captions are placed in the center bottom of the screen. While editing videos, it’s best to ensure that there is nothing important at the bottom of the scenes as the captions may cover the content. 
• Splitting an audio clip will not split the captions assigned to the audio. 
• The reading pace should not exceed three words per second or 180 words per minute.
• It’s recommended to follow the industry guideline for captions, each line in a caption must not exceed 37 characters long, with a maximum of two lines.
• Looking to add captions in a different language but keep your audio in another? Check out these steps for a workaround below (please note this workaround is only for Professional, Vyond for Enterprise and Vyond for Agency users only):
  • Create a copy of your video and use the auto-translate feature to translate the audio in the language of your choosing. 
  • Download the captions file from the copied video. 
  • Go back to the original video and generate captions using the file you previously downloaded. 
  • Preview the video to see the captions in the language of your choosing. 

Please note that SRT and VTT files can only be exported out of Vyond at this time. This is a beta feature, as such, your feedback and suggestions are appreciated. 

Questions or feedback? Submit a support request by clicking here.

Additional Resources:

• For uploading SRT files to Youtube, click the link here.
• Closed Captioning in Storyline, click the link here.
• For Facebook and Instagram videos, click the link here. 

The links point to sites outside of the Vyond Help Center, and our company does not necessarily endorse the views, opinions, or posts made by these businesses or third-parties.