Subtitles make your content accessible to a wider audience. But their quality also plays a big role in the viewer experience. Here are all the tips to improve the quality of your free video subtitles.

Choosing the Best Free Video Subtitle Tool

A good captioning tool makes all other steps in creating quality captions easier. There are a wide variety of tools on the web, but to make your task easier, use artificial intelligence. The most popular are: 

Subfast.ai

Subfast.ai is an artificial intelligence-generated video editor. Its language recognition algorithms help users easily transcribe videos to text. The platform supports over 50 languages. You can therefore translate the subtitles directly in the tool. 

This tool also helps you attract more viewers. It can indeed generate attractive descriptions and hashtags. Subfast.ai also has a feature for adding background music and special effects. 

After completing your edit, sign your creation with a personalized logo. You can also create them on Subfast.ai. 

Kapwing

Kapwing is another tool to generate automatically free subtitles online. You will not need to download any software or application to work on your videos. Add your video URL to the search bar or upload it to the site. You will be spoiled for choice when it comes to customizing the free video subtitle:

• Font style

• Font and background color

• Legend Location

📝 Important note

The free version of Kapwing is limited to 10 one-minute videos per month. To edit more content, you need to pay a subscription of €16 per month.

CapCut

CapCut is a video editor available on Windows, Mac and Android. Editing professionals and amateur creators use it to edit their free video subtitles. 

The platform has a free version that is effective for automatically transcribing videos. But be careful! Automatic subtitling by artificial intelligence transcribes everything it hears, even language tics. You must make a correction after transcription. 

Use a standard format for subtitle files

Subtitles should be read by all video players. SubRip Subtitle (SRT) is the most popular format for subtitle files. All video platforms like YouTube or Vimeo support this file type. But the customization possibilities are limited. You can only add text and details for synchronization there. 

But you can also use WebVTT (VTT). This format can add metadata. This format is ideal for personalizing subtitles. This is because it supports HTML tags. In addition to these two formats, there are also:

• CNN, the oldest

• iTT, specific for Apple users

• STL or Spruce Subtitle File

• TTML or Timed Text Markup Language

Perfectly synchronize subtitles

The caption should be perfectly synchronized with the footage for a better user experience. If the text lags even a few seconds from the video, viewers will have difficulty following the content. 

Use premium subtitling tools to ensure better video synchronization. Subtitle Edit can be used for this purpose. There you can manually adjust the timing and schedule each subtitle to appear. 

Remember to watch the subtitled video several times before posting it. Make sure captions always appear at the right time. The live playback feature is the best verification tool. 

There are also tools where synchronization is automatically integrated into the transcription process. But further verification is still required. 

🤔 Did you know?

Subfast.ai's captioning feature uses artificial intelligence. The synchronization of the text and the sequence is therefore done automatically.

Simplify the text

The longer the subtitles are, the more difficult they are to read quickly. Remember, viewers need to read the caption and watch the video at the same time. Follow these tips:

• Avoid displaying subtitles on more than two lines 

• Limit the maximum number of characters for each line to 40

• Use simple sentences

• Summarize the texts to the essentials

• Avoid technical terms that are difficult to read

• Do not hesitate to reformulate the dialogue if the speakers use terms that are too complex

⏱️ Don’t forget the reading timing

Viewers should read the subtitle without haste. It should be displayed on the screen for between 2 and 7 seconds per sequence and depending on the length of the text. They should not be replaced quickly or linger too long on the screen as this risks boring viewers. Show captions as people start speaking.

Improve readability

Easy-to-read subtitles have more reach to viewers. The video can bore them easily if the accompanying caption can barely be read. Choose basic fonts, without too much detail like Arial, Helvetica or Calibri. They are classic, simple and all players support them. 

Also use a fairly large font size. It should not be too small, otherwise it will not be readable on smartphones. But it should also not be too big and take up a lot of space in the video. 

The color of the caption must contrast well with the background of the video. Use a background if the video has high contrast. But you can also choose white subtitles and add a black outline.

Carry out post-transcription and post-subtitling verification

Automatic captioning tools can make mistakes. But viewers detect the slightest drawbacks in your videos. The slightest typos or grammatical errors can impact your credibility. 

Always manually proofread your subtitles. Automatic proofreaders are effective, but nothing beats human ability to detect small problems. A double check is also required. Have someone else proofread the subtitle and make sure you haven't missed anything. 

Test the captioned video on multiple devices after final editing. The subtitle must be readable and compatible for all types of devices. You can easily adjust timing or readability before sharing your creation.

💡 Little information

You can resize your videos for different screen sizes on Subfast.ai. Possible dimensions are: 16:9, 9:16 and 1:1.