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Text tracks settings of the Video Time activity

How to add and configure text tracks such as chapters, subtitles, and captions in the Video Time activity.

Updated over 2 months ago

About

Video Time supports local text tracks that can be used as chapters, subtitles, or captions. You can add multiple text tracks within the activity settings under Text tracks.


Adding text tracks

  1. Go to "Text tracks" in the Video Time activity settings.

  2. Click "Add text track".
    This will add an empty text track that you can then configure.


Available settings

  • Text track name

    Add a custom name for the text track. This name is only used inside the Video Time activity for administrative purposes.

  • Track type

    Select between the different track types.

    • Chapters – While you can add multiple chapter files, it is not officially supported or recommended.

    • Captions – Captions receive the suffix “CC”.

    • Subtitles – Standard subtitle files.

  • Visible

    Enable this option to display the text track.

  • Default

    Enable this option to set the text track as the default. If multiple text tracks are marked as default, the first one in the list will be used.

  • Text track file

    Upload the text track file via the file picker or by dragging and dropping it into the field.


How text tracks are displayed

Chapters

Subtitles and Captions

  • Subtitles and captions are displayed in the transcript tab if it is enabled.

  • If multiple text tracks are available, they appear in the language selector.

  • Captions are marked with “CC” to distinguish them from subtitles in the same language.

  • The VideoJS player also supports displaying subtitles and captions directly in the player.

Tip: To display chapters, subtitles, or captions in the Vimeo player, add them directly in Vimeo.


Required format for text tracks

Only WebVTT (.vtt) files are supported. These are plain text files used to add subtitles or chapter markers to videos. You can create them with any text editor such as Notepad or TextEdit.

Note: See the article on how to create valid .vtt files for details.


Edit text tracks directly in tabs

Chapter tab (Pro only)

Click "Edit" to configure the chapters. If no chapter text track exists, a new one will be created. The first text field is the chapter title, and the second is the start time in seconds.

Transcript tab (Premium only)

To edit captions or subtitles in the transcript tab, you must first add a text track in the settings. An empty text track is sufficient. Editing the transcript will automatically generate a valid text track file.

Tip: Add the text track as invisible while editing and set it to visible after the edits are complete.


Note: Visible local text tracks are also supported by global search.

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