The download of SRT, VTT, or TXT files is only available with the PRO, Business, or Enterprise plans. The upload of subtitle files is available for all plans.
This article will show you how subtitle files work, how to use them on VEED.IO, and how to troubleshoot them.
What is an SRT file?
An SRT file (known as SubRip Subtitle file) is a plain-text file that contains information about the subtitles, including the start and end timecodes of the subtitles and the sequential number of subtitles.
This file does not contain the audio or video you're subtitling, and it doesn't have any styling information as well.
This is how the subtitles look in the file:
An SRT file can be created, or it can be downloaded from our editor.
It can be created in a text editor like Notepad, TextEdit, or Notepad++, and it can be viewed in these editors as well.
The file can be downloaded from our editor through the Subtitles > Options tab. Here is How to add subtitles to a video automatically.
How is a subtitle file structured?
One subtitles box inside of an SRT file takes up 4 lines:
It starts with the sequential number of the subtitle. This determines the order of the subtitles in the file. One number can only be in the file once.
The second line contains the start and end time for the subtitle in the Hours:Minutes:Seconds,Milliseconds format. The two timestamps are connected with the " --> " characters. This part can take up multiple lines for multiple lined subtitles.
On the third line, you will have the actual text of the subtitle. This is the text that will show up as subtitles on the screen.
The last line is an empty line. This line has to be empty; it cannot contain any characters or even spaces.
How to create an SRT file?
You can download one from our editor in the Subtitles > Options tab.
Create a new text file.
Add the subtitles to the file in the format described above.
Use the "Save as..." option to select where you want to save the file.
If you are using a basic text editor, change the ".txt" end of the file name to ".srt" and save the file.
If you are using a more advanced text editor, you could see if you can save the file in an SRT format.
Having issue importing the SRT file to other sites?
We allow users to set up the subtitles as they want, but this can cause issues on other sites in a few cases. Here are a few common mistakes that can cause errors when importing the SRT file into editors.
When you import the file and no subtitles show up, that means there are some formatting issues with how the subtitles are structured in the file, or there is an error with the very first subtitle.
If only a part of the file shows up and no subtitle appears after a certain point, then open the file to check the format of the file around the last subtitle that shows up. Most probably, the issue is with the very next subtitle.
Keep a lookout for these common mistakes:
A subtitle cannot start and end at the same time. The start and end timestamps cannot be the same like here: "00:00:04,520 --> 00:00:04,520"
The subtitles cannot contain empty lines. When the text is typed into the subtitle, it cannot contain empty lines like here:
There cannot be empty spaces on the new lines between subtitles. The new lines between the two subtitles have to be completely empty. The file on the left side is correct, while the file on the right side will produce errors.
