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Rajiv Dalvi
Participating Frequently
October 1, 2021
Answered

Premiere Pro Captions

  • October 1, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 2603 views

Can Premiere Pro software export coding closed captions.

 

Like the audience of the video can choose to turn on/off the captions according to their wish.

 

Does Premiere helps to export the videos like this or is it completely based on video player where the videos will be uploaded.

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Correct answer Stan Jones

Hey Stan,

 

Thanks for the help.

I can only see burn in export setting no Sidecar option.

 

Is it because the captions are in open captions format.

I did not made any changes to caption format no text font changes or anything else.


Well, my apologies. And thank you for persisting and continuing to tell me the export as sidecar is not there in the Export -> Media dialogue.

 

I checked my notes and realize now that that option for Open Captions was not added until the 2020 version.

 

I just checked in 2019 (I do not have 2018 installed any longer). In that version, and I believe 2018 also, you can export Open Captions to a sidecar by selecting the SEQUENCE in the PROJECT PANEL and then File -> Export -> Captions. The timecodes should then match what you have in the sequence.

 

Let us know.

 

Stan

 

3 replies

Stan Jones
Community Expert
Stan JonesCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 2, 2021

As Caroline has pointed out, you are working in a PR version before PR 2021/version 15. Generally, you want to finish your project in the version you are using, unless you are clear on what changes you may run into. The caption workflow changed substantially in PR 2021. Here's the help file for the old caption workflow, set to the Export section:

 

https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/using/old-captions-workflow.html#Exportcaptions

 

But the options for export of captions has not changed from what Sumeet listed. You have the options for burning in (canot turn off), sidecar file (used by Youtube and others and can be turned on and off by the viewer), and embed (used by broadcasters for viewing closed captions on TVs).

 

You recognize that you do not want to burn in. You have an "Open Caption" stream, which is not a "closed caption" so it cannot be embedded. And I don't think you want to embed anyway. Can you confirm that your target audience will be viewing on Youtube or similar? I think you want a sidecar file.

 

I see no reason that you are seeing only burn in as an export option. You should see at least burn in and sidecar. There are other ways to export the sidecar file if you are not seeing it.

 

You describe using the Effect Controls to position the captions lower on the screen. The sidecar file will not carry this information. And the choices viewers make can override many of your settings anyway. (In the PR 2021 version, you are able to position the captions a little lower than before - 95% instead of 90%, but you can no longer apply Effect Controls to them. But, as I say, the srt sidecar will probably not carry this information.)

 

If you are applying "styles" to your captions - e.g. font color or positioning on the screen - be aware that even when you export srt from PR "with styling," the viewing platform may not recognize them. See, for example, Youtube help:

https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2734698?hl=en#zippy=%2Cbasic-file-formats%2Cadvanced-file-formats%2Cbroadcast-file-formats-tv-and-movies

 

There are other sidecar options you can export from PR, some that will carry the types of information that Youtube will support.

 

The easiest way to get the project out the door is to use Captions without styling or other adjustments that can be exported using the srt option. Let us know how it goes.

 

Stan

 

 

R
Rajiv DalviAuthor
Participating Frequently
October 2, 2021

Thank you so much for the information.

Should I try Premiere Pro CC 2021 version and then export my files.

 

I want sidecar file to export with my video.

Stan Jones
Community Expert
Stan JonesCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 2, 2021

First, just export from PR 2018. There is no reason you shouldn't be able to. Try the srt export. Are you certain that you do not see sidecar as an option when you click on the dropdown that says "burn in" currently? If not, I'll describe another method for the export.

 

And if you can finish this project, you limit any issues if there is a PR 2021 bug that is a problem on your system.

 

Second, when you do update, be sure to keep PR 2018. If you allow the update to remove it, you may be unable to reinstall it. There are many improvements, so you just definitely give it a try.

 

Stan

 

caroline_edits
Community Manager
caroline_editsCommunity Manager
Community Manager
October 1, 2021

Hey Rajiv!

Sumeet's right, there are a few different ways to do this. We also have this video on our Youtube channel that explains the different ways to export captions. If you want to export your captions in a way where people can toggle them on and off, you'd need an .SRT file. 

 

Hope this helps!

R
Rajiv DalviAuthor
Participating Frequently
October 1, 2021

Hey Caroline,

Thank you so much for the video link this will surely help me.

 

I do have .SRT files for all the episodes/videos but when I am rendering the final export there are no options as Sidecar file or Embedded.

 

There is only one option burn captions into video which you can see in attachment.

 

caroline_edits
Community Manager
caroline_editsCommunity Manager
Community Manager
October 1, 2021

I wonder if you have any customizations made to your captions styles? Did you stylize the text of the captions with the Essential Graphics panel? .SRT files have to follow strict guidelines on what fonts and styles it can use. Try changing your text to something boring like Times New Roman and remove any other customizations. 

 

Thank you for the screenshot so I can tell what you mean! I do not actually see a captions track in your timeline. Could you minimize the export settings window and send a screenshot of your timeline? 

 

Thanks! Let us know. 

    S
    Community Manager
    Sumeet_Kumar_ChoubeyCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    October 1, 2021

    Hi Rajiv Dalvi,

     

    Premiere Pro can export captions in the following ways:

    • Burned in
    • Sidecar file
    • Embedded 

    The last two options will allow users to enable/disable captions during the playback. To know more about this, please refer to this link. Hope it helps. Let us know if you have any questions.

     

    Thanks,

    Sumeet

    R
    Rajiv DalviAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    October 1, 2021

    Thanks a lot Sumeet.

     

    Your reply will surely help.

    Could you Please let me know if the video captions are open captions can we get it exported in Sidecar file and Embedded because when I am exporting the video file with caption there is only one render setting in captions I can see.

     

    Please refer to the attachment.

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