Cant change Open Captions In Point in Premiere CC

Report · Feb 06, 2018

Hi there,

I made open captions for an 8 minute client video and then the client told me that they want to add the caption file as a separate element later on Youtube, so that the viewer can choose whether to turn it on or not. Which is totally cool except the way you export a caption is by isolating it and clicking File>Export.Captions... So when I export the caption it thinks the start point is the start of the caption itself, not the start of the actual video, so its impossible to get the caption to sync with the video.

No mater how many times I try, I cant seem to get the captions to stay in the same spot, yet have the caption track start at 00:00 of the video. Ive tried changing computers, workspaces, and duplicating the caption file. Nothing seems to work. Help!

Premiere Pro CC

Report · Feb 05, 2019

I have exactly the same issue. Usually I always start the caption at the beginning but now the subtitling is done (shorter than yours hopefully) and I can't move it. In fact I can move it to the beginning of course, but then it's no longer synch. I can't believe it's not possible to adjust this without losing everything

Report · Feb 05, 2019

JL, what specific dot version of PR are you using?

So, yes, you can move the caption stream on the timeline, but that does not change the timecode of the captions, which are set by the caption stream in the caption panel, and have no relationship to the timeline's timecode.

Are you saying that YouTube takes a subtitle file, and if caption 1 starts at 5 seconds, it does not import it that way? Or what is the problem?

I'll try to test this later, but want to understand what you are actually doing.

Report · Feb 05, 2019

Thanks for this quick reply. I am using version CC 2019.

The problem is I have done the job not noticing the caption file wasn't starting at 00:00

Apparently it's not possible to move the subtitles all together even if it's possible to select all of them ..

Lot of people complaining about this, here for example: Re: How to insert caption item / move multiple caption items?

Report · Feb 05, 2019

Got it. Well, sorta. FYI, I'm not going to proofread this again; I hope I didn't get something backwards!

YouTube Caption files (I guess really any caption files) do not start at zero, unless there is a caption that starts at frame one. If the first caption should appear at exactly 5 seconds, the captions edited in and exported by YouTube will have caption one starting at 00:00:05:00. But it is true that if you create an Open Caption stream and drag it to the timeline so that the first caption is at 5 seconds, the caption stream says it is at zero. And if you add a bunch of captions and then realize this, there is no way to move them over.

The thread you link to is regarding Closed Captions. The 2 workarounds described there work for Closed Captions because you can export a sidecar file (including .srt) from the timeline (File -> Export -> Media and in the Caption tab set to sidecar) and the timecodes come from the timeline.

This does not work for Open Captions, because the single caption stream must be exported from the Project Panel (File -> Captions) and the timecode comes from the caption stream itself. And that is also why it is such a problem to do what you did.

One workaround is to export the stream from PR as srt (Select stream in Project Panel -> File -> Captions), and open in SubtitleEdit. In the "List View," select the first line. Right click, "Show selected lines earlier/later …." From your PR timeline, calculate the amount of adjustment you need. For example, in my example, the time in the .srt is zero; I need it to be 5 seconds. So in the dialogue that pops up in SE, click "all lines," and in the timecode box set it to 00:00:05:000, and click "Show later." All timecodes are changed by that interval.

Save as srt and see if the format works for YouTube. (PR exports are not always correct, and you may need to edit or save as something else.)

Report · Feb 06, 2019

Thanks Stan that will help a lot! I need to learn more about the difference between open vs closed captions.

Have a nice day.

Report · Feb 06, 2019

Let us know if that works.

An important difference, for PR in particular, is that Closed Captions are ultimately controlled by the user application (e.g. TV), which often overrides the settings you might use in PR. Accordingly, there are fewer choices for font color for example. Open Captions are, I think, intended in PR for burn in, so the sky's the limit on fonts, colors, etc., even if they don't always work as expected!

Any of the PR caption options (Closed 608/708, teletype, etc) can be converted to Open Captions in PR, but Open Captions cannot be converted to anything.

It is important to know from the beginning of a project what your caption end uses will be. And PR is improved from a few years ago, but often will not get the job done. Other applications (often free, like SubtitleEdit) or paid captioning services may save a lot of grief.

Report · Nov 25, 2019

This helped me so much! Export sidecar file is a blessign when the timecodes have been moved. 🙂

Report · May 28, 2019

I found this 'unanswered" post because I was having the same issue. And now I am responding because I found a much much simpler solution. I have my Open Captions on my timeline, in the spot I want it, starting with the first caption 13 seconds after the start of the video itself. While you've highlighted the first caption and have your caption edit window open, there should be a button at the bottom that says Export Settings, which I've circled in the attached screencap. Click on that and it'll open a dialogue box where you can edit the Timecode Status > Start of Program (also circled). In that space fill in the same timecode of where on your timeline your caption file starts on the video sequence.

Export as Open Captions

When you add this to your youtube video, the captions will start at the timecode you specified.

Easy Peasy

Report · Jan 22, 2021

it's not worked