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tzvetanp51427916
Known Participant
October 29, 2021
Question

How to import Caption txt file in Premiere Pro 2022

Hi there,

I have a problem with a txt file that I exported from Premiere 2022 and then I translated it.  Premiere did the transcript from the video, then Premiere did the captions for me.  I then exported it in txt to translate it, but I cannot import it back, and it cannot be recognized as captions.  I've tried different online sites to convert it, but all of them give errors.  I even tried Youtube.

After comparing the txt file with a good srt file, I see a lot of differences.  The time is rendered different, the txt doesn't have numbers, and the txt has no arrows.  Is there any way to fix this? or to make Premiere recognize this and convert it into captions? 

I've spent hours translating that txt file, only to realize it doesn't work.  It's soo frustrating.

Can anyone please help me?

    3 commentaires

    R
    rootdm1
    Participant
    May 13, 2024

    I also had an issue when trying to export the captions to txt and then couldn't import them back in the same format because it only accepts srt. This Python script might help you.
    https://github.com/root-dm/premiere-captions-to-srt-converter

    Richard van den Boogaard
    Community Expert
    Richard van den BoogaardCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 21, 2022

    I can second that importing text files are not made easy inside PPro.

     

    Sometimes, I get send over a Word document with all the transcribed captions. Even if I strip out all the original language lines and just keep the destination subtitle lines (in my case Dutch > English), there is no easy way to import this into PPro. Very frustrating.

     

    PPro does not know how to handle Word, Word XML or even plain TXT files.

     

    Instead of having to copy/paste over each individual line, I just wish there was a way to import said lines, to use as a starting point for creating your subtitle track.

      M
      Michael Grenadier
      Legend
      March 21, 2022

      I don't think you can blame premiere... bwdik.  caption/subtitle formats are complicated beasts.  There are a few apps and websites that will convert from and to many formats and make this process much easier.  The best I've found is SubtitleEdit which I think has a webbased version and a freestanding windows app which is what I've been using.  Stan Jones is the expert on this board with all things caption/subtitle related.  Hopefully he can put in his two cents.    Post back with any further questions.  Stan in particular was an enormous help to me while trying to figure out the workflow on a project that I hoped would be done about 6 months ago... no such luck.

        Richard van den Boogaard
        Community Expert
        Richard van den BoogaardCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        March 22, 2022

        Hi,

         

        Have you even tried importing a plain text file into PPro? It simply doesn't work! You get a generic importer error. What is the purpose of the "Import Captions from File" option if it only handles properly encoded SRT files? Shouldn't it be called "Import Captions from SRT"?

          Stan Jones
          Community Expert
          Stan JonesCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          October 29, 2021

          See my  post here and if you're on Mac @Andreas Kiel's post right after:

          https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-discussions/bulk-subtitle-import-new-2021-15-text-workflow/m-p/11943415#M339234

           

          Stan

           

            T
            tzvetanp51427916Auteur
            Known Participant
            October 29, 2021

            Hi Stan,

            Thank you for your reply.  The problem is that my txt file has already timing... So the program adds another timer on top which doesn't match the time it was before...

            Any other solution?

             

            Stan Jones
            Community Expert
            Stan JonesCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            October 29, 2021

            Yes, I see. The better method would have been to export the captions as .srt, then the timecode formatting would have been okay.

             

            But you can fix this. Your "edited" version, like the export, has 3 problems to be in the srt format. 1) There is no subtitle number (the 1, 2, 3, 4 above). 2) There is only a dash, not a double dash plus arrow. 3) The timecode has frames, not milliseconds.

             

            The fix is in two parts.

             

            First, fix the dash. In a text program (not word processing; invisible characters will be a problem), replace the "dash" with "dash dash arrow." "Save as" .txt.

             

            Then open that txt file in the free Subtitle Edit (other captioning programs may work) which, on importing the txt file as if it is an srt, adds the caption number and reformats as milliseconds.

             

            Then "save as" srt and import that to PR.

             

            I did test whether the "dash replaced by arrow" file could be imported to PR directly. A .txt file cannot be imported as captions. The "Import captions from file" dialogue says .txt files are allowed, but does not show them.  And if you change the extension to .srt, PR says there's a header error.

             

            Let us know if this does not work and we'll troubleshoot.

             

            Stan

              

             

             

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