Subtitles

A video can have subtitle tracks in several languages. Viewers turn them on with the Subtitles button of the player.

Files that Kitset reads

Kitset reads WebVTT (.vtt) and SubRip (.srt) files. It converts a SubRip file to WebVTT, because players do not read SubRip.

Kitset does not read subtitles that are inside a video file. Export them from your editor as a separate file.

Add subtitles when you publish

• Drop the subtitle files together with the video, on the Library or on the Upload window.
• Or drop them on the confirm screen, or click Add Subtitles… there.

Each file has a language menu. Kitset reads the first choice from the name of the file, so summer-launch.fr.srt starts as French. The track gets the name of its language.

If Kitset cannot read a file, the confirm screen tells why, and the file is not added. So a publish never loses a subtitle file without a message.

A bulk upload cannot add subtitles. Add them in the edit window after the run.

Change the subtitles of a published video

Open the edit window of the video. The Subtitles section lists its tracks.

• Replace… chooses a new file for a track. The track keeps its place in the menu of the player. Keep Current cancels the replacement.
• Remove removes a track. The track stays in the list with a line through its name until you save. Keep cancels the removal.
• Add Subtitles… adds a track.

Click Save. The video does not encode again, so a save takes a few seconds.

A person who has the page open gets the new subtitles when they load the page again. A browser can keep the old list of tracks for up to 5 minutes.

When you replace the file of an auto-generated track, the name of the track loses “(auto-generated)”, because a person chose the file.

Subtitles and a replacement of the video

When you replace a video, its current subtitles stay, unless you remove them. Kitset warns when the new video has a different duration, because the cues may no longer match.

Subtitles from Vimeo

A Vimeo sync imports the subtitle tracks of each video. Vimeo can also make subtitles from the sound of a video. Kitset imports these auto-generated tracks only when you turn on Import Auto-Generated Subtitles.

What viewers see

• The control bar has a Subtitles button when the video has a track. The subtitles stay off until the viewer chooses a track.
• The menu shows the name of each track, for example “English” or “English (auto-generated)”.
• The overflow menu of the player has the style of the subtitles. Each viewer can change the size and the colours of the text there.
• The text is white, in the text font of your site, on a rounded dark background.

If you changed the control bar in Site Settings ▸ Player, include Subtitles or Subtitle settings in a list, else viewers cannot turn the subtitles on. See Controls.