Subtitles are a simple and extremely effective technique to make your video material more accessible to a larger audience, particularly with the technological tools available today. It is no longer unattainable for individuals with limited time and resources.
Why employ subtitling?
First, multilingual subtitle choices aid individuals who do not speak the native language of the audio. This might be crucial when attempting to contact individuals in different geographic regions. It is also perfect for material that you want to be shared, as you cannot predict who your viewers will forward the video to.
Other beneficiaries of subtitles include:
- Community of the deaf and hard of hearing
- Those who view films without audio, whether by choice or need
Quick fact: Did you know? 92% of mobile users watch videos without sound, and 50% believe that subtitles are useful for this reason.
Additionally, viewers can use the subtitled text. If you are attempting to learn Spanish, for instance, watching a film with Spanish subtitles might be a useful tool and study assistance. YouTube allows users to download subtitles as text if the video’s producer has already added them to the video file.
How to save subtitles from YouTube as text files
There are several reasons why someone would wish to save the audio from a YouTube video as a text file. It is useful for offline watching, studying, taking notes, and conducting research. Here are the straightforward steps:
- Go to the YouTube video of your choosing. Especially if you’ve watched it previously, you could have it stored in your library. Check your History to view previously viewed videos, or search for the phrases that best describe them.
- Using the ‘CC’ button, ensure that the YouTube video has captions or subtitles. Not everyone will. However, the number of videos having this feature is increasing.
- Navigate to ‘Settings’ and choose ‘Subtitles/CC’ to view the available subtitle languages. You may be shocked to notice the many selections on a video, as well as the fact that some videos provide a variety of subtitles to enjoy.
- In the menu below the video, click the three dots next to “Save” for other options, and then pick “Open Transcript.”
- A transcript will show to the right of the video on the right side of the window.
Click the dropdown menu at the bottom of the transcript to choose your subtitle language.
(NOTE: These subtitles must previously be posted to the video for them to display on this menu.)
To enable or disable timestamps in the transcript, click the three dots at the top of the transcript. When returning to a movie to examine the scene that corresponds with a piece of text, timestamps are useful. This way, you won’t have to watch a complete video to identify the portion you need, and it’s also easy to refer people to a certain point in the movie and its accompanying text.
After selecting your preferred language and ensuring that the timestamps correspond to your selections, highlight the transcript. Beginning at the top, position the cursor before the first letter, then drag to the bottom of the transcript to pick it. On a PC, use Ctrl+C to copy everything.
Copy it into your word processor or notepad application. PC users can paste the complete transcript into their document by using Ctrl+V. If you require the text to match the formatting of an existing document, right-click the location in your document where you wish to insert the text, and then select the ‘Merge formatting’ option.
Adding captions to one’s own YouTube videos
These techniques can help you quickly obtain subtitles for the work of other artists, but what if you need subtitles for a video you created and published to YouTube? There are various advantages to creating your own subtitles, including:
- Greater precision than YouTube’s automatic transcripts
- Multiple language choices available
- Simple to develop and post
- Affordable
Using Rev’s subtitle services before you post your movie to YouTube is your best option, although you may definitely produce the text after it’s been uploaded on the platform.
To get Rev’s subtitles tools up and running, simply go to the Rev checkout page and pick the language(s) of your choosing. There are already more than 15 languages, including Polish, Japanese, and Czech. If your video is in a language other than English, you have the option to have it subtitled in English.
You may obtain an accurate transcript for already-created and-uploaded films by visiting the Rev transcription page and selecting between human and AI-generated text. Human-generated text is up to 90 percent correct, whereas AI-generated writing is up to 80 percent accurate. Choose the alternative that best matches your budget and schedule.
If the YouTube video is public, the URL may be pasted directly onto the Rev checkout page. There’s no need to upload the video itself. Rev’s teams will begin transcribing the audio from the YouTube video and provide a notification when the text file is complete. You may then use this file for your own purposes, or (if you own the video) you can post the transcript to the video’s website for a more accurate description than what YouTube creates automatically.
