How to Attach Subtitles to a Movie

No matter what language you speak, everyone enjoys watching movies. The problem is that most movies do not have the budget to afford translation dubs in multiple languages, meaning you need subtitles in your language to understand them. Whether you want to add subtitles to your favorite films, or you need to manually subtitle a movie by translating it, you can follow this guide to learn how.

This article is about adding subtitles to a movie that doesn't have them. If you need to learn to turn subtitles on while watching a movie on Netflix, click here.

Quick Steps to Add Subtitles to a Film

Download the film to your computer and put the file in its own folder.
Search for and download a .SRT file of subtitles for the film in your language.
Put the .SRT file in the same folder. Give it the same file name as the movie file.
Play the movie in a video player like VLC Media Player that will link the files.

Section 1 of 5:

Adding Subtitles to a Movie

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1
Find the movie you want to subtitle and put it in its own folder. Find the movie file on your computer in Finder or Windows Explorer. More likely than not it will be a .mov, .avi, or .mp4 file. You do not need to adjust the movie file at all. Simply place it in its own folder, unless it’s already in one.
- You need the movie file in a folder by itself, with the .SRT file you will download, for your video player to add the subtitles.
- You cannot add subtitles to a DVD without advanced software. This method works for movie files you have on your computer because you purchased or downloaded them.
2
Find the subtitles you want and download the .SRT file. Search online for "Your Movie + Language + Subtitles" to find the right file. For example, if you want Indonesian subtitles for X-Men: First Class, you might search for "X-Men: First Class Indonesian Subtitles." You can find .SRT files on websites such as OpenSubtitles or SubSource.
- Subtitle files will usually end in the extension .SRT, and are simply the words and the times that each title needs to play during the movie. Some older subtitle files might end in the extension .SUB.
- Make sure you avoid any pop-ups and only download .SRT or .SUB files. If you feel unsafe on a site, leave and find another.
- These files are small and not likely to contain viruses.^{[1]
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If the movie is BestMovieEver.AVI, your subtitle needs to be written as BestMovieEver.SRT. Find you newly downloaded .SRT or .SUB file wherever you put it (often in the "Downloads" folder) and make sure you rename appropriately. The .SRT file name must be the same name as the movie for the subtitles to work.^{[2]
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4
Put the .SRT file in the folder with the movie. Make a new, dedicated folder for your movie if there isn't one already. Place the .SRT file in the same folder as your movie. This will automatically link them in most video players.^{[3]
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- The easiest video player to use is the free VLC player, which handles most file formats.

Section 2 of 5:

Creating Your Own Subtitles (Three Ways)

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1
Use a subtitle creation website to efficiently subtitle a movie file. Sites like Amara and Clideo let you see the movie while you write out the subtitles, eventually spitting out an .SRT file that fits with your movie. Clideo requires a paid subscription. While all subtitling sites work differently, they all follow a similar format:
- Choose when the subtitle starts.
- Write the subtitle out.
- Choose when the subtitle disappears.
- Repeat across the movie, marking "Complete" when finished.
- Download the .SRT file and place it in the same folder as your movie.
2
Create your own subtitles by hand using Notepad. You can write out subtitles by hand if you want, although the process is greatly expedited by a program. To do so, open up a Text editor like Windows’ Notepad or Apple's TextEdit (both free and pre-installed), and make sure you know the proper format for a subtitle.
- Before beginning, click "Save As" and title it "YourMovie.SRT" replacing YourMovie with the movie file name.
- Set the encoding to "ANSI" for English subtitles and "UTF-8" for Non-English.^{[4]
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  Go to source} Then write out your titles. Each of the following parts goes on its own line, so hit "enter" after each one:
  - The number of a subtitle. 1 would be the first title, 2 the second, etc.
  - The duration of the subtitle. This is written in the format hours:minutes:seconds:milliseconds --> hours:minutes:seconds:milliseconds
  - Example: 00:01:20:003 --> 00:01:27:592
  - The text of the subtitle: This is simply what the title will say.
  - A blank line. Leave one blank line before the number of the next title.
3
Create subtitles in a video editor to avoid dealing with .SRT files. This method lets you see the titles as you add them and adjust their placement, color, and style manually. Open your movie file in your favorite video editor, such as Premier, iMovie, or Windows Movie Maker, and pull the film into your timeline (the work section). From here, click on your programs "Titles" menu and choose a style you like. Write out your subtitle, drag it on top of the appropriate section of the film, and repeat.^{[5]
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- You can right-click on a subtitle and copy and paste it to keep the same settings on every subtitle, saving you time.
- The drawback to this format is that the movie will need to be saved as a separate file and you will not be able to turn the subtitles off. They will now be part of the movie.
4
Be thoughtful when creating translated subtitles. As anyone who has ever used Google Translate can tell you, translations are as much an art form as a science. If you're subtitling the scene itself into the original or a new language, there are several considerations you need to come up with for each line:
- What is the goal of the dialogue? Regardless of the words they use, what feeling is the character trying to get across? This is your guiding principle when translating.
- How can you fit the subtitled words within the time the character is speaking? Some writers will display a few lines of dialogue at once, starting a little early and ending late to give viewers a chance to read everything.
- How do you handle slang and figures of speech? Look up the meaning of foreign expressions and slang. They often do not translate well, so you'll have to substitute slang or figurative language from your native language.^{[6]
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Section 3 of 5:

Adding Subtitles to YouTube Movie Uploads

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Add an .SRT file when uploading a movie to YouTube to add subtitles. Click “Captions” while you upload. Then, click "Add a Caption Track." Find and select your .SRT file. Make sure that you have "Caption Track" enabled and not "Transcript Track." Click the "CC" button when watching your video to enable captions.
- You cannot upload a full movie to YouTube (that you did not create) unless it’s in the public domain. Otherwise, you’re likely violating copyright law and the video will be removed by YouTube or the copyright holder.^{[7]
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Section 4 of 5:

Generating Subtitles for Online Movies

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Use Chrome’s Live Caption to get auto-generated subtitles. Say you are watching a movie on YouTube or another website that doesn’t have subtitles, or has subtitles in an unfamiliar language. Open the Google Chrome browser and go to the site with the movie. Have the Live Caption feature enabled for your desired language. Matching or translated subtitles will appear on the screen as you watch.^{[8]
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- To enable Live Captions, select the three dots in the upper-right corner of Chrome. Select Settings, then Accessibility. Toggle Live Caption on and click Add languages to add languages besides English. Select the down arrow to set your preferred language.
- There are extensions that claim to add subtitles to a movie automatically, but these can be fake or contain viruses. Chrome’s Live Caption feature is a safe, free option to generate subtitles in various languages when watching movies online.

Section 5 of 5:

Can you add subtitles to a DVD?

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You can only add subtitles to movies saved on your computer. If your current DVD does not have certain subtitles, found under the "Settings" or "Language" headers on the DVD menu, you will not be able to add them without advanced software and equipment. DVDs are protected and cannot be re-written, and your DVD player will not be able to add new languages.
- If you're watching on a DVD player, try the “titles” or “subtitle” button on your DVD player's remote to activate subtitles.
- When playing a DVD using a computer, you will need to use the DVD menu to toggle subtitles.

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I am writing subtitles to be added to a full-length movie. How should I provide them to the movie editors: as document in paragraphs, or in "chunks" equivalent to 70 characters or so per frame?

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I'd choose chunks, it prevents it from overrunning and collapsing the file (if you decide to compress it). Or you could ask the editors how they want them.

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Does this work even if I change the movie name?

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No, it doesn't work still.

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Should I make a comic movie?

Joshua Temple

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Whatever you want to do, do it. Don't let anything stop you from what you want.

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When you search for the SRT. file, you must select one that is the same name as the movie. If it is not, simply change it after downloading.

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