How to Import SRT Captions into Final Cut Pro

How captions work in Final Cut Pro

Captions in Final Cut Pro are connected clips that sit above the primary storyline and move with the clips they are attached to. Each caption belongs to a caption role that records its format and language, for example SRT English or SRT Spanish. Roles let you show one language at a time, export each separately and keep several languages in a single project.

That attachment is useful: when you trim or move a clip after importing, its captions move with it. It doesn't fix subtitles generated from an older cut, though. If the cut changed between making the SRT and importing it, regenerate from the final export. What an SRT file is explains the cue structure Final Cut reads.

Import the SRT

1. Open the project in the timeline.
2. Choose File > Import > Captions and select the .srt file.
3. In the import options, check the role and language Final Cut assigns, and where the captions will start. If your project starts at a non-zero timecode, set the start so the first cue lines up with the first spoken word.
4. Click Import. Captions appear above the storyline as purple caption clips.
5. Use the timeline index's Roles pane to show or hide caption roles and confirm the language.

Play the start, middle and end. Matching text at the start but not at the end means the SRT came from a different edit or frame rate; see syncing subtitles with video for the difference between an offset and a drift.

Edit and adjust

Double-click a caption to edit its text in the viewer or in the caption editor, and use the Captions inspector to adjust timing and formatting. Drag caption edges in the timeline to change when a line appears and disappears. The subtitle readability guide covers minimum durations and characters per second.

Automatic subtitles often arrive as a single long line per cue. Split them at natural pauses: a cue of more than about two lines' worth of text is hard to read in the time it is on screen. Final Cut's find and replace helps with repeated misspellings of a name across hundreds of captions.

Convert caption formats

Final Cut supports more than one caption format, and some destinations ask for a specific one. You can duplicate captions to another format (Final Cut's caption menu offers duplicating to a new format or language), then adjust any lines the new format handles differently. Broadcast formats such as CEA-608 have strict line and character limits, so conversion from SRT may flag lines that are too long. The explainer on CEA-608 and 708 covers those rules.

Export captions with the video or as a file

There are three common outcomes:

Caption file

Export Captions writes a separate file for the selected role, ready to upload to a platform alongside the video.

Embedded in the share

Some share destinations can include caption roles as tracks in the exported file, depending on format.

Burned in

In the share settings' Roles tab, choose to burn a caption role into the video. Everyone sees it, and it can't be turned off.

Upload a separate file where the platform supports captions, because you can fix a typo later without re-exporting the video. Burn in for feeds where viewers scroll on mute and caption files aren't accepted.

Where mydubly fits, and the limits to plan for

mydubly generates the SRT and VTT that Final Cut imports. Upload the final export to the subtitle generator and choose the spoken language, or another of its 21 languages for translated subtitles. Each run returns one language, so run the file again for each extra caption role. Expect to:

• Split long single-line cues.
• Add speaker names and sound descriptions yourself if you need captions for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers; the files don't include them.
• Proofread names, numbers and technical terms, as with any automatic transcript.

Recent versions of Final Cut can also create captions from speech. Compare its result with an imported file on the same clip, especially for languages other than English, and keep whichever needs less correction.

Mistakes that cost time

• Importing subtitles made before the final trim. Captions attached to clips survive later edits, but they can't fix a file that was wrong when it arrived. Lock the cut, export, then make the subtitles.
• Editing typos only in Final Cut. If you'll need the file again for a platform upload or a translation, export the corrected captions too, so the fixed version isn't trapped inside the library.
• Choosing a broadcast format by default. Formats such as CEA-608 limit line length and characters, which forces awkward breaks. Use SRT or iTT unless a broadcaster asks for something else.
• Burning in a language you might need to switch. A burned-in role can't be turned off; for a video that plays in several markets, export one clean master and separate caption files. Embedded versus sidecar subtitles compares the options.
• Forgetting dubbed versions. If you also have a translated voice track, check that the captions you ship match the language the viewer hears; editing dubbed audio in a video editor covers laying a translated track into the same project, and subtitles versus dubbing helps decide which version a market needs.

Fixing text across many captions

Long videos produce hundreds of captions, so fix patterns rather than single lines. Search for every speaker's name, brand terms and numbers first; recognition errors repeat, and one fix covers dozens of cues. Read the captions as a list without playing the video to catch grammar, then play at normal speed to catch timing. Proofreading an AI transcript describes a workflow that applies equally to captions.