How to Add Subtitles in DaVinci Resolve — Free and Studio

What each edition does with subtitles

As checked against Blackmagic's documentation and current tutorials on 5 October 2026:

Create Subtitles from Audio

Studio only (Timeline → AI Tools); not available in the free edition

Import an SRT or VTT

Free and Studio

Type and time subtitles by hand

Free and Studio

Style font, size, background and position

Free and Studio, in the Inspector

Export as SRT or WebVTT, or burn in

Free and Studio, on the Deliver page

Translate subtitles into another language

Neither edition

If you're on the free edition and can't find Create Subtitles from Audio, it isn't hidden; it isn't there.

Step 1: make the SRT from the finished edit

Subtitles have to match the cut, so make them from the final edit, not the raw clips. Export the timeline from the Deliver page (a quick low-resolution render or an audio-only export is enough), then upload that file to the SRT generator. Keep the spoken language selected for same-language subtitles. The video stays on your computer; only its audio is sent for transcription. Download the SRT; a VTT and a timestamped transcript come with it. If the edit changes later, make a new SRT rather than nudging hundreds of cues.

Step 2: import the SRT into the Media Pool

On the Edit page choose File → Import → Subtitle, or right-click an empty area of the Media Pool and choose Import Subtitle. The SRT arrives as a subtitle clip in the Media Pool, not on the timeline, marked with a subtitle badge.

Step 3: place it on the timeline, and fix the one-hour offset

Drag the subtitle clip into the empty grey area above your video tracks; Resolve creates a subtitle track and splits the file into individual cues. Line the first cue up with the start of the programme.

Resolve timelines start at 01:00:00:00 by default, while an SRT made from an exported file starts at 00:00:00,000. If you use Insert Selected Subtitles to Timeline Using Timecode, the cues land an hour after the timeline start, past the end of most edits. Two fixes: drag-place the clip at the first frame instead, or change the timeline's starting timecode to 00:00:00:00 before inserting by timecode.

Step 4: style the subtitles

Select the subtitle track header to style every cue at once in the Inspector: font, size, colour, background box and position. The SRT carries no styling, only text and timing, so all of the look comes from here. Generated cues follow the rhythm of speech; double-click a long cue to break it into two lines, or split it in two at a natural pause. Subtitle formatting conventions covers line breaks and placement.

Step 5: deliver with or without burned-in text

On the Deliver page, open Subtitle Settings and tick Export Subtitle. Burn into Video puts the text in the picture, which suits social clips. Exporting as a separate file gives an SRT or WebVTT for YouTube or a website, where viewers switch captions on and off. Embedded or sidecar subtitles explains the trade-offs.

Subtitles in other languages

Resolve won't translate the track, but the same exported file can produce translated SRTs: upload it again with Spanish, French, Japanese or another supported language as the target and download a translated SRT for each. In Resolve, import each file, put each on its own subtitle track, and rename the track header after its language so you can tell them apart. Export one sidecar file per language for YouTube, or enable one track at a time when burning in a language version. For Arabic and Hebrew tracks, choose a font with those letters and check the preview for punctuation at the wrong end of lines. Translated subtitles explains how translated cues are timed.

When subtitles don't appear

• Missing from the render: Export Subtitle wasn't ticked in Subtitle Settings, or the subtitle track was disabled.
• Boxes instead of letters: the chosen font lacks those characters; pick a font that covers the script.
• Subtitles drift later in the video: the edit changed after the SRT was made. Generate a new one from the current export.
• Import fails: the file isn't valid SRT or isn't UTF-8. SRT file not working lists the usual causes.

What it costs

Subtitles cost 1 credit per minute with a 5-credit minimum per file, and signing in with Google gives 100 free credits. Top-ups are charged in Indian rupees at the day's exchange rate through Cashfree Payments (UPI, cards or netbanking), about ₹96 for 1,000 credits.

Using the tool on this page

• The spoken language is detected automatically; you select the output language — the spoken language itself for an untranslated transcript, or another language for a translation. Files can be up to 2 hours long.
• Only the audio is sent for processing — the video stays on your device — and audio and text are deleted within 30 minutes of delivery (how files are protected).
• You can download a timestamped transcript, subtitles (SRT and VTT) and plain text. Every output, step and limit is explained on the subtitle generator page.