Help! My file won't open. How do I use this?
Don't panic. This is totally normal. The end product for captions is what is known as a sidecar file. It's a versatile, text-based file that you then add to your video by uploading the caption file to the online platform where your video is hosted. Viewers can toggle these captions on or off.
For social media, you can think of this as a two-step process. First, you upload your video to a site such as Facebook or YouTube, then you upload your Rev caption file.
Keep in mind that viewers can toggle closed captions on or off, which is considered best practice in the media industry.
If you need your captions file merged into your video, you can add burned-in captions or subtitles to receive an MP4 video with the captions on the video.
Some Helpful Notes
Languages with characters (Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, etc.) are incompatible with the following file formats: Cheetah .cap, MacCaption .mcc, and Scenarist .scc.
If your subtitle file isn't being accepted and you're told that the subtitles drift slowly out of sync, try using the NDF version of the .scc file. This will often correct the issue. You can also use the .srt file.
If your file is in a frame rate other than 29.97 and your subtitles are out of sync, you can try downloading your subtitle file in an alternate frame rate. We offer both our .mcc and .stl formats in multiple frame rates, and the .srt format is based on runtime rather than frame rate.
For Facebook, ensure you're using the Facebook ready SubRip rather than the regular .srt. A standard .srt file will not work with Facebook due to their file naming requirements.
If you're working with a high-definition video, we recommend using the .mcc file format if possible since this is specifically designed for high-res videos.
Accepted Formats
When you order global subtitles or closed captions with Rev, all of our available formats are included for free. Below is a compilation of major platforms and file formats they accept.
| Facebook ready SubRip (.srt) | |
| YouTube | SubRip (.srt), Cheetah .CAP (.cap), WebVTT (.vtt), Timed Text (.ttml) |
| Vimeo | WebVTT (.vtt), SubRip (.srt), Timed Text (.ttml), Scenarist (.scc) |
| Amazon | SubRip (.srt), Timed Text (.ttml), Scenarist (.scc) |
| Netflix | Timed Text (.ttml), DXFP (.dxfp) |
| Adobe (Premiere Pro) |
Scenarist (.scc), MacCaption (.mcc), Timed Text (.ttml) |
| Apple (Final Cut Pro) |
Scenarist (.scc) |
Uploading Your Files To Social Media
Once your order is complete, you can upload your file to social media. Click on any of the platforms below for instructions on adding your file.
First and foremost, be sure you've downloaded the correct caption file format since Facebook requires that all caption files follow specific naming conventions. When you download the Facebook ready SubRip (.srt), we automatically format the file to meet these requirements.
If you accidentally ordered another format, no worries. We never charge you to download your file in an alternate format.
Upload your video to Facebook if you haven't already, and follow the steps in the link below to add the captions/subtitles file:
- Upload to a Facebook page
- Upload to a personal profile
The easiest way to get your captions added to a YouTube video is through our seamless YouTube integration.
If you've already placed an order or prefer not to use the integration, you can upload your file to your video on YouTube following the steps under Upload a File in this article.
Just as we do with YouTube, we offer a Vimeo integration that makes adding captions as smooth as butter.
If you've already placed an order or prefer not to use the integration, you can upload your file to your video on Vimeo following the steps in this article.
Navigate to the media page for the video you’d like captions for (the page where you can play the video in your Wistia account) and select Customize.
From the Customize panel, scroll down until you see the Captions option and toggle it on.
Once you toggle captions on, you will see the option to Upload a caption file. Select the caption file you downloaded from Rev and upload it.
NOTE: You may need to scroll up to see this.
You will be able to choose between having captions ON or OFF by default.
Scroll back down, click Save, and you're all set! Your captions are now on your video.
Unlike other social media platforms, Instagram does not support sidecar caption files. The good news is you can add burned-in captions/subtitles to your order to receive a video with your captions/subtitles burned-in to the video and then upload that video to Instagram.
Unlike other social media platforms, TikTok does not support sidecar caption files. The good news is you can add burned-in captions/subtitles to your order to receive a video with your captions/subtitles burned-in to the video and then upload that video to TikTok.
You can upload your SRT file from Rev to your video on X by following the steps in this article.