What subtitle file format should I use?

Subtitle formats can seem pretty complicated. It may seem easiest to just choose whatever format is most popular or widely supported, instead of the one that’s just right for what you plan to do with the subtitles.

To help you make the best decision, we’ve compiled our recommendations for the best subtitle file formats to use based on your needs below, along with some great tips that will save time and prevent headaches.

Supported subtitle formats for import/export with the Amara subtitle editor:

• SRT
• SSA (SubStation Alpha)
• TTML (Timed Text Markup Language)
• SBV (YouTube format)
• DFXP (Distribution Format Exchange Profile)
• VTT (Web Video Text Track)
• TXT (untimed text transcript)

What are you planning to do with this video after subtitles are added?

• Display subtitles with the video online
• Display videos and subtitles with a media player
• Use subtitles in a video-editing tool

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Display subtitles with the video online:

Hosting Platform	Best Format	Info
YouTube	WebVTT	All your formatting will show on YouTube
Vimeo	WebVTT	All your formatting will show on Vimeo
Facebook	Unformatted SRT	Does not allow: Positioning, special characters, or text formatting. Make sure you don’t use any of those when making subtitles on Amara
Kaltura	DFXP	If you use a custom video player, make sure captions are enabled
Brightcove	WebVTT	All your formatting will show on Brightcove

If you’re using a different hosting site, check the support documentation for that site to see which subtitling formats they support.

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Display video and subtitles with a media player:

Media Player	Best Format	Info
VLC	Sub Station Alpha or WebVTT
Windows Media Player	SRT	Usually the only format supported on basic media players
Other common media players	SRT	Usually the only format supported on basic media players

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Use subtitles in a video-editing tool:

Editing Tool	Best Format
Final Cut Pro	ITT
Premiere Pro CC	SCC or a Final Cut Pro XML export
ffmpeg	Sub Station Alpha
MacCaption	WebVTT or ITT
Sony Vegas, Lightworks	Check software support documentation

Note – For Sony Vegas and Lightworks:

• Many video editors only support manually creating title cards.
• We recommend either adding the subtitles with a different video editor on a separate step, or checking with the software’s support and community for recent features or unofficial add-ons.

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Tips and tricks:

1. Using other subtitling editing tools might erase some of the work you did on Amara. For example, editing subtitles in the YouTube editor gets rid of any top-positioning you might have done to subtitles made on Amara.

2. Always use a programming text editor like Notepad++, TextEdit (MacOS) or gedit (Linux) to open subtitle files. Using a standard text editor like Windows Notepad or a word processor with autocorrections (like Office Word) can alter formatting and render the file unusable.

3. When you need to download subtitles, make sure to save them directly to disk rather than let the browser open them with the default application. Otherwise, you might find that they weren’t saved when you need them.

4. Save time by setting up automatic subtitle export from Amara to the video platform of your choice. The Amara knowledge base has instructions for some of the most popular video sites around, including YouTube, Vimeo, Kaltura and Brightcove. Check out the links below:

• Automatic subtitle export to YouTube
• Automatic subtitle export to Vimeo
• Automatic subtitle export to Kaltura
• Automatic subtitle export to Brightcove

Leave a comment if you have additional questions on subtitle formats, and if you need professional help with captioning, subtitle translation, or any subtitling needs, Amara can help. We have subtitling solutions that can help individuals and organizations of any size, including creating captions and subtitles for you.