Skip to content
Amara Accessibility Media

Amara Accessibility Media

Building access to global information through subtitles, captions, and localization

  • Mission
    • Inclusion and Belonging
    • Culture and Appreciation
    • Morning Talks in the Mirror
  • Tech
    • Solutions and Tools
    • Product Features
  • Captions & Subtitles
    • Accessibility and Captioning
    • Translation and Localization
  • Amara Products
    • Amara Subtitle Editor
    • Amara Plus
    • Amara Community
    • Amara Enterprise
    • Amara On Demand
  • Amplifying Voices
  • Communication Guide
    • Inclusive Language
    • Accessibility
    • Global Accessibility
    • How we communicate with our Amara humans
    • Writing Style and Tips
    • Grammar and Spelling
  • Toggle search form
How to hardcode or burn subtitles into a video over a hexagonal background with amara logo.

How to hardcode or burn subtitles into a video

Posted on April 27, 2023April 27, 2023 By allisonamara 1 Comment on How to hardcode or burn subtitles into a video

Hardcoded or burn-in subtitles are subtitles that automatically play within the video. They are also called “open subtitles” to separate them from closed subtitles which can be turned on or off by the viewer. Open subtitles are actually part of the video file, displaying along with the other visuals in a video. This is different from closed captions or subtitles which are a separate file overlayed on top of the video. Learn more about the differences between open and closed captions in our media article on the subject!

What are the benefits of open captions?

We all know that adding captions to video gives many benefits. But what about open or “burn-in” captions specifically? When captions or subtitles are burned in or hard-coded onto a video, they automatically play along with the video. This can be beneficial, especially for videos that need to follow accessibility guidelines in public spaces like schools, governmental departments, or public film showings. Having the captions play automatically can help ensure that a video is ready and accessible to an audience immediately.

With burn-in captions, the viewer doesn’t have to dig through whatever video player interface they are using to find the “ON” switch for captions or subtitles. They are already playing! And they are playing in sync with the video’s timing, too. If a subtitle file is separate, the subtitles themselves might have the wrong time codes and appear too early or too late. Some video players allow shifting subtitles, but it can be a hassle for audiences. Font, color, size, background, and more are all under the control of the video creator instead of the software creator. Learn more about subtitle styling and formats!

With open captions, you get to decide what the final product will look like. For separate subtitle files, the file is accessed by the video player and the subtitle style may be dependent on the settings of that video player. 

What are the downsides of using hardcoded captions or subtitles?

With burnt-in subtitles or captions, you can only choose one language to burn into the video. Otherwise, you might fill up the screen with burnt-in original language captions, translations, audio descriptions and more. Including hard-coded captions means that it will be more difficult to add translated subtitles later, so creators should decide what kind of subtitles would benefit their audience best.

Most online creators use closed captions because they allow for multiple languages, software-sensitive text styling, and user control. For subtitling in online spaces, having a global reach opens up a lot of doors for creators. Adding multiple languages to a video can connect content with audiences that you might not have been able to reach before. Locking into one language limits the number of people who can enjoy that content.

How to burn in subtitles on a video

There are many services for adding burn-in or hardcoded captions to videos. There are do-it-yourself methods as well as do-it-for-you services to choose from. For people wanting to try it out themselves, there are many services where you upload the video file and subtitle file and follow the provided steps to get a copy of the video with burn-in subtitles. But for larger projects or teams, it can be a huge time-saver to have a standalone service to do burn-ins for you. Our Amara On Demand subtitling team provides burn-ins, so send our team a message and we’d be happy to work with you on making your content accessible for your audience!

Happy subtitling!

Read these articles next

Accessibility and Captioning, Captions and Subtitles

Post navigation

Previous Post: What is Closed Captioning
Next Post: Overcoming Cultural Barriers: The Magic of Subtitling and Translation

More articles to learn from

Expanding your reach with audiovisual translation title over concentric circle background and Amara's logo in the corner.  Expanding Your Reach: Accessibility Types for Audiovisual Translation and Why Subtitling Is the Way to Go Captions and Subtitles
Create a More Accessible World Through Volunteer Subtitling over striped background with Amara logo in the corner.  Create a More Accessible World Through Volunteer Subtitling Accessibility and Captioning
Why translation and Localization are central to global marketing in speech bubble above Amara logo. Why Translation and Localization are Central to Global Marketing Captions and Subtitles
Film background with amara logo and title card that says "Overcoming cultural barriers: the magic of subtitling and translation." Overcoming Cultural Barriers: The Magic of Subtitling and Translation Captions and Subtitles
What is Closed captioning on a pink patterned background with the amara logo in the corner. What is Closed Captioning Accessibility and Captioning
English vs. English CC What's the difference on top of a thought bubble coming from the Amara logo and wordmark over a background of hearts, punctuation, and smiley faces. English vs. English CC: What’s the Difference? Captions and Subtitles

Comment (1) on “How to hardcode or burn subtitles into a video”

  1. papa's pizzeria says:
    May 11, 2023 at 11:54 pm

    Fantastic information

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Give us a follow

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Contact us at enterprise@amara.org

Powered by PressBook Grid Blogs theme