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Did you know that over 100 million hours of Facebook videos are watched every day?
Considering that as many as 85% of those views occur with the sound off, you’re in a losing battle if your video content doesn’t include text.
Fortunately, there are simple ways you can add text to a video while using modern editing tools. And with our exported caption files, you’re only a few clicks away from textually optimized content.
How to Add Text to a Video with Rev
Rev creates captions or subtitles for you. You upload a video URL or file here and you get sent a caption. Caption files can be easily uploaded to any platform where a video will be hosted, and in any video editing software.
Since most platforms today support SRT files, it means your social media videos on Facebook, Vimeo, YouTube, and more, can have captions quickly imported. This is done through our captioning workflow. By connecting your various social media accounts to Rev during checkout, we can deliver captions to your channels automatically.
Some popular video editing tools also accept captioning files we can export, making it even easier for you to include captions in your videos.
Use Rev these resources to add caption files to your videos in various platforms:
- YouTube – This guide on How to Add Closed Captions to YouTube highlights Rev’s automatic YouTube integration for the easiest possible YouTube solution
- Vimeo – Learn about How to Add Captions to Vimeo videos
- Twitter – Twitter Media studio works well with SRT files, learn how to add captions to Twitter videos here.
- Facebook – Add captions to Facebook videos using our article here.
- Adobe Premiere Pro – The easiest solution for Adding Captions in Adobe Premiere Pro
- Instagram – Social media captions are as important as ever – learn how to Add Captions to Instagram Videos
- Zoom – Read our guide on adding captions to Zoom videos, the most popular video conferencing platform
- iMovie – Highlighting one of the most popular free tools for Mac users, check out How to Add Captions and Subtitles in iMovie
- Final Cut Pro – Another popular tool for Mac users, see How to Add Captions and Subtitles to Final Cut Pro
- Quicktime – Free video tool for Mac users, learn How to Add Captions and Subtitles to Quicktime
- Handbrake (free option) – Handbrake is a great option for adding subtitle or caption files to video if you don’t want to pay for Final Cut or Premiere: Add Caption or Subtitle Files to Videos with Handbrake
Manually Adding Text to a Video
Adding text manually is the most challenging method available. For this to work, you’ll need:
- A text editor
- A copy of your video’s audio
- A video editor
- …and lots of time
Start by opening your text editor alongside the video and begin transcribing everything that’s said. Depending on your experience with transcription, you may find yourself backtracking often to ensure you’ve copied the correct words.
The average person speaks around 100 to 130 words per minute. Given that the average professional typist hits speeds around 50 to 80 words per minute, you should expect that backtracking to occur.
One method of transcription that better facilitates manual input is adding timestamps as you work. This practice helps you find your place when making edits but also lets you easily add text to the correct places within the timeline of your video editing software.
Another valuable tip is to add titles and subtitles within your work. By including these in your video’s captioning, readers can better track topics and retain more information.
Copying Text to a Video
The second most challenging method is copying and pasting text to a video.
The unfortunate truth is that some of the most popular video editing tools can’t download SRT caption files or other common formats. This means you’re stuck transferring the transcriptions we provide into your editing software, line by line.
To do this:
- Use a transcription tool (like Rev) to create your caption file.
- Select the video editing tool of choice.
- Follow instructions for how to add text to a video for that tool.
- Open your caption file in a text editor.
- Copy and paste each line into the proper timing of your video.
You have several options to choose from to add text to videos. Have fun out there and check out Rev’s other Resources articles for video production and captions!