Add Captions: burn subtitles into a video
Add Captions makes a copy of your video with subtitles burned in, in the spoken language or translated. The voice stays original: for a voice-over use Video Translation.
Updated November 2, 20264 min read
Add Captions recognizes the speech in a video and draws it on the picture as subtitles. You get a new video file, ready for Reels, TikTok or YouTube Shorts and easy to watch without sound.
Add Captions or Video Translation
Add Captions only adds text on the screen; the speaker's voice and language stay as they are. If you want to hear the video in another language, you need Video Translation.
| Add Captions | Video Translation | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | subtitles burned into the picture | a translated voice-over, optionally with lip sync |
| Sound | original | replaced with speech in the chosen language |
| Language | the spoken language, or a translation if Translate captions is on | the language you choose |
| Price | about 6 tokens per minute (Standard) or 15 per started minute (Mirage) | from 240 tokens per minute |
| Time | usually a few minutes | on average 5 to 15 minutes |
In Video Translation, before the dub is made, the What next? block offers Add translated subtitles as a cheaper option. This button makes subtitles, not a voice-over, and starts right away. If you want a voice-over, start Video Translation itself.
Mirage and Standard: which to choose
On the Template tab there are two kinds of captions. Mirage is selected by default.
| Mirage | Standard | |
|---|---|---|
| Look | animated templates | 11 styles, for example Premium Gold (default), TikTok Bold, Boxed, Minimal; adjustable font size, position, text and background color |
| Video shape | vertical 9:16 only | any |
| File | MP4 or MOV, up to 50 MB | up to 2 GB after compression |
| Length | up to 5 minutes | no limit |
| Translation | no | yes |
| Price | 15 tokens per started minute | about 6 tokens per minute, at least 2 tokens |
If the video does not fit Mirage, the app switches to Standard by itself and says so, for example "Video is not compatible with Mirage (requires 9:16 ratio). Switched to Standard." Turning on translation also switches to Standard.
How to add captions
Open the Tools tab and tap Add Captions.
Add the video: Choose, Record video (iOS and Android app only) or Paste link.
On the Template tab pick a Mirage template or a Standard style.
For subtitles in another language, turn on Translate captions and choose the language in Translate to.
Tap Add Captions. With translation on, the Confirm the language window shows the language and the price; tap Continue.
Keep the app open while the video compresses and uploads. When the app says the video was sent for captions, you can minimize it.
If the captions came out in the wrong language
By default Add Captions writes subtitles in the language spoken in the video. The language of the speech is detected automatically and cannot be chosen.
If you wanted subtitles in your language, turn on Translate captions and choose the language before you start. Translation is available in Standard only, for 126 languages.
If the subtitles were translated but you expected the original, check the switch: it remembers the last choice. It also turns on by itself after Add translated subtitles in Video Translation.
If you wanted to hear the translation, subtitles will not give you that. Use Video Translation.
Where to find the result
The finished video opens on the Result tab and is saved to the tool's History. A push notification and an email come when it is ready. In the app the buttons are Share and Save to Gallery, on the web Download.
The subtitles are part of the picture. VocaLingo does not give a separate SRT or VTT file, and there is no step to edit the subtitle text.
Without Premium the video gets a VocaLingo watermark. With Premium you can turn off Add VocaLingo watermark.
Under the result, What next? offers Translate video, Translate audio and Video to text.
How much it costs and when tokens are taken
Standard captions cost about 6 tokens per minute of video, with or without translation: a minute is 6 tokens, 10 minutes about 58. Mirage costs 15 tokens for each started minute. The app shows the estimate before you start. Tokens are taken after the finished video, so a failed job costs nothing. A failed entry in History has a retry button. All prices are in token prices for each tool.
Contact support
Describe the problem and we will reply by email. Add the file name or job ID if you have one.