How to Use Subtitles and Transcripts in Studio

Summary

Studio provides an integrated, end-to-end video subtitle workflow that allows you to transcribe, translate, style, and export multi-language video assets without leaving the platform. This feature is designed for teams localizing video content for global markets while complying with modern digital accessibility requirements.
With this tool, you can automatically generate transcripts, upload existing SRT/VTT subtitle files, manually refine text and timecodes, apply custom visual styling, and choose whether to burn subtitles directly into your final video or export them as standalone files.

Who?

Users with the following rights can generate or translate design files into Studio:

  • Admin
  • Designer
  • Content Creator

How?

Enabling Subtitles for a Video Page

Subtitles are configured on a per-page basis within your Studio design template.

  1. Open your video design or template in the Studio Editor.
  2. In the right-hand sidebar, click on the Page tab.
  3. Scroll down to the Transcript section and switch the toggle to Enabled.

Once enabled, the sidebar expands to reveal your transcription, upload, and subtitle styling tools.

Adding Subtitle Data

You can add subtitles to your video using auto-generation or manual upload.

Method 1: Auto-Generating a Transcript

Studio uses an asynchronous AI transcription service to automatically extract spoken audio into timed text tracks.

  1. In the expanded Transcript pane, click the Auto-generate button.
  2. A Generate transcript modal will appear. Select the desired language from the dropdown menu (e.g., English)
  3. Click Generate.
  4. Note: A loading screen will block the interface while processing the audio track. To prevent data loss, do not navigate away from or close your browser tab until the transcription is fully generated.

Method 2: Uploading an External Subtitle File (SRT)

If you already have professional transcripts or pre-approved translations stored locally or in your Bynder DAM:

  1. Click the options menu (three dots) next to the auto-generate section.
  2. Select Upload SRT (or VTT).
  3. Browse and open your desired subtitle file from your computer.

  4. Studio will run a basic formatting validation check and instantly populate the text blocks.

Viewing and Editing Subtitles

Once your subtitle data is loaded, it appears as a clean, chronological sequence of text blocks on the right-hand sidebar.

  • Modifying Text: Click directly inside any text card to quickly fix grammar, spelling, or product naming conventions.
  • Adjusting Timecodes: Double Click the timestamp fields located at the top-right of each subtitle block. You can change the exact start and end times manually to align speech perfectly with video transitions.
  • Canvas Synchronization: As you play the video timeline, the subtitles render dynamically on screen. Clicking a specific text block in the sidebar will skip the video playback directly to that sequence's timestamp.

Customizing Subtitle Typography and Styling

To adjust the look and feel of the text overlays so they mimic your brand guidelines or match final burn-in export settings, expand the Transcript styles dropdown in the Design Editor.

  • Font Selection: Use the font dropdown to select from your Studio fonts
  • Font Weight & Size: Toggle text styling options such as Regular, Medium, or Bold and scale up the text size
  • Color Schemes: Select text colors using hex codes or the color picker matrix.
  • Text Stroke & Outline: Add a border outline around text cards (e.g., a solid black stroke) to ensure readability against bright or complex video backgrounds.

Editing Subtitles for Variations via Content Configurator (CC) 

When creating variations of a video design in the Content Configurator, you can edit or replace the subtitles to fit the edited variation

  1. Navigate to the scene configuration sidebar in the Content Configurator.
  2. Open the transcription drawer to view the default inherited subtitle text.
  3. Click Auto generate to produce a new transcription for your variation. You can also upload an new SRT.

Localizing Subtitles via Content Configurator (CC) Variations

When producing multi-language variations of a master video asset, you can manage unique language overrides in the Content Configurator.

  1. Navigate to the variation tab in the configuration sidebar

  2. Select the action menu next to the variation you wish to translate
  3. In the translate modal, select the languages you wish to translate your design too
  4. The check box Generate translated transcript will automatically translate the transcript to the selected languages.

Note: Resetting a variation back to its default state will wipe any subtitle text overrides.

Exporting Videos with Subtitles

When your design variation is approved and ready for distribution, click the Export button and follow the dialog menu. Studio provides two distinct formatting paths for video variations containing active subtitle tracks:

1. Burnt-In Subtitles (Hardcoded)

  • In the export options, locate and toggle on the Burn-in transcriptions checkbox.
  • Studio's offline rendering system encodes your configured font styling, outline parameters, and timecodes directly into the video frames.
  • This delivers a single, universally accessible video where subtitles are always visible across external media hosting platforms.

2. Standalone SRT/ZIP Package (Softcoded)

  • If your downstream channels require toggleable close-caption files, you can choose to download separate subtitle tracks.
  • Select Download from the action menu in the transcription modal to save your SRT files locally.

FAQs and Best Practices

Tip: Always review your timestamp alignment blocks after executing structural changes on the canvas timeline to prevent text sync mismatch.

  • Why is my styling panel grayed out? 
    The Transcript styles config menu is conditionally disabled if the parent page transcription toggle is switched off or if no valid text block is present. Enable the primary transcript toggle first to open styling controls.
     

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