Once an event is over, you can edit the recording and publish it for on-demand viewing.
You may as well include subtitles in the same language as the recording, to increase accessibility or any other language for increased reach.
SlideSync accepts the widely used subtitle format SRT and the newer web standard WebVTT.
How to create subtitles
We’re going to focus on WebVTT subtitles since they are the new standard.
In order to display subtitles, the video player needs to know what text to display and when to display it. This is all contained inside the subtitle file. A subtitle file is nothing more than a collection of time stamps and sentences to display.
WEBVTT00:00.500 --> 00:05.000Capitalize on low hanging fruit to identify a ballpark value added activity to beta test.00:07.000 --> 00:13.000Override the digital divide with additional clickthroughs from DevOps.00:15.000 —-> 00:19.000Nanotechnology immersion along the information highway will close the loop00:21.000 —-> 00:23.000on focusing solely on the bottom line.
Here is the general structure of a WebVTT file.
- The first line must be
WEBVTT - Captions have the timestamps on the first line, and the content to display on the second line or more.
- Timestamps start with the start time, then an arrow pointing right, then the ending time
- Timestamps must have the
MM:SS.mmmformat (M = minutes, S = seconds, m = milliseconds) - The content to display can be written on several lines. The video player will respect the line breaks.
- Captions must be separated by blank lines.
What program to use
In order to produce this file, all you need is a text editor. Be careful, Microsoft Word is not a text editor. Text editors are meant to edit plain text files, such as the ones ending in .txt
The default text editor on Windows is Notepad:
On Mac, the default text editor is TextEdit. However, you need to find the setting for TextEdit to produce plain text files:
A workflow suggestion
We suggest that you first create the transcription of the recording.
Capitalize on low hanging fruit to identify a ballpark value added activity to beta test. Override the digital divide with additional clickthroughs from DevOps. Nanotechnology immersion along the information highway will close the loop on focusing solely on the bottom line.
Once you have the text written, break it down into lines short enough to be displayed as subtitles:
Capitalize on low hanging fruit to identify a ballpark value added activity to beta test.
Override the digital divide with additional clickthroughs from DevOps.
Nanotechnology immersion along the information highway will close the loop
on focusing solely on the bottom line.
Finally, with your text document open, listen to the recording and pause at the beginning and end of each phrase, noting the starting and ending time in the format described earlier.
00:00.500 --> 00:05.000Capitalize on low hanging fruit to identify a ballpark value added activity to beta test.00:07.000 --> 00:13.000Override the digital divide with additional clickthroughs from DevOps.00:15.000 —-> 00:19.000Nanotechnology immersion along the information highway will close the loop00:21.000 —-> 00:23.000on focusing solely on the bottom line.
All there is left to do is to add WEBVTT as the sole first line of the file and save it with the “.vtt” extension.
Uploading the subtitle file to Slidesync
In the “Files” tab, select the video file you want to subtitle. You’ll be presented with this screen:
- Select which language you are subtitling
- Browse to the file you created on your computer
- Click “add subtitle” to send it to SlideSync
Now your viewers will have a new button to press on the video player.
