Export captions with Final Cut Pro

You can export captions as separate “sidecar” files with your finished media files, or, if your captions are in the CEA-608 format, you can embed them directly in the output media file.

You can export captions as separate files directly from the File menu.

You can also export or embed captions using Final Cut Pro share destinations that include options for exporting captions. Many share destinations also include an option to burn in captions, so they’re permanently visible.

Export captions using the File menu

Open the project in the Final Cut Pro timeline, then choose File > Export Captions.
In the Save As field, type a name for the exported caption file.
Navigate to a folder for the caption file.
In the Roles section, select the checkboxes for the language subroles you want to export as caption files.
A separate caption file is created for each language subrole you select.
In the Start Time section, select one of the following:
- Relative to Timeline: Calculate each caption’s start time by subtracting the project’s start time.
- Absolute: Use each caption’s actual start time, regardless of the project’s start time.
If you’re exporting SRT captions, select or deselect the Include Formatting checkbox in the SRT section to retain or remove any text formatting applied to the captions in Final Cut Pro.
In most cases, it’s recommended that you deselect this option to remove text formatting. Because of the absence of text formatting specifications in the SRT standard, any formatting style (such as bold, italic, or underline) that you apply to SRT captions in Final Cut Pro may not appear correctly in your intended player or playback device.
Click Export.

Export captions using share destinations

A number of Final Cut Pro share destinations include options for exporting captions. See the following topics:

In addition, the Save Current Frame, Image Sequence, and HTTP Live Streaming destinations allow you to burn in captions so they’re permanently visible, but they don’t support exporting captions as separate files or embedding captions. See the following topics:

Helpful?

Final Cut Pro User Guide

Export captions with Final Cut Pro

Export captions using the File menu

Export captions using share destinations