Generate subtitles automatically in Final Cut Pro for Mac

You can use Generate Captions in Final Cut Pro for Mac to automatically detect and transcribe speech in your video, creating subtitles you can customize to make accessible, ready-to-share content for social media and video platforms.

Note: The Generate Captions feature requires a Mac with Apple silicon and is available in U.S. English only.

A selected subtitle clip connected to a video clip in the timeline, and the corresponding subtitle appearing at the bottom of the image in the viewer

Add subtitles automatically

In Final Cut Pro, select one or more clips in the timeline that contain speech.
Do one of the following:
- Control-click the selection, then choose Generate Captions > Subtitles.
- Choose Edit > Generate Captions > Subtitles (or press Shift-Command-S).
- Click the Enhancements pop-up menu below the viewer, then choose Generate Captions > Subtitles.
Final Cut Pro transcribes each clip in the selection and automatically connects the resulting title clips to the clips they were transcribed from. Each title clip starts and ends in sync with the spoken words. Automatically generated subtitles are standard title clips created using the default Subtitle title (in the Subtitles category of the Titles and Generators sidebar). See Add titles.
If you’re creating subtitles for clips that have split edits (J-cuts and L-cuts), Final Cut Pro connects closed caption clips to adjacent clips that overlap the transcribed audio.
Note: If you’re creating subtitles automatically for the first time, Final Cut Pro downloads the language model and then creates the subtitles. The download happens only once (an internet connection is required).

The Subtitles role is automatically assigned to all subtitles created using Generate Captions. See Intro to roles.

Adjust subtitles

When you use Generate Captions, subtitles are created using a default title named Subtitle, which has unique settings designed for captions, including animation and vertical video options for social media. The Subtitle title is available in the Subtitles category of the Titles and Generators sidebar.

The viewer showing a subtitle with color fill animation

In Final Cut Pro, add subtitles using the Generate Captions feature.
Select one or more subtitle clips in the timeline.
Tip: To select all the subtitles in the timeline, press Command-A. To select everything in the timeline, press Command-A again.
To open the inspector, do one of the following:
- Choose Window > Show in Workspace > Inspector (or press Command-4).
- Click the Inspector button on the right side of the toolbar.
To open the Title inspector, click the Title button at the top of the inspector.
Tip: Double-click the top bar of the inspector to switch between half-height view and full-height view.
Adjust any of these subtitle-specific settings:
- Animation Style: Choose how the subtitle text becomes visible:
  - None: No animation is applied.
  - Fade: Words fade up one at a time.
  - Scale: Words appear large, then scale down, one at a time.
  - Highlight: Words are highlighted in color, one at a time.
  - Fill: Words are filled in color, one at a time, until every word in the subtitle is that color.
- Animate By: Choose how the animation is applied:
  - Character: Animates one letter at a time.
  - Word: Animates one word at a time.
  - Line: Animates one line at a time.
  - All: In multiple-line subtitles, animates all lines at once.
- Vertical Social Media Safe: For vertical (9:16) video, select the checkbox to position the subtitle in the viewable area of the video on most social media platforms.
To change standard title settings, such as the font, size, color, and more, see Adjust titles, Text inspector controls, and Apply preset text styles.

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Final Cut Pro User Guide for Mac

Generate subtitles automatically in Final Cut Pro for Mac

Add subtitles automatically

Adjust subtitles