TL;DR: Want to extract subtitles from video? This guide explains how to extract subtitle files using FFmpeg and online tools like SubtitleVideo. You'll also learn how to add subtitles to videos easily with Video Converter Ultimate.
When watching movies, course videos, or overseas TV shows, subtitles can help us better understand the video content. Sometimes, users may need to extract subtitles from video, such as saving subtitle files for translation, language learning, video editing, or further customization. So, how can you do it? In this guide, we will introduce three practical methods to extract subtitles from video files.
FFmpeg is one of the most powerful tools for handling multimedia files. It allows users to convert videos, edit media streams, and extract subtitles without changing the original video quality. If your video contains embedded soft subtitles, FFmpeg can directly access the subtitle track and save it as an independent subtitle file. It supports many popular video formats, including MP4, MKV, MOV, and AVI.
Follow these steps to extract subtitles from video file using FFmpeg:
Step 1. Download and install FFmpeg on your computer, then open Command Prompt (Windows) or Terminal (Mac/Linux).
Step 2. Go to the folder where your video file is stored and check the available subtitle tracks: "ffmpeg -i input.mp4".
Step 3. Extract the subtitle file using the following command: "ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -map 0:s:0 output.srt".
Step 4. Replace "input.mp4" with your video filename and "output.srt" with your desired subtitle file name.
Step 5. If your video has multiple subtitle tracks, change the subtitle stream number. For example: "ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -map 0:s:1 output.srt".
Step 6. After the process is complete, you can find the extracted subtitle file in the output folder and use it for translation, editing, or other purposes.
If you do not want to install software or deal with complicated commands, you can use an online subtitle extraction tool instead. SubtitleVideo is an online subtitle processing tool that allows users to upload videos and try to extract subtitle content from them.
Follow these steps to extract subtitles from video online for free:
Step 1. Open the SubtitleVideo website in your browser and select the language spoken in the video.
Step 2. Click "Browse" to add the video you want to extract captions from. You can upload videos in multiple formats, including MP4, 3GP, MOV, FLV, MPEG, AVI, and WebM. Alternatively, you can paste the video link if you can access it.
Step 3. Specify the requested information at will, then click Extract subtitle.
Besides extracting subtitles, you may sometimes need to add subtitles to videos, such as adding captions to educational videos, adding subtitles in different languages to movies, or creating videos for social media platforms. In these cases, you can use Video Converter Ultimate. It not only supports video format conversion but also provides a subtitle-adding feature that allows users to quickly add subtitle files such as SRT, ASS, and SSA to videos.
It also comes with a built-in video editor that helps you edit videos by rotating, cropping, merging, flipping, and trimming multiple video files.
The highlights of Video Converter Ultimate:
Here is how to add subtitles to videos using Video Converter Ultimate:
01Download, install, and run Video Converter Ultimate on your computer. Click the "Add Files" icon to import the video you wish to embed subtitles in.
02Find the "Subtitle" option in the "Edit" window and click the "+" button to import your subtitle file (*.srt, *.ssa, or *.ass) from your computer. You can then customize the subtitle settings, including its position, font, color, opacity, delay time, and outline. After that, click "OK" to save the changes.
03Select an output format and click "Convert All" to export the video with subtitles added. Once the conversion is complete, open the exported video and check the added subtitles. You can now play, share, or edit the video with subtitles included.
Q1. What is the difference between soft-coded and hard-coded subtitles?
Soft-coded subtitles are stored as separate subtitle tracks within a video file, allowing you to enable or disable them during playback. Since they are independent from the video stream, they can usually be extracted easily and saved as SRT or other subtitle files.
Hard-coded (or burned-in) subtitles are permanently embedded into the video frames and cannot be turned off. Extracting these subtitles requires advanced OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology to recognize and convert the text displayed in the video image into editable subtitle files.
Q2. Can you extract subtitles from video using VLC?
Although VLC Media Player lets you enable, disable, and customize subtitles during video playback, it does not provide a feature to extract subtitles from a video file. To save embedded subtitles as separate files, you need to use dedicated subtitle extraction software.
Q3. How can I extract embedded subtitles from a YouTube video?
YouTube provides a built-in transcript feature that allows you to access video subtitles. Click the three-dot (More) menu below the video player, select Show transcript, then copy the transcript and paste it into Notepad or another text editor. After that, save the file in SRT format.
Another option is to download the YouTube video with subtitles included and use a professional subtitle extractor to extract the subtitles from the downloaded video file.
Learning how to extract subtitles from video makes it easier to save captions, translate content, and reuse subtitle files for different projects. FFmpeg is a powerful choice for extracting subtitles from video files, while online tools provide a simple solution for beginners.
After extracting subtitles, you can use Video Converter Ultimate to add subtitles, convert videos, and complete further video editing tasks with ease.
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