How To Add Subtitles to a Vimeo Video Without a Text Transcript File?

Vimeo is a viral tool for video sharing. It's most well-known for the beautifully crafted videos made with the platform. It's becoming increasingly more of a direct competition for YouTube with the content produced with its services.

What makes it even better is the option to use closed captioning with every upload. The process of using subtitles differs for paid and free users of the platform. Either method requires a transcript file. But what if you don't have one?

The short answer is that you'll need a transcript file to generate subtitles. The good news is there are several ways to obtain one. While paid Vimeo users can access automatic transcription services, free users must be a bit more creative. Using third-party alternatives, such as Rev and Happy Scribe, is a great way to get a highly accurate subtitle file.

This article will explore the benefits of giving your viewers the option of toggling on a caption file. Then, we'll cover how to get a transcript file and what formats are required for Vimeo. Read on for everything you need to know about sourcing and applying a transcript file.

What Are The Benefits of Subtitles for your Vimeo Videos?

Often, we don't realize how important it is to caption our videos until someone needs them, and it's too late. Being proactive and ensuring there is subtitle capability before posting is essential. Several benefits come from incorporating this feature, including the following:

• Increased Accessibility: Many viewers enjoy watching videos in public places with the sound turned off. They can't do this without proper subtitling. In addition, you can reach more people, including those with hearing impairments, who would ordinarily not be able to watch your videos.
• Increased Search Ability: Finding precisely what you want in a video can be challenging. Subtitles make it much easier, as you can search for what you need.
• Improved Multi-Lingual Experience: Some viewers may not understand the language of the video but still want to watch the content. If you supply subtitles in various languages, you can allow many different people to view your content successfully.

How To Add Captions To Vimeo Videos

Captions are generated in Vimeo video from transcript files. You must have one of these files to create the corresponding text overlay for your video file.

Paid users have access to an automatic transcription feature within the Vimeo platform. Each time you upload a video, the service automatically transcribes it to create closed captioning. The only thing you'll have to do is toggle it on or off as needed. Enterprise, advanced, and premium accounts have access to streaming captions during live events and webinars.

For free users, it's a little more complicated. You'll need to have a transcript file ready to upload. Once you have this file, you'll need to go into your video manager and upload it to the correct video. Each step of the process is straightforward:

1. Open the correct video in the video manager.
2. Click "Advanced" to the right for additional video settings.
3. Click "Distribution" then "Subtitles."
4. Click the + button and select the language and file type of your captions.
5. Click on "Choose File" to upload the caption file. Once the upload is complete, toggle the captions file to activate it. It's important to note that paid users can edit the automatically generated files within the Vimeo app. Free users will need to download, edit, and re-upload any that have errors requiring correction.

Where To Get Your Caption File From

If you need a caption file for your free account or don't like the one Vimeo created for your paid account, you can use several third-party programs to generate one. Options include Rev and Happy Scribe. You'll benefit from increased accuracy and multi-language support. As an example of how easy it is to use these services, we'll describe the process with Happy Scribe. Whether you choose the machine or human-generated option, it's incredibly easy and fast. Simply follow these steps:

1. Upload your file from any location, including your hard drive, Google Drive, Dropbox, and Youtube. They'll give you the first ten minutes for free and don't place limits on files.
2. Choose the language of your uploaded video. Happy Scribe works with over 120 dialects, accents, and languages.
3. Select human-made or machine-generated text. Their automatic software provides rapid results ready within minutes with 85% accuracy. Alternatively, if you select the human option, you'll only have to wait up to 24 hours, but you'll also receive 99% accuracy in the text.
4. The subtitles will be ready to download in the designated timeframe. You'll need to click "Export" and select the format you want. Happy Scribe uses the same file types that Vimeo requires, including SRT and WebVTT.
5. Return to your video manager and upload the captions to your video. When users want to see them, they must toggle them on and off with "CC" at the bottom of the player.

Are You Ready To Add Captions To Your Videos?

While having an enterprise, advanced, or premium account allows for the automatic transcribing of live events, it's technically the only way to have subtitling in Vimeo without an active transcript file. The Vimeo app will automatically transcribe and produce captions throughout the stream with no uploading required. In all other instances, you must have files to support this option for your videos.

Paid users can rely on Vimeo to do everything for them by automatically transcribing and adding closed captioning to every video uploaded. Free users will need to supply their own files to create subtitling. The process is straightforward with third-party software options like Rev and Happy Scribe.

Happy Scribe offers the option to quickly generate subtitle files with up to 99% accuracy, depending on the method of generation chosen. You can expect to have your captions ready to go in no more than a day. With these straightforward options, making your videos more accessible is a breeze. Are you ready to get started?