What Is a Caption File?

Direct definition

A caption file is a timed-text document a player can load as a track — commonly SRT, WebVTT, TTML, or SCC. It stores cues, not the video pixels.

The sections below explain how caption file is used in transcription and subtitle work, what people often mix up, and which VideoText workflow applies when the next step is a file or review pass.

Key takeaways

• The extension tells you the syntax, not whether the content is SDH or a translation.
• Validate timing and reading speed before delivery.
• Open captions are in the picture; they are not a caption file.

How caption files are used

Upload the sidecar to YouTube, a streaming packager, or an HTML5 track. Timing repairs and translation work on these files, not on text burned into the picture.

Related terms

• SRT file
• WebVTT
• TTML
• SCC
• closed captions
• All glossary terms

Sources

1. W3C: WebVTT