How to translate subtitles (SRT) and keep them in sync

In short

• In FilmScribe, you upload a video or a link and get translated captions with the same timing as the original, as an SRT or burned into a clip (Studio and Agency).
• Subtitles aren’t book translation: the text has to fit the reading time. You can almost always say the same thing in fewer words.
• Any automatic translation needs a review before you publish: names, humor and scripture.
• If all you have is an SRT file, translate only the text in each block. Numbers and timestamps don’t change.
• Always save as UTF-8, or accents break.

Translation vs. adaptation

Translating subtitles looks simple: take the Spanish and turn it into English. In practice it’s two jobs. The first is translating the meaning. The second is adapting that meaning to how long each line stays on screen.

A line spoken in two seconds in one language can come out much longer in another. Translate everything word for word and the captions flash by too fast to read. That’s why subtitle translators cut repetition, swap long phrases for short ones and leave out what the picture already shows.

The good news: sync comes for free when the translation starts from captions that are already timed. That’s how FilmScribe works.

How to translate subtitles in FilmScribe, step by step

In FilmScribe, translation starts from the video or audio. You don’t need an original SRT: we create the captions, then translate them.

1. Upload the video or paste the link

A video or audio file, or a YouTube link, including a livestream once the replay is available. If only part of it matters, pick the range before processing: only that range counts toward your hours.

2. We transcribe in the original language

The transcript comes back in 90+ languages, with the language detected automatically, every word timed and speakers separated. That transcript is the base of the original captions.

3. Review the original

A mistake in the original becomes a mistake in the translation. Fix names, scripture references and in-house terms right in the text: the fix carries into the captions and everything after.

4. Translate

On Studio and Agency, pick one of 9 languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Japanese, Korean and Chinese (Simplified). Translate the captions, the content or both. Content means the full transcript, chapter titles and hooks, with the same speakers and timestamps. Translation runs in the background: close the window if you like, and we’ll email you when it’s ready. Each translation is saved with the file, and one file can hold several languages.

5. Download the SRT

Every translated block comes in and goes out at the same point as the original, so there’s nothing early or late to fix by hand. Download it as SRT, with TV, Netflix and YouTube presets and your project’s frame rate, or as FCPXML for Final Cut. The translated text also exports as TXT and PDF.

6. Or burn the captions into a clip

With video, translated captions can go straight into the clip. When you download, choose original or translated captions and apply any of 235 styles, with 54 fonts and 48 templates. Your settings still apply: free positioning, line breaks and automatic keyword highlights. If a language hasn’t been translated yet, we tell you before the download. Japanese, Korean and Chinese translate but can’t be burned into the video: for those, use the SRT.

An example: a church hosts a guest pastor who preaches in Spanish. The service video goes into FilmScribe, the transcript comes back in Spanish, the team fixes two names, translates to English and downloads the SRT for YouTube. The three strongest moments go out as vertical clips with English captions burned in, ready for Reels.

Translation is on Studio (R$ 89 per month) and Agency (R$ 149 per month). Pro transcribes in 90+ languages but doesn’t translate. More on Translation, Animated captions and Languages.

Which route to take

What’s inside an SRT file

Even when FilmScribe builds the file for you, it helps to know how it works. An SRT is a plain text file of numbered blocks. Each block has three parts:

12
00:01:04,300 --> 00:01:07,800
You don't need to have it all figured out
to take the first step.

Times use hours:minutes:seconds,milliseconds, with a comma before the milliseconds. The arrow is two hyphens and a greater-than sign (-->), with a space on each side. Change any of these details and a player or editor may reject the file.

Only have the SRT? Translate it by hand

When there’s no video, just the file, translate the text of each block in a text editor:

1. Make a copy, with the language in the file name: sunday-service-2026-09-28.en.srt.
2. Translate block by block, text lines only. Don’t merge two blocks or split one in two.
3. Adapt to the time. Read your line out loud while the block plays. If you can’t finish, cut it down.
4. Break lines naturally: before a conjunction, after a comma, never between an article and its noun.
5. Save as UTF-8 and test with the video.

Before and after

Original in Spanish, from a guest pastor’s sermon:

1
00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:03,900
La mayoría de las personas piensa que la fe es solo un sentimiento.

2
00:00:04,100 --> 00:00:07,300
Pero la fe en realidad es una decisión que tomas
cada mañana cuando te levantas.

Literal translation (too long for the time):

1
00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:03,900
The majority of people think that faith is only just a feeling.

2
00:00:04,100 --> 00:00:07,300
But faith in reality is a decision that you make
each and every morning when you get up.

Adapted translation (same meaning, fits the time):

1
00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:03,900
Most people think faith is just a feeling.

2
00:00:04,100 --> 00:00:07,300
But faith is a decision
you make every morning.

Block 1 lasts 2.7 seconds. The literal line is 63 characters, over 23 characters per second, too fast. The adapted line is 42 characters, under 16 per second. Nothing was lost. The same review applies to captions translated in FilmScribe: if a block feels tight, shorten it.

If you use an online translator or a chat assistant for a first draft, work in chunks, ask it to keep numbers, timestamps and blank lines exactly as they are, and check the structure afterward. The usual damage is an arrow that loses a hyphen, a comma that turns into a period and two blocks merged into one. Our subtitle converter helps re-save the file, and the reading speed checker flags blocks that run too fast.

Translating subtitles online or while watching

These are two different searches. To watch, YouTube’s own player offers auto-translate when a video has captions: it helps you follow along, but it creates no file and changes nothing for your audience. To publish, you need a real translated track, as an SRT or burned into the video. For free, the route is translating the SRT by hand. With the video in hand, FilmScribe does the captions and the translation in one flow. If you don’t have the original captions yet, see how to create an SRT file.

Readability guidelines for translated subtitles

Netflix’s English timed text style guide (checked in September 2026) allows up to 42 characters per line, two lines per block and up to 20 characters per second for adult programs. FilmScribe’s SRT export has a Netflix preset, along with TV and YouTube.

For Reels, Shorts and TikTok, flip the film rules: short one-line blocks with a few words each. See how to add captions automatically and captions for Reels and TikTok.

Where your translated subtitles go

• YouTube: upload the translated SRT as a new subtitle language. Viewers pick the language in the player, and one video can carry several.
• Reels, TikTok and Stories: there’s no reliable place to upload an SRT, so translated captions get burned in, which is what a FilmScribe clip delivers.
• Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve and Final Cut Pro: import the translated SRT onto the timeline, or use the FCPXML in Final Cut. See how to import SRT into Premiere Pro.
• In-room screens and livestream replays: for a bilingual service or event, burned-in captions don’t depend on anyone’s player settings.

Cases that need extra care

Scripture and worship songs

In a sermon, check every translated verse against the Bible translation your church reads from in the target language (NIV, ESV, KJV or whichever you use). Well-known worship songs usually have an official version in the other language too.

Names, brands and places

People’s names stay as they are. So do church, podcast and company names. Cities sometimes change (Sevilla becomes Seville). Fix these names in the original transcript before you translate.

Slang, jokes and idioms

“Pan comido” isn’t “eaten bread”; it’s “a piece of cake”. Find the matching idiom or say the meaning plainly. If a joke hangs on a pun, sometimes the best move is a different line that’s funny in English.

Numbers and units

Kilometers and degrees Celsius can confuse a US audience. Convert when the number matters to the meaning, or round it when it’s just a figure of speech.

Common mistakes

• Translating from a flawed original. If the transcript has errors, the translation inherits them. Fix the original first.
• Editing a timestamp by accident when translating an SRT by hand.
• Merging or splitting blocks. Captions start showing up before or after the speech.
• Translating word for word. Accurate and unreadable.
• Forgetting UTF-8. Accents turn into symbols.
• Publishing without watching. Wrong names and jokes that don’t land only show up with the video playing.
• Mixing up translation and sync. If the whole track is two seconds late, that’s not a translation problem. Use our subtitle sync tool to shift everything at once.

Final checklist

• Names, scripture and in-house terms fixed in the original?
• Block numbers and timestamps identical to the original?
• Two lines per block at most, with comfortable reading speed?
• File saved as UTF-8, with a .srt extension?
• Watched the whole video with the translated track?