How to add subtitles to a video using FFmpeg (5 different styles) (2023)

Capture the audience's attention with an increasingly shorter attention span,Adding subtitles to videos has become the norm🇧🇷 Popular video streaming platforms like Youtube, Netflix and Crunchyroll add subtitles to their videos and you should too.

It not only keeps the attention of the audience, but also breaks the language barrier. International fans can enjoy phenomenal TV shows like Money Heist, Squid Game, and other Japanese anime shows with the help of translated subtitles.

These video streaming platforms use different styles for their subtitles and they are quite different. Although most of them use fluent subtitles, you canUse FFmpeg to embed physical subtitleswith outfits like hers in her videos.

In this article, I'll show you how to create different styles for your subtitles.

The default caption style

A default subtitle style is applied to each subtitle added with FFmpeg. If the subtitle is in SRT format, you can convert it to an ASS subtitle file with the following command:

ffmpeg -i leyenda.srt leyenda.ass

In themLeyenda.esfile, you can read the default font name, font size, color, and other style properties from the style definition list.

The default caption style uses Arial font and color white with a black border for your text.

How to change the subtitle style

You can define the style in the subtitle file yourself or use theforce_styleFilter option "Subtitles" on the command line. The detail is in the "caption design"Section fromHow to add subtitles to a video file using FFmpeg.

In the next section of this article, I'll show you some subheading styles that you can use. For each of the subtitle styles there are:

• A list of style definitions that you can change in an ASS subtitle file (option 1)
• An FFmpeg command that sets the subtitle style when adding a subtitle to a video file (option 2)

examples

For option 1, you'll see some key-value pairs like this below:

Format: Font Name, Outline Color, Border Style: Roboto, &H40000000, 3

These are some ofProperties you can set for a heading style🇧🇷 In your ASS subtitle file, change the values ​​in the second line of the key-value pairs and add the subtitle to your video.

For option 2, you will see an FFmpeg command with the subtitle styles specified in theforce_stylePossibility:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "subtitles=subtitle.srt:force_style='Fontname=Roboto,OutlineColour=&H40000000,BorderStyle=3'" output.mp4

You can run the command directly in your command line/terminal after changing the input file and output file names.

Any of these options above can be used to change the style of the subtitles. Next, let's see how styles are defined.

Custom caption styles

Style 1 - Youtube

YouTube subtitles use a very easy to read subtitle style on any video, no matter the color. It is similar to the default soft caption style added with FFmpeg, which uses white color for its text surrounded by a semi-transparent black box.

font name: robot
Font Color: Weiss
background colorA: white
background opacity: 75% (25% transparency)

Style definition (.ass file):

Format: Font Name, Outline Color, Border Style: Roboto, &H40000000, 3

Domain:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "subtitles=subtitle.srt:force_style='Fontname=Roboto,OutlineColour=&H40000000,BorderStyle=3'" output.mp4

The default value foredge styleit is1, which adds an outline and a drop shadow to the text. It accepts only two possible values,1o3🇧🇷 Whenedge styleis set to3, an opaque box is added that becomes the background for the title text.

outline colordefines the color of the field with hexadecimal code, but in the format &HBBGGRR. It is in the reverse order of a standard HTML hexadecimal code that follows the string "RRGGBB".

The hexadecimal code used in an ASS file also does not start with "#", but instead uses the "&H" prefix. if you use#2596bein HTML, you need to change it to&Hbe9625.

You can also add transparency to the color by adding thecorresponding hexadecimal valuebefore "BBGGRR".

In this legend style, the background color is black (&H000000) while its transparency is 25% (40🇧🇷 Hence the full hexadecimal code&H40000000.

Still 2 - Netflix

Netflix uses capital letters and the color white for the default subtitle text. A black shadow is added to the title to separate the text from the background. It's not as clear as YouTube subtitles, which have a black background behind the text, but it looks cleaner and is less distracting.

font name: Consoles
Font Color: Weiss
shadow color: Schwartz
shadow opacity: 75%

Style definitions (.ass file):

Format: Font Name, Background Color, Spacing, Outline, Shadow Style: Consoles, &H80000000, 0.2, 0, 0.75

Domain:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "subtitles=subtitle.srt:force_style='Fontname=Consolas,BackColour=&H80000000,Spacing=0.2,Outline=0,Shadow=0.75'" output.mp4

background colorsets the text outline or shadow color, depending on which is usedcontoursets its width in pixels. Whencontouris set to 0, a drop shadow is added to the text, and&H80000000becomes the color of the shadow.

The shadow depth can also be adjusted and the value ranges from 0 to 4. For this caption style, we used a shadow depth of 0.75 which appears soft but still allows the text to stand out.

Style 3 - Aesthetic (Vintage Yellow Legend)

In addition to white, yellow is also often used for subtitles. Compared to white, a yellow subtitle is more noticeable and easier to read against different backgrounds.

Athe yellow caption is not for everyonehow some people find it distracting compared to a blank legend that is more neutral. Still, some people prefer the yellow subtitle because it makes them feel nostalgic.

It also gives an aesthetic and vintage touch when the font style is italicized.

font name: Ariel
Fuente heart: Gelb
Style: italics
frame color: Schwartz

Style definitions (.ass file):

Format: Primary Color, Italic, Spacing Style: &H03fcff, 1, 0.8

Domain:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "subtitles=subtitle.srt:force_style='PrimaryColour=&H03fcff,Italic=1,Spacing=0.8'" output_aesthetic.mp4

The font color can be adjusted byprimary colorproperty and surroundingsItalica 1 applies an italic style to the text.

The default style without gaps makes bright yellow text look too compressed in a video. Increasing the spacing to 0.8 can make the legend more visually pleasing.

Estilo 4 – Anime/Crunchyroll

This is one of the most common subtitle sources used in many anime shows. It is also the font used bycrispy rolls, a video streaming platform that offers more than 1,000 anime shows to more than 5 million paying subscribers around the world.

Since this font is often used in subtitles for anime shows, an anime lover can easily recognize the font and associate it with the anime.

font name: Trebuchet MS
Fuente heart: Weiss
frame color: Schwartz

Style definitions (.ass file):

Format: Font Name Style: Trebuchet MS

Domain:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "subtitles=subtitle.srt:force_style='Fontname=Trebuchet MS'" salida.mp4

The only property that needs to be changed is the font name, while other properties can use the default value. Phrasefont namefor Trebuchet MS and you can add subtitles to your video.

To use: You can use any font installed on your operating system in an ASS file. If the font is not applied in the output video, you can download the TTF font file and place it in your current directory.

(Video) Subtitles & FFMPEG: How To Caption Your Video The FFmpeg Way

Style 5 - your own style

In addition to the popular caption styles most people are familiar with, like the ones mentioned above, you can create your own caption style designed specifically for your audience!

When adding subtitles to movies or videos longer than 30 minutes, black and white colors may still be the best. For other videos, you can experiment with different colors, especially if you're making a short video for a brand.

If you have a brand kit, using brand colors in your video caption can help maintain brand consistency.

You can use the following style definitions as a guide for changing the legend font, border, background, and shadow colors. Other properties likefont name,font size,bold, etc. are self-explanatory, you can also change them.

Standard style with border

Style definitions (.ass file):

Format: Primary Color, Outline Color, Border Style, Outline Style: "Font Color", "Border Color", 1, "Border Width 0-4"

solid track record

Style definitions (.ass file):

Formato: PrimaryColour, OutlineColour, BorderStyleStyle: "Font Color", "Background Color", 3

cast shadow

Style definitions (.ass file):

Format: Primary Color, Outline Color, Background Color, Border Style, Outline, Shadow Style: "Font Color", "Border Color", "Shadow Color", 1, "Border Width 0-4 ", "Shadow Depth 0-4"

Automatically generate subtitles

Besides FFmpeg, there are other tools you can use to add subtitles to video files. Some likeold banderaYou can even automatically generate captions for your videos and add them to videos with custom styles and other elements.

If you're interested in trying it out, this article can help you get started:How to create videos with automatic captions in an API request.

No matter what type of videos you are producing, adding subtitles to your videos definitely brings more benefits and you should use it to gain an edge over others.