What is a VTT file?
VTT files contain subtitles and other information about web videos. VTT is short for "Web Video Text Tracks." You might also see VTT written as WebVTT for this reason. YouTube and Vimeo, two of the most popular video hosting sites, support VTT files so you can add subtitles to your videos. The information that can be stored in a VTT file includes: Subtitles and/or captions A description of the video Chapters to aid in navigation Information to adjust subtitle color, font, and placement Metadata
What programs can open VTT files?
VTT files can be opened by any text editor. This includes the default plaintext editor that came with your operating system, Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac), as well as Microsoft Word, Notepad++, GitHub Atom, and more.
Programs made to create VTT files can also open them. If you find yourself working with VTT files often, investing in a specialized VTT program may be more efficient than using a basic text editor. We've listed a few captioning program options below: Ooona Create+Translate: Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux (web-based). Access to the program is subscription based. A 1 month subscription to the Standard version is $30, and a 1 month subscription to the Pro version is $60. Annotation Edit: Available for Mac. A license costs around $300, but there is a free demo available for download with limited features. VEED: Web-based app. Offers a free plan, as well as paid plans that range from $25/month to $70/month (monthly). VTT Creator: Web-based app. Free to use, and doesn't require you to create an account to get started.
VTT files can also be opened in a web browser. To do this, simply drag your VTT file into the web browser of your choice. Note that you can't edit a VTT file in a web browser, you can only view it.
VLC Media Player can open VTT files as a subtitle track. If you don't already have VLC Media Player, download it from VideoLAN here. Open the video you want to add captions to. Click Subtitles > Add Subtitle File… in the VLC menu bar. Select your VTT file and click Open.
How do I convert a VTT file?
Use a free online converter to convert VTT files to a different filetype. We've listed a few free online converters below, as well as what filetypes you can convert your VTT file to: HappyScribe: DOCX, TXT, PDF Ebby: SRT, DOCX, TXT, PDF, HTML Subtitle Tools: SRT, SSA, SMI, SUB VEED: SRT These sites can also convert from other filetypes (such as SRT, TXT, and DOCX) to VTT.
How do I create my own VTT file?
Open a plaintext editor. This could be Notepad, TextEdit, Notepad++, GitHub Atom, or whatever plaintext editor you prefer. We recommend using a plaintext editor instead of a word processor like Microsoft Word as Word will try to format and autocorrect what you write, which can lead to errors popping up in your VTT file. You can also use a caption program to create a VTT file, but this section will only cover how to write a VTT file in a plaintext editor.
Write WEBVTT at the top of your document. All VTT files must start with the WEBVTT header. Press Enter or Return twice to add a line break between the header and your first subtitle.
Add the range of timestamps for your first subtitle. To create a range, write the first timestamp, press Space once, type -->, press Space once, then write the second timestamp. The format for each timestamp is HH:MM:SS.###. Note that each timestamp must have two digits for the hour, minute, and second, and there are three decimal places after the second. For example, to add a subtitle that starts at the first second of the video and ends between the third and fourth second, the timestamp range would look like this: 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:03.500 Press Enter or Return once to move your cursor to the next line.
Write out what's being said in the video at that time. To avoid having your subtitles getting cut off the screen, you can add line breaks to the captions. However, avoid going over three lines to ensure your whole subtitle will fit on the screen and not obstruct the video. Write the subtitles exactly as you want them to look. Don't enclose them in brackets or quotation marks. Press Enter or Return twice to add a line break after the subtitle.
Repeat Step 3 and Step 4 to add all of your subtitles. Make sure to add line breaks after each timestamp and caption pair.
Save your file in the VTT format. How you do this differs slightly depending on what program you're using. Keep reading to see how to save your VTT file with Notepad on Windows or TextEdit on Mac. Windows: Go to File > Save. Change the "Save as type" dropdown to All files (*.*) and the "Encoding" dropdown to UTF-8. Write a name for your document, making sure to end it with .vtt. Click Save. Mac: Click Format > Make Plain Text. Go to File > Save. Change the "Plain Text Encoding" dropdown to Unicode (UTF-8). Uncheck the "Hide extension" and "If no extension is provided, use .txt" checkboxes. Write a name for your document, making sure to end it with .vtt. Click Save.
Check your VTT file in a validator. A validator will make sure that your VTT file is valid and has no errors. If there's any issues, the validator will point out where they are and how to fix them. Go to the Live WebVTT Validator. There are many VTT validators online. Feel free to use a different one if you prefer, as they all work similarly. Copy and paste the contents of your VTT file into the validator. Select subtitles/captions/descriptions in the "Kind" dropdown. Resolve any issues if the validator calls them out.
What's the difference between SRT and VTT?
SRT and VTT are similar file formats with a few key differences. SRT (which stands for SubRip Subtitle) was created before VTT and is another file format for storing video subtitles. The big difference between the two is how much information each format can hold. As you learned above, VTT files can include information on how to adjust the font, color, and position of your subtitles or captions. VTT files can also include metadata, and they're supported by YouTube and Vimeo. VTT files work best when you want a lot of control over the style of your subtitles, or if you need to include metadata. SRT files, on the other hand, cannot include metadata, and only allows for basic subtitle/caption formatting. However, SRT files are supported by YouTube and Vimeo. SRT files are good for high-volume projects. They are also simpler than VTT files, so they are a little more user friendly.
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