Forum Discussion
Best way to add text to a video automatically on Windows 11?
Using auto-captions is a powerful and completely free, open-source method to add text to video automatically, especially if you're comfortable with a command-line workflow. It's a great solution for adding professional, stylized burned-in captions.
The auto-captions tool from GitHub is a Python script that creates a seamless pipeline for burning captions into your videos.
- Generate Per-Word Timestamps: It first extracts the audio from your video and uses Whisper (a local AI speech-to-text model) to generate a JSON file containing timestamps for every single word.
- Create a Styled Subtitle File: It then uses the timestamps to create an Advanced SubStation Alpha (.**bleep**) subtitle file. This format allows for detailed styling, including control over font, size, outline thickness, shadow, and margins.
- Burn Captions into the Video: The final step uses a simple FF mpeg command to "burn" the styled .**bleep** file directly into your video, permanently embedding the text onto the video frames.
The project explicitly states it's "perfect for YouTube, social media, and accessibility," and is ideal for creating "karaoke style highlights". This makes it a highly effective way to add text to a video with a polished, engaging look.
auto-captions is a robust, free, and fully local way to add text to video. It offers advanced styling and a clear workflow for generating and burning captions, making it an excellent choice for those who are comfortable with the command line. Its focus on per-word timestamps and stylized .**bleep** subtitles sets it apart from simpler tools.