SOLVED

Closed Caption .vtt edit in Stream

Copper Contributor

Love the closed caption creation on upload but how do I edit the .Vtt file created to correct our acronyms and accent? TIA

29 Replies

You can download the vtt file and edit it with a text editor (Notepad, etc) and then reupload it to the Stream site.

best response confirmed by Anne Millar (Copper Contributor)
Solution

So it would be as follows...
- After the autogenerated caption file is created and shows the transcript mode on the video.
- Edit the video
- Options section > Captions > "Download file"
- Open up the .VTT file downloaded in a text editor, make corrections, etc.
- Go back and edit the video > Options > Captions
- Uncheck the "autogenerate a caption file" check box.
- "Upload a caption" file button.
- Upload your edited .VTT file.
 
We'll then use your new custom caption file for the transcript mode and deep search.
 
NOTE: We'll be adding ability to edit the transcript direclty in Stream in the future as I know the above isn't intuitive or easy.

Thank you Marc - I will let the organisation know. Apparently, the Kiwi accent challenges the captioning software :-).

Cheers

Anne 

Great Explanation, however can you give more exact steps to download the VTT file. I have uploaded files checked the box for auto closed captioning, now cant figure out how to turn them on or see them.

If we've auto generated a caption file for your video you'll be able to download it with this...

- Edit the video
- Options section > Captions > "Download file"

 

If you don't see "Download file" in the captoins section or don't see a CC button on the player it means we didn't autogenerate one for your video.

 

We only support english/spanish language spoken in video.

You have to have that set on the video lanaguage field.

We also only support autogen of captoin for files that are MP4 or WMV. If it's any other extension it won't work. (You can try and just rename your file). We are looking at if we can fix this extension issue in the short run to support more or all formats we support for video playback.

 

I did search for a .vtt file editor and found a free one called 'subtitle edit' very professional and really easy to use

I don't see any options to download the captions that have been automatically generated on a video There is no option to download the transcription to edit it only a download the original video at the top of the options menu in edit mode? Am I missing something or is it a bug?

Hi,

I've managed to be able to download the automated .vtt file for my captions however, it's now asking me for an App to open this - can you suggest which App is best? 

Thank you

So, I think I understand the issue. Uploaded captions and auto-generated captions are two different things. If you want to override the auto-generated captions with your own custom VTT file, you'll need to uncheck the auto-generated captions option, manually upload your VTT file, and set the default language.
Any ETA for caption editing in the time since this was originally posted? It's wicked cumbersome at the moment.

@Jennifer Bill - Sorry I missed your question on this thread till now. You can edit the .VTT file in any text editor. Notepad, Notepad++, Textpad, etc.


@Greg Edwards wrote:
So, I think I understand the issue. Uploaded captions and auto-generated captions are two different things. If you want to override the auto-generated captions with your own custom VTT file, you'll need to uncheck the auto-generated captions option, manually upload your VTT file, and set the default language.

Correct.

We have been testing the transcript editor internally and we are waiting for some fixes before we pushed it out to everyone. However the way we implemented the editor it's part of the transcript window that shows on the video player page. This means that when we release the editor, you'll only be able to use it if your user has a O365 E5 or Stream Plan 2 license. 

 

@Adarsh Solanki can add more details if needed.

 

Thanks! This tool worked for me.

When attempting to upload a .vtt file on Mac OS X I get the following: "File format not supported. Please select a .vtt file" Something to do with how OS X handles files/extensions? Could Stream connect with Office 365 instead of using the upload dialog?

I just opened a bug to track this issue. I don't have a mac to test and see if I get the same issue.

@Marc Mroz does any one know if there are any editing tools to correct the time code?

@djreit - Our inline transcript editor only lets you change the text at each time code, it doesn't let you change the time codes themselves. To do that you'd have to download the VTT file, edit it in your own text editor (it's just a simple text file), and then re-upload it to the video in Stream. (Uncheck autogenate a caption file, and then click the upload a caption link to upload your manually edited VTT file).

I'm getting the same error as @David Van Leeuwen today - using a Mac, have been diligently editing a downloaded caption file, and cannot upload it.

 

Even downloading the caption file from Stream, and then immediately trying to reload it, fails as "File format not supported. Please select a .vtt file" - and that's the file directly from Microsoft Stream!

 

I've tried uploading the file from OneDrive rather than from my hard drive to no luck. Any workaround? Or is the workaround to find someone use a Windows PC?

 

(This is the second irritation today when trying to use Stream - both this instruction and this instruction for how to get to the captions area don't match my view of stream - neither ... has "Edit video" and the pencil does not have "Update video details" - fortunately one of the ... has "Update video details" so I got there in the end.)

1 best response

Accepted Solutions
best response confirmed by Anne Millar (Copper Contributor)
Solution

So it would be as follows...
- After the autogenerated caption file is created and shows the transcript mode on the video.
- Edit the video
- Options section > Captions > "Download file"
- Open up the .VTT file downloaded in a text editor, make corrections, etc.
- Go back and edit the video > Options > Captions
- Uncheck the "autogenerate a caption file" check box.
- "Upload a caption" file button.
- Upload your edited .VTT file.
 
We'll then use your new custom caption file for the transcript mode and deep search.
 
NOTE: We'll be adding ability to edit the transcript direclty in Stream in the future as I know the above isn't intuitive or easy.

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