Video Export
Video Export produces a video file with subtitles permanently rendered into the picture — a process commonly referred to as burnt-in or open subtitles. This approach is well suited for social media platforms, web delivery, and client screeners where the viewer should see captions regardless of device or player settings. Video Export is available in the desktop version of Closed Caption Creator.
Opening the Export Window
To begin, go to File > Export, select Video File, and click Next. The Video Export window will open. The first step is to choose an Export Location by clicking the folder button and selecting the directory where the output file should be saved. The path is remembered between sessions so returning to the same folder for a batch of episodes does not require re-selecting it each time.
Next, choose the Event Group that contains the captions you want to render, followed by an Export Preset. Presets define the output codec, resolution, and container format. Available options include platform-specific presets for Facebook and Instagram (including cropped vertical formats), YouTube, and Vimeo, as well as professional post-production presets such as ProRes 4444 and Apple MOV with alpha channel transparency — the latter being particularly useful for compositing subtitle graphics over video in an NLE. A proxy preset is also available for fast low-resolution outputs intended for review.
Customising Subtitle Appearance
The Subtitle Styles section lets you control the visual presentation of the burnt-in text. Font family can be selected from any font loaded into the Font Manager or from a set of standard system fonts including Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Tahoma, Trebuchet MS, Times New Roman, Georgia, Garamond, Courier New, and Brush Script MT. Font size is set in points and can range from 8 to 72. You can independently configure the font colour and opacity, outline colour, outline opacity, and outline size in pixels, as well as shadow colour, shadow opacity, and shadow size.
The Border Style option switches between an outline-and-shadow treatment and a solid background box behind the text. Horizontal and vertical padding, expressed as percentages of the frame, controls how close to the edges of the frame the text is rendered. Once you have configured a style you want to reuse, click Save Preset in the style panel to store it under a name. Saved style presets can be recalled using the style preset dropdown and deleted when no longer needed.
Using the Preview Panel
The Preview panel on the right side of the window provides a thumbnail image of how the subtitle will appear over the video. Click the camera icon to render a preview of the currently selected event. You can navigate between events using the first, previous, next, and last buttons, or by typing an event number directly into the input field. The preview image can be enlarged using the magnify button, which opens a full-screen overlay for closer inspection. A download button in the preview panel lets you save the thumbnail to disk — a useful way to send a client a sample of the final look before committing to a full export.
Once you are satisfied with the settings, click Export. The video will begin rendering and a progress indicator will update as frames are processed.
Export Presets
Export settings — including the selected folder path and ffmpeg preset — can be saved as a named export preset using the Save Preset button in the footer. These presets are separate from the visual style presets described above. Use export presets to standardise output settings across multiple episodes or deliverables that share the same technical specification. Previously saved presets can be loaded via the Load Preset button.
Troubleshooting
If the export fails to start, ensure a valid export location has been selected and that the source video file is accessible on disk. If the preview does not render, confirm the video file is loaded in the player and that the selected Event Group contains events. If the output video has no subtitles visible, check that the correct Event Group is selected and that the events fall within the video's duration. For transparency-based presets such as Apple MOV alpha, confirm that the receiving application supports alpha channel video.