How to Create Captions and Subtitles in Adobe Premiere Pro CC (2017)

Introduction

Creating captions and subtitles for your videos can significantly enhance accessibility and engagement. Adobe Premiere Pro CC (2017) offers a handy caption feature that lets you easily add open or closed captions to your projects. In this article, we will go through the step-by-step process of creating captions in Adobe Premiere Pro, focusing on open captions.

Getting Started

Creating a New Caption Track
Begin by navigating to the File menu and selecting New. Then, choose Captions from the options presented. You can also access this feature through the New Item button, where the captions option resides, allowing you to choose between open and closed captions.
Understanding Open vs. Closed Captions
- Closed Captions: These can be turned on or off by the viewer, making them suitable for platforms where users can toggle captions (e.g., VLC or Windows Media Player).
- Open Captions: These are always visible in the video, making them ideal for accessibility for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.
Setting Up Open Captions
After selecting open captions and clicking OK, a caption track will be created in your project. Drag this caption track into your sequence, where you can see the placeholder text "Type caption text here".

Editing Your Captions

Accessing the Captions Panel
If the captions panel is not visible, go to Window and select Captions to open it.
Customizing Caption Appearance
With your captions selected in the project panel, you can edit their text in the captions panel. For instance, you might start with a line such as:
“Hey, what's up everybody? Adobe Masters here!”
Adjust the font, size, and style to match your project’s aesthetics. For example, you could choose the "Broadway" font and increase the size for visibility.
Background and Edging
Beneath the customization options, you can modify the background color and opacity. Reducing the background's opacity can make the captions blend better with your video. To add an edge (or stroke) around the text, select the text color and increase the edge setting. Then, choose a color for your edge, such as black, to improve visibility.

Aligning Captions with Audio

Timing Your Captions
Aligning each caption with the audio may be time-consuming, as you’ll need to listen to your audio and adjust the captions accordingly.
Adding New Captions
When you reach the end of a sentence, you can click the plus button to create a new caption where you can input your next line of text. For example:
“Today, I’m going to be showing you…”.
Repeat this process for the entire duration of your audio, ensuring the captions sync perfectly with your speech.

Conclusion

Adding captions in Adobe Premiere Pro is a straightforward process that can significantly elevate the professionalism of your videos. It also plays a crucial role in making content accessible to a wider audience, aligning with best practices for inclusivity.

If you have any questions regarding the captioning process, feel free to leave a comment below! For more Adobe-related content, subscribe to stay updated on our latest posts.

Keyword

Adobe Premiere Pro
Captions
Open Captions
Closed Captions
Accessibility
Video Editing
Customization

FAQ

Q: What is the difference between open and closed captions?
A: Open captions are always visible in the video, while closed captions can be turned on or off by the viewer.

Q: How do I create captions in Adobe Premiere Pro?
A: Navigate to the File menu, select New, then choose Captions. From there, you can customize and add captions to your project.

Q: Can I change the appearance of my captions?
A: Yes, you can customize the font, size, color, opacity, and add an edge around the text in the captions panel.

Q: How do I align the captions with my video's audio?
A: You'll need to listen to your audio and manually adjust the timing of each caption to ensure that they sync with the corresponding speech.