Creating a Caption File

To add captions to a video inserted into a PowerPoint presentation, you will need to create a caption file. You can create it using a special web service or manually. In our article, we will outline how to create a WebVTT file on our own.

Creating a WebVTT File

First, we'll need to create a file with the .vtt extension (a WebVTT file).

1. Create a new text document using the Notepad program.
   

   
   
   

2. Open the file you've created. Click the File tab and choose Save As.
   
   
   
   
3. In the Save As window:
      • Enter the file name, specifying the caption language code and adding the .vtt extension to the name.
        Example: captions.en.vtt
      • In the Save as type menu, select All files
      • In the Encoding menu, choose UTF-8
   
   Finally, click Save.
   
   
   
   
4. The file with the .vtt extension has been created. 
   
   
   

Adding Captions to the File

Next, proceed to add captions to the file.

1. Open the created file.
   
   
2. The first line you need to write in the file is WEBVTT.
   
   
3. After that, specify a time frame during which the captions will be shown on the screen and enter the text.
   
     • To determine the start and finish time of the captions display, open the slide with the video.
        A timer on the player toolbar shows when the video fragment starts and finishes.
    
       
   
   • Specify the time in the following format: hh:mm:ss.ТТТ
     Use two digits for hours (hh), minutes (mm), and seconds (ss). These three values are separated by a colon (:). 
     After ss, put a period and three digits for thousandths of a second (TTT).
   
   • If the video clip lasts less than an hour, the timer will only show minutes, seconds, and thousandths of a second.
     However, you are required to add hours (00) and a third digit for thousandths of a second (0). For example, 00:00:05.330.
   
   • Put an arrow between the start and finish time of a fragment. For instance, 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:05.330.
   
   • Type the text that will be displayed on the screen during the video fragment.
   
   • Divide the text to be placed on the screen into lines. The maximum number of lines is 3. 
   
      
   
   
4. Add captions to all fragments of the video, save changes, and close the file. Captions for your video are now all set, and you can upload them.