"No timestamped transcript cues were found" when converting TXT to SRT
“No timestamped transcript cues were found.”
What is actually wrong
SRT cues need a start and an end time. The converter scans the text for timestamps in the layouts transcription services use and, when it finds none, it cannot invent them. A transcript exported without timestamps, a script, or a document where the times were deleted during cleanup will all produce this message.
Fix it here: TXT to SRT
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The fix, step by step
Check the file for timestamps
Open it. You need something like 00:01:02, [00:01:02], 1:02 at the start of a paragraph, or an Avid caption timecode pair. Speaker names alone are not enough.
Re-export with timestamps if they are missing
Rev, Otter, Descript and Trint all have a timestamp option on export. Whisper needs verbose_json or the SRT output. Word transcripts from Premiere carry them when exported with timecode.
Convert the timed file
Drop the timed TXT here. Cues are built from each timestamped block, speaker names kept as a prefix.
What the converter looks for
The TXT to SRT converter recognises the transcript layouts editors actually receive:
- Rev and Trint style: a speaker name, a timestamp such as
00:01:02on its own line or in brackets, then the paragraph. - Otter style:
Speaker 1 1:02on one line, text on the next. - Word transcripts from Premiere and Descript: timestamps at the start of each paragraph, sometimes with frames.
- Avid caption TXT: a timecode-in and timecode-out pair followed by the caption lines.
- Timestamps in square brackets anywhere in a line, which many custom scripts produce.
Each timestamp starts a cue. The cue ends where the next one begins, or after a sensible reading duration for the last block. When none of those patterns match, there is nothing to anchor a cue to, and the converter says so instead of guessing.
Why it cannot invent timing
A plain transcript tells you what was said, not when. Estimating times from word count assumes a constant speaking rate, and speech is never constant: pauses, laughter, interruptions and edits all shift the words. Subtitles built from estimated timing drift within the first minute and are useless by the fifth. The honest answer is to get the timing from the source, and every transcription tool can provide it.
Getting a timed export
- Rev: on the transcript download, tick "Include timestamps". Or download the SRT directly.
- Otter: Export > TXT with "Include timestamps" on, or export SRT.
- Descript: Publish > Export > Subtitles for SRT, or transcript with timecodes.
- Whisper: run with
--output_format srt, or ask the API forverbose_jsonand use the JSON to SRT converter. - Premiere: export the transcript from the Text panel; the .prtranscript converter reads it.
A transcript without times still has a use
If the goal is to get the text into Premiere for its speech-based editing, timing can come from Premiere itself: the Word to Premiere JSON converter writes a transcript JSON that Premiere imports and aligns. That path does not need timestamps in the source.
All of this runs in your browser. The transcript is never uploaded.
FAQ
- Can the converter guess timing from the text?
- No, deliberately. Estimated timing drifts within a minute. Get a timed export from the transcription tool instead; every major service offers one.
- What timestamp formats are accepted?
- HH:MM:SS, MM:SS, H:MM:SS with optional milliseconds or frames, in brackets or bare, at the start of a line or after a speaker name. Avid caption timecode pairs are also read.
- I only have the text and need it in Premiere.
- Use Word or TXT to Premiere JSON. Premiere aligns the text to the audio on import, so no timestamps are needed for that path.