How to add auto captions in DaVinci Resolve without Studio

The free version of DaVinci Resolve doesn't make captions from speech. Timeline > Create Subtitles from Audio is a DaVinci Resolve Studio feature, and Studio is a $295 one-time purchase from Blackmagic Design. The free version still takes captions made somewhere else, two ways: an SRT on a subtitle track, or a project whose captions are already Text+ titles. Captions makes both from your video's speech, on your computer.

Speech recognition makes mistakes. Check names and spellings before you post.

The Studio way: Create Subtitles from Audio

If you have Studio, Resolve does it in place:

1. Put the clip on a timeline.
2. Choose Timeline > Create Subtitles from Audio, pick the language and the caption length, and click Create.
3. Resolve adds a subtitle track with the captions. Style the whole track in the Inspector.

On the free version, some people install AutoSubs, a free, open-source add-on that runs the Whisper speech model and puts the captions on the timeline. It works, but it's one more thing to install and keep working with each Resolve update.

The free way: an SRT on a subtitle track

1. Open Captions, drop the video and fix the words.
2. Download the SRT. Caption files are free, with no sign-in.
3. In Resolve, choose File > Import > Subtitle and pick the .srt. It lands in the Media Pool.
4. Drag it onto the timeline above the video. Resolve makes a subtitle track for it.

The guide to adding SRT subtitles in Resolve covers styling the track and the timing offset that puts subtitles an hour late.

A subtitle track suits captions people can turn on and off, and Resolve can still burn it in on the Deliver page. For captions that are part of the picture, with an outline and a box drawn on each one, use Text+.

The styled way: Text+ titles in a .drp

1. On Captions, drop the video, pick a look and fix the words.
2. Download DaVinci Resolve. Project files come with a paid video: $5, or one of the videos a Pro or Studio plan includes. You get a .drp.
3. In Resolve's Project Manager, right-click an empty space, choose Import Project and pick the .drp. Double-click it to open it.
4. The video comes in offline, because the project names it but not where it is. Right-click the clip in the Media Pool, choose Relink Selected Clips and pick the folder with the video.

It opens in the free version and in Studio.

What the timeline looks like

Take a 60-second vertical video at 1080×1920 and 30 fps, captioned with the Clean look at two lines a caption:

• The timeline is 1080×1920 at 30 fps.
• V1 holds the video and A1 its sound.
• V2 holds one Text+ title per caption, about 20 for a minute of talking, each starting and ending on its caption's frames.
• Each title is white with a black outline, low on the frame. Select one and change its words or font in the Inspector.

What comes across, and what doesn't

• Words and timing come across to the frame.
• Colour, size, position and outline come across in every Text+ title, and the box too for the Box and Lower third looks.
• Shadows don't. Add one in the title's Inspector if you want it.
• The spoken-word highlight of the Bold and Pop looks is drawn into the burned-in MP4 only. In the project each caption is one title.
• Fonts. The project names the font, Arial for most looks and Bebas Neue for Pop. If a font isn't installed, Resolve uses another one.

FAQ

Does the free version of DaVinci Resolve have auto captions? No. Create Subtitles from Audio is a DaVinci Resolve Studio feature. In the free version, import an SRT made elsewhere onto a subtitle track, or open a project whose captions are already Text+ titles.

Should I use subtitles or Text+ titles? Use a subtitle track when you need a caption file or captions viewers can turn off; Resolve exports it from the Deliver page. Use Text+ titles when the captions are part of the picture, styled one by one, as on most vertical videos.

How do I relink the video after importing the .drp? The project names the video but not where it is, so Resolve brings it in offline. In the Media Pool, right-click the offline clip, choose Relink Selected Clips and pick the folder with the video. Resolve finds it there by name, so keep the video's file name as it was.

Do the captions keep their style in Resolve? Yes. Each Text+ title keeps its colour, size, position and outline, and its box when the look has one. Shadows and the spoken-word highlight are only in the burned-in MP4.

How much does it cost? Free: the captioned MP4 up to 3 minutes with a small cutconvert.com mark in the corner, plus the SRT and VTT. One captioned video costs $5: any length, no mark, and the captions as editable text in CapCut, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve and Final Cut Pro. Pro includes 10 captioned videos a month and Studio 40.