Reduce costs
Lower bandwidth and storage expenses without compromising quality.
Add, modify, and extract subtitles in SRT and VTT formats.
Subtitle and caption management allows you to embed, extract, or transform subtitle tracks in video files and streaming manifests. Qencode handles multiple formats (SRT, VTT, WebVTT) and can burn captions directly into video or keep them as separate tracks. This matters now because accessibility is legally required in many jurisdictions, and platforms that don't support subtitles lose international audiences and violate compliance standards.
Lower bandwidth and storage expenses without compromising quality.
Automate complex processing that would take hours manually.
Handle thousands of videos with the same API call.
Simple robust API with comprehensive SDKs and documentation.
A streaming service operates in 15 countries with different subtitle compliance rules. Content needs multiple language tracks and regional compliance for specific caption positioning.
Manage all subtitle formats and compliance requirements in one API call, reducing localization turnaround from 2 weeks to 4 hours.
Live sports broadcast teams need to embed captions for hearing-impaired viewers and supply separate subtitle files to international distributors simultaneously.
Generate compliant captions and multi-format outputs in parallel, enabling worldwide distribution of the same live event within 30 minutes of broadcast end.
Online course platforms need subtitles for accessibility compliance and student engagement (students with hearing loss, non-native speakers, noisy environments).
Increase course completion rates by 25% and ensure WCAG 2.1 accessibility compliance across all course video content.
Watch a quick walkthrough showing how to configure and use Subtitles & Captions through the Qencode dashboard and API.
| API Method | POST /v1/start_encode2 with subtitles configured inside the format object. |
| Key Parameters | source, format, subtitles.sources[].source, subtitles.sources[].language, optional subtitles.copy: 1; use subtitles_copy: 0 to remove existing subtitles. |
| Supported Input Formats | .srt, .ass; embedded EIA-608 / EIA-708 captions can be copied from the source stream. |
| Supported Output Formats | Video renditions created by the transcoding job, such as MP4 and adaptive streaming outputs where subtitles/captions are supported. |
| Limits & Constraints | Subtitle file must be accessible by URL; each subtitle source requires both source and language; copy: 1 is used for EIA-608/EIA-708 captions and defaults to 0; existing subtitles are copied by default unless subtitles_copy: 0 is set. |
Produces Subtitles output JSON
{
"query": {
"source": "https://your-storage.com/source.mov",
"encoder_version": "2",
"format": [
{
"output": "mp4",
"video_codec": "libx264",
"resolution": 2160,
"optimize_bitrate": 1,
"subtitles": {
"sources": [
{
"source" : "https://qencode.com/sub/video.ENG.srt",
"language" : "eng"
},
{
"source" : "https://qencode.com/sub/video.FRA.srt",
"language" : "fra"
}
]
}
}
]
}
}Copy this payload and use it with your API key to test Subtitles & Captions on your own video.
View Subtitles TutorialIncluded with Transcoding
Subtitle and caption processing is available for all Qencode users. It is included with standard transcoding, with no additional cost per subtitle track.
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