Start a new topic

Uploading captions to existing YouTube videos (where I am not the owner) and (when I am the owner)

I really need to understand how to make the video captions I just created appear on an existing YouTube video (where I am not the owner)

I just finished captioning my first video and when I clicked "done" it gave me a message that said I had not finished syncing my captions. I've looked it over many times but have no idea where I'm missing something.  I managed to save the work I have done, but frustrated that I can't actually do anything with it.

I also want to know how to add captions to videos that I do own on YouTube?  I've read the trouble shooting guide and see that there is a code that needs to be embedded somewhere.  I don't have a clue how to do this?  I understand how to open up the edit and click on "add new transcripts" but it wants me to browse for some file on my computer.  I don't have a file for the caption.  Anyway I'm very confused.

Amara was highly recommended in a workshop by Tim Farley (Skeptical Software Tools http://skeptools.wordpress.com/2012/07/13/tam2012-skeptic-crowdsourcing-workshop-crowd-source-tam/) .  I have a group of world-wide volunteers whom are going to begin adding captions to videos in many languages.  But not until I give them the thumbs up on this software.  As the leader of the group, it is very important that I understand how to use it.  I'm not extremely tech but manage to get by, still I'm needing some extra help so that we can start using your software, and get these videos captioned. 

Other than these problems, I loved captioning the one video I did.

Help please!

Susan

Hi Susan,

Amara gives you the ability to download the subtitle file (.srt format should do it), which file you can then use to upload on youtube. In order to download the subtitle file, go to the video, then to the language you want to download, and you will see a "Download" button. When you hover over it, it will show you available formats, and like I said, .srt should probably work for you.

I don't know if it's possible to add subtitles for a youtube video you're not the owner of. I doubt it. Perhaps the best way here is to either upload the video on your channel or to contact the owner and send them the subtitle files (or to ask them to give you the necessary permissions for the channel, if possible).
Hi Susan,

Great questions-- I'll do my best to answer them in full, but I know that this tech stuff can get confusing, so don't hesitate to reply if you need more clarification.

A common mistake is forgetting to sync the very last subtitle line's END point. Not doing this is the most common reason users get the "you have unsynced captions" error. Double check that very last subtitle line is completely synced. Just to be safe, you can hover your mouse over the end-time of the subtitle, click and hold it, then wiggle it around side-to-side. This should do the trick to set it's END point appropriately. Our developers know about this issue, and are working on a longer-term solution that will help users not have to face this in the future.

You can use your subtitles in a number of ways once they're complete.

If you own the youtube content:
You can download the .SRT file by going to the video in Amara, clicking on the language that you want the subtitles for, and then clicking "download". Then you can go to your YouTube channel's admin panel to upload subtitles to your video. If you need additional information on YouTube's admin panel, please let me know and I'd be happy to clarify.

If you don't own the youtube content:
You can either use the Amara URL and have users watch the video there, or you can embed Amara's video player into your website/blog/etc. All you have to do is click "get embed code" on the left-panel of any Amara video, copy the code that appears in the pop-up, and paste it into your blog or website. If this doesn't work, please provide more details on where/how you'd like to share your subtitles, and I could provide more information.

I hope this helps clear things up, and I look forward to your response!

Best,
Darren
Login or Signup to post a comment