MovieCaptioner Tutorial Videos

Video captioning and transcription software

How To Use MovieCaptioner for Mac (PDF)

Printable Infographic Poster (12"x40"): Getting Started with MovieCaptioner


Getting Started with MovieCaptioner - Basic Workflow

Getting Started

This is the first of a series of tutorial videos on how to use MovieCaptioner, the easiest way to create captions and transcripts for your videos. In this video I just show you the basic workflow - load your movie, click the Start button, type what you hear, hit your Return/Enter key to record the caption and timecode and it automatically proceeds to the next few seconds of the movie. There are versions of MovieCaptioner for both Mac and Windows.


Preparing Your Movies

Preparing Your Movies

For best performance in MovieCaptioner, you shouldn't use HD movies or movies that exceed 30 frames per second as their frame rate. This video will show you how to use a free program called MPEG Streamclip to make movies that will work well in MovieCaptioner. Download MPEG Streamclip from http://www.squared5.com.


Editing Your Captions - Part 1

Editing Part 1

This video describes how to use the editing buttons at the bottom of the MovieCaptioner interface to give you more flexibility on how you want your captions to display.


Editing Your Captions - Part 2

Editing Part 2

In this video we take a look at how to change the text properties of the captions you've already transcribed. We also look at the background properties and the options available for those as well. Be sure to click The Change Selected Caption or Change All Captions or your text properties won't change!


Importing Text Files

Importing Text Files

In this video we look at the proper way to import plain text files. It's important when you save your plain text files to use UTF-8 Encoding to eliminate unsupported characters that may cause issues with your captions. We will import text line by line and text in paragraph form in this video.


Setting Timecode
(Synchronizing Imported Text with the Video)

Setting Timecode

In this video I show you how to synchronize your imported transcripts to the video using the Set Timecode button. It is important to remember to hit your Return/Enter key at the first word of each caption to get perfect synchronization. The Set Timecode button can also be used to fine tune the timing of captions you set by either typing them in using the Repeat function or if you have imported another caption format.


Text Shortcuts

Text Shortcuts

In this video we look at a new feature that should speed up your transcription called Text Shortcuts. You can create abbreviations of things that you know you will need to type over and over and MovieCaptioner will expand these to what you want them to stand for. This will also cut down on typos (as long as you enter it in correctly to begin with). The Text Shortcuts Editor is available under the View menu.


Using the Spellcheck

Spellcheck

MovieCaptioner has a built-in spellcheck feature that makes words turn red as you type if it thinks you've spelled them wrong. You can either fix them on the fly or wait until you're all done transcribing and use the global spellcheck under the Spelling menu. The spellcheck has English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish dictionaries to choose from. You can add words that you commonly use and/or are not already in the dictionary easily under the Spellcheck window.


Using the Shift Start Times Function

Using the Shift Start Times Function

(No audio. Please use the CC button for instructions.) Let's say you want to move the start times of a bunch of captions to a later start time. You can do this by selecting the captions you want to shift and go to the Shift Start Times under the Edit menu. Note that I did not record narration for this video. Please follow the CC captions for instructions.


SCC Caption Format

SCC Caption Format

Sonic Scenarist (SCC) caption files are the source of some confusion at times. They're a bit different from some other formats. We're going to look at what they are and also the best ways to work with them using MovieCaptioner.


Creating Captions for YouTube

YouTube Captions

Creating captioned videos for YouTube couldn't be easier, and it will also increase your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by making the content of your videos searchable, whereas other videos that are not captioned will not be. Make use of this important advantage and open your video content up to a whole new audience, the deaf population, at the same time!


Creating Captions for Facebook

Facebook Captions

Many people don't know that you can also add a caption file to your Facebook videos, making them accessible for the deaf. It's very easy, but pay attention to Facebook's naming convention.


Creating 'Open Captions'

Creating 'Open Captions'

When you embed QT Text captions into a movie, you can usually only view them on QuickTime 7 on Mac and Windows due to the fact that they are the only players to support QT Text tracks. Other players might show the movie, but no captions, and if you uploaded your captioned video to YouTube, Vimeo or some other video service, the caption track would be stripped out. So what do you do?

You'll need to burn the caption track into the video track so the captions can't be left behind. Luckily you can do this now in MovieCaptioner for the Mac if you use the Open-Captioned Movie export option. MovieCaptioner will create a new movie with your captions and you'll be able to view them in QuickTime 7, QuickTime X, Windows Media Player, and any video service you upload it to.

On Windows, you'll need a third party software for now. iSkySoft's Video Encoder does a great job of it. Just add your movie to the interface, select your SRT caption file, import a background graphic if you wish, and let it do its thing. Visit iSkysoft for more information.


Setting Up QuickTime for SCC Closed Captions

Setting Up QuickTime


(Applicable to the Mac version only)

This video shows you how to apply the Closed Caption Importer plugin to QuickTime on your Mac so you can use the Embedded SCC export format in MovieCaptioner to see how your SCC captions will look. This also requires QuickTime Pro, which unfortunately is no longer available from Apple. (Booo!)


Exporting SCC (Line 21) Closed Captions For iOS devices

Exporting SCC

Embedding SCC in QT via MovieCaptioner is available on the Mac version only. You must use an MP4 movie to be able to save the embedded SCC Captions. You can also use the free app Subler to add SCC files to movies for iOS or Compressor, which is available from Apple's App Store.


The Absolute Easiest Way To Caption Videos
Using MovieCaptioner and MacSpeech (now called "Dragon for Mac")

Easiest Way To Caption Videos

In this video I show you how to use a speech-to-text program called MacSpeech to type for captions for you as you repeat them into your microphone. MacSpeech has since been bought out by Nuance.com and is now called Dragon for Mac. There is also a Windows version that works as well.

This video shows a VERY early version of MovieCaptioner! Still basically the same, but many, many improvements since then!


Would you like to see a video tutorial on something else? Drop us a line at synchrimedia@gmail.com