Working with Subtitles
You can create, add, and, edit subtitles and load SubRip Subtitle files (SRT) directly in the timeline.
You can then export and render subtitles as burned-in image exports or as separate SubRip (SRT) files.
To create a Subtitle track:
Import a subtitle file, loading either a SubRip Subtitle file (SRT) or an Avid Caption file.
Add a Subtitles track with Timeline context menu
New Tracks and Versions
Add Subtitles Track or click Add Subtitles Tracks.
![](https://help.autodesk.com/cloudhelp/2025/ENU/Flame-EditingClipsSequences/images/ac.menuaro.gif)
To add a subtitle:
Select a Gap on the Subtitle track.
Right-click your video track and select Copy Transitions to Track
Subtitle Track to create on the Subtitle track the gaps for your subtitles.
Insert a Subtitle Timeline FX.
Click Editor to open the Effects tab.
In the Effects tab, use the Subtitles Timeline FX editor to add your subtitles to text layers.
Enter the subtitle and format the text using the Text, Shadow, Background, and Alignment options.
To edit a Subtitle track:
In the Effects tab, select Subtitle FX Mode box
Subtitle to switch to the Subtitle tracks.
Select the Subtitle track to edit from the Track and Version Selection box.
Select a segment to display its Subtitle Timeline FX.
Note: You can also double-click a Subtitle FX in Timeline to open it in Effects.Edit the subtitle in the Subtitles Timeline FX editor.
About the Subtitle Track
The Subtitle track holds the subtitles of a clip. Each subtitle is a Subtitle Timeline FX on a Gap in the Subtitle track.
The Subtitle track behaves like a Video track, with the following differences:
- You cannot patch a Subtitle track.
- You can only see the output of one Subtitle track, all other Subtitle tracks are muted. Use
to hide and show a Subtitle track.
- The Rippling function is enabled by default.
![](https://help.autodesk.com/cloudhelp/2025/ENU/Flame-EditingClipsSequences/images/ac.menuaro.gif)
![](https://help.autodesk.com/cloudhelp/2025/ENU/Flame-EditingClipsSequences/images/ac.menuaro.gif)
Some editorial operations performed on a segment of a Subtitle Track are blocked or different from what can be done on a Video track:
- You cannot move a gap from a Subtitle track to a video track.
- You cannot add a video segment to a Subtitles track.
- Editorial operations such as Slip are not allowed since they wouldn't change the output of the segment.
- If a Subtitle segment is part of a Sync Group with a video segment and that video segment is slid, then the Subtitle segment also slides along.
Cycle through the Subtitles tracks using the Set Subtitles Track on Previous Track and Set Subtitles Track on Next Track shortcuts. Both are available as keyboard shortcuts and on the Tangent panels, but are not assigned keystrokes by default. Use the Application menu Keyboard Shortcuts... to assign keystrokes.
While you cannot move a gap from a Subtitle track to a Video track and vice versa, you can copy-paste subtitles between tracks. The following options copy-pastes Subtitle Timeline FX between segments on different tracks
- Copy Subtitles Track above Video Track is available for the Subtitles tracks. Select a track first to access the option.
- Copy to Subtitles Track is available for the Video tracks.
Importing Subtitles
When working with subtitles, you are often provided with a file that contains the subtitles for the sequence you are working on. This subtitles file contains the subtitle text and the timings for the text in the form of timecodes.
You can import directly into your sequence subtitles from either SubRip Subtitle (SRT) files or Avid subtitle text files.
To import a subtitle file:
From the Create Track menu, click Import Subtitles File.
In the Import Subtitles window, filter for SubRip (SRT) or Avid Caption (txt) files.
You can import multiple subtitle files at the same time, as long as they are of the same type (SRT or Avid).
In the file browser, navigate to your subtitle file, and select it.
Click Load.
Each subtitle is laid out on the Subtitles track as a Subtitle Timeline FX on a Gap.
Align First Event to Clip Start: This option ignores the time information from the subtitle files.
An Avid Caption file does not specify its frame rate. For the best results, when importing an Avid Caption file, enable Convert From Frame Rate and select the frame rate of the captions.
Imported SRT or Avid Subtitle File - Results
Upon importing a subtitle file, a new Subtitle track is generated above the video tracks, with each imported subtitle file creating its own track.
Every event in a subtitle file results in a gap with a Subtitle Timeline FX. The segment name is composed of the event number and the text from the first subtitle layer.
Since all segments have unlimited handles, the Head and Tail information is not displayed.
Attributes such as Bold, Italic, Underline, and Position found in a SubRip (SRT) file are applied to the Subtitle on import.
Exporting Subtitles
You can export a subtitle track in on three methods. They are:
- As a standalone SRT file, from Timeline.
- As a sidecar SRT file, exported alongside the media.
- Burned-in the image as you export the media.
Exporting Subtitles as a Standalone SRT File
When you export a subtitle track, it's always in the SRT format. While you can import Avid Caption files, you cannot export subtitles as Avid Captions.
To export a subtitle track:
Right-click the Timeline canvas and select Export Subtitles as SRT File.
From the Subtitle Tracks drop-down, select the track to export.
Set the Standard Formatting, Extra Formatting, and Start Timecode options as required.
Original Formatting options are only available when exporting a Subtitle track you created by importing a Subtitle file.
Click Load.
You can also export all Subtitle tracks with
Export All Subtitles as SRT Files. In this case, each Subtitle track is exported in its own SRT file, and you don't have to select the track to export.
Export Subtitles With the Clip
You can include the Subtitle tracks when you export the sequence. When doing so, you have two options: export a Subtitle track as an SRT file alongside the media, or burn the Subtitle track in the exported media.
Export with Subtitles Burned In the Media
The Include Subtitles button can be enabled in the Media Export window to either burn the subtitles inside the exported clip or export them as separate files.
Burning-in the subtitles is the only export method that supports all the settings of the Subtitle Timeline FX, including layer opacity, shadow, and background.
To burn the Subtitle track in the media:
Right-click the sequence and select Export...
Select an export preset or set up your export options.
Enable Include Subtitles.
Set Subtitle Export Mode to Burn in Image.
Select the Subtitle track to output.
The option Current Subtitle Track selects the track that is currently displayed in Timeline.
Click Export.
You do not have to set the options in the Subtitles Options tab since these only apply to the SRT file export.
The sequence is exported, with the subtitles burned in the frames as they appear in Timeline.
If you're exporting multiple sequences in one export operation, then you cannot select the Subtitle track for each clip. Instead, the Subtitle track currently active for each sequence is automatically selected for export.
Export Subtitles Alongside the Media
Instead of burning a Subtitle track in the exported media, you can export the Subtitle track (or all tracks) as an SRT file created as the media is exported.
To export the Subtitle track as an SRT file alongside the media:
Right-click the sequence and select Export...
Select an export preset or set up your export options.
Enable Include Subtitles.
Set Subtitle Export Mode to Export as Files.
Select the Subtitle track to export.
You choose to export all Subtitle tracks of a sequence. In this case, the export produces one SRT file for each Subtitle track.
Enable Show Advanced Options.
Open the Subtitles Options tab.
Set the Standard Formatting, Extra Formatting, and Start Timecode options, as required.
Original Formatting options are only available when exporting a Subtitle track you created by importing a Subtitle file.
Edit the Subtitles Pattern field to create the SRT file name. Use the Token box to create dynamic names.
If you're exporting multiple Subtitle tracks, use tokens that creates unique names to avoid overwriting SRT files. For example,
<subtitle name>
is good token to use if you gave a unique name to each Subtitle track.Click Export.
The sequence is exported, with the Subtitle track exported to its SRT file.
Export Presets
You can also use one of the prebuilt Format Presets to export your clip with subtitles. There are four available movie presets, two for QuickTime and two for MP4, for exporting Subtitle tracks as SRT files.
QuickTime:
- QuickTime with Subtitles (Timing)
- Creates a 10-bit QuickTime file (Apple ProRes 422) 1920x1080 with SRT file.
- 1920x1080 ProRes 422 / PCM 16-bit Stereo
- Name token for movie and subtitles
- Start Timecode: Same as Clip.
- QuickTime with Subtitles (No Timing)
- Creates a 10-bit QuickTime file (Apple ProRes 422) 1920x1080 with SRT file for applications not supporting the timecode of the QuickTime file.
- 1920x1080 ProRes 422 / PCM 16-bit Stereo
- Name token for movie and subtitles
- Start Timecode: Relative To Clip Start
MP4:
- MP4 with Subtitles (Timing)
- Creates an 8-bit MP4 file (H.264 Baseline 1920x1080 20 Mbits) with SRT file.
- 1920x1080 H.264 Baseline (1080p 20 Mbits) / AAC 160 kbps Stereo
- Name token for movie and subtitles
- Start Timecode: Same as Clip.
- MP4 with Subtitles (No Timing)
- Creates an 8-bit MP4 file (H.264 Baseline 1920x1080 20 Mbits) with SRT file for applications not supporting the timecode of the MP4 file.
- 1920x1080 H.264 Baseline (1080p 20 Mbits) / AAC 160 kbps Stereo
- Name token for movie and subtitles
- Start Timecode: Relative To Clip Start
Subtitle Export Options
When you export a Subtitle track, whether as a standalone SRT file, as sidecar SRT file, or burned in the clip, you have access to Subtitle-specific options. These options are there to help you control the format of the exported Subtitles.
Use Original Colour: Enable this option to export the contents of the Subtitle track with the colours of the SRT or Avid Caption file you imported in the Timeline. This option is only available when Use Colours is set to All Colours or Colours Different Than, and the Subtitle track was created from the import of a subtitle file. This allows you to edit the subtitles of a clip, and then export the Subtitle track with the original text colours. This setting is not foolproof, and only works if you do not alter the subtitles too much: deleting layers and gaps can create unexpected results.
Use Original Alignment: Enable this option to export the contents of the Subtitle track with the alignments of the SRT or Avid Caption file you imported in the Timeline. This option is only available when Use Alignments is set to All Alignmentsor Alignments Different Than, and the Subtitle track was created from the import of a subtitle file. This allows you to edit the subtitles of a clip, and then export the Subtitle track with the original alignments. This setting is not foolproof, and only works if you do not alter the subtitles too much: deleting layers and gaps can create unexpected results.
Character-Based Attributes: Enable to export the character attributes set in the Subtitle track. These attributes only include italics, bold, and underline. None of the other settings found under the Subtitle Attributes section in the Subtitle Timeline FX are supported by the SRT file format. This means that attributes like text opacity or size, text shadow, and text background are all ignored on SRT export: these settings are only supported within Flame or when you burn-in the subtitles on export. If you disable Character-Based Attributes, italics, bold, and underline settings are all discarded on export.
Use Colours: Select No Colour to discard all colour information on export. All Colours preserves the colour assigned to each text layer in the SRT file. A third option is available when you export and SRT file directly from Timeline with the Export Subtitles as SRT File. In this case, Colours Different Than allows you to select a colour in Discard Colour. In this case, the selected colour is discarded on export: the text using this colour is still exported, but the SRT file does not contain the selected colour information.
Use Alignment: Select No Alignments to discard all alignment information on export. All Alignments preserves the alignment assigned to each text layer in the SRT file. Alignments Different Than allows you to select an alignment in Discard Alignment. The selected alignment information is discarded on export: the text using this alignment is still exported, but the SRT file does not contain the selected alignment information.
Alignment Format: The SRT format supports two types of alignment markers: the an
format and the a
format. Most recent applications understand the an
format, and this is the alignment format you should use. Only use the a
format when working with older subtitling applications.
Subtitles Start Timecode: Same as Clip: The SRT timing uses the timecode of the sequence. Relative to Clip Start: The SRT timing uses an offset from 00:00:00:00 from the start of the sequence. Use this option when exporting content to a third-party application or streaming service that does not support timecode metadata in media files. For example, if your sequence starts at 10:00:00:00 and that your first subtitle starts at 10:00:30:00, the timing of the subtitles will be set at 00:00:30:00.