To add captions to a video: stabilise the spoken edit first, create or generate a transcript, correct the wording, divide the text into readable groups, synchronise each group with the audio, decide between burned-in and separate delivery, style and position the text, and inspect the exact final output.
The mistake this order prevents: do not fully style captions while the spoken edit is still changing. Replacing a take or moving a sentence invalidates the text and timing that follow it. And the mindset that carries the whole job: captions are not finished when speech has been turned into text; they are finished when wording, grouping, timing, presentation and the delivered output have all been reviewed.
Step 1 and 2: stabilise, then choose the deliverable
Confirm the takes, scene order, terminology and ending before captioning anything. Then decide what ships: burned-in, a selectable track, or both, and avoid stacking identical burned-in and selectable text on top of each other. For short-form feeds, burned-in is the usual answer.
Step 3 to 5: transcript, corrections, speakers
Generate or write the transcript, then correct it against the audio. The high-risk list is stable across every project: personal and company names, product terms, numbers, prices, dates, acronyms, and above all negations. "The price does not include implementation" with the not dropped is a fluent, spelling-perfect lie. The transcript should represent what is actually said; do not silently rewrite a claim while captioning it. An approved spelling list for recurring names pays off from the second video onward.
Add speaker labels and sound descriptions only where comprehension needs them. Not every incidental sound deserves a caption.
Step 6 and 7: grouping and timing
Divide by meaning, not by equal word counts. "The project is not / ready." momentarily says the opposite of what was said; "The project is not ready." never does. Keep connected words together: numbers with units, negations with their verbs, first names with last names.
Time each group to its speech: appearing with the phrase, staying long enough to read, gone when the thought is. Not every caption deserves the same duration; a rigid mechanical interval reads worse than following the meaning.
Step 8 and 9: style and position
Choose between phrase display, word-by-word reveal or a hybrid; none is a universal winner. Style for the hardest scene, not the easiest: the busiest background, the smallest screen. Position so nothing important is covered, and accept that the right position can differ per scene: low for a talking head, high or beside for a screen recording.
Step 10 to 12: review, deliver, inspect
Review the complete captioned video in passes: accuracy against the audio, meaning, timing, readability at real playback speed, composition, consistency. Include one sound-off pass; it catches what your ears were compensating for, though it never replaces comparison with the audio.
Then export or deliver, and inspect the exact output: burned-in files re-watched end to end, subtitle files tested in the destination player, because no two platforms interpret the same file identically. For translations, translate only a verified source transcript, and expect the timing and segmentation to need their own pass.
Where ReadyForm fits
ReadyForm collapses steps 1 through 8 into the edit itself: captions are word-timed as the video is made, styled by your brand kit, and the transcript in the story view is the caption track. Corrections are the part it deliberately keeps human: double-click a word, fix it, and the caption follows, with timing that re-syncs automatically. Burned into the render, no separate files to manage. See the captions feature or how the edit is made.