SRT file

An SRT file is readable in any text editor. Each caption block has four parts: a sequence number, a timing line, one or more lines of text, and a blank line that separates it from the next block. The timing line uses hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds, with a comma before the milliseconds and an arrow between start and end, for example `00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:03,500`.

Because it is so simple, SRT is supported almost everywhere: YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, most video players and editing software. More advanced formats such as WebVTT add styling and positioning; SRT carries timing and text only.

If your short has burned-in captions, an SRT file may look redundant. It isn’t: closed captions uploaded as a file are machine-readable, which helps accessibility tools and gives platforms the exact text of the video. It also saves you from relying on automatic captions, which can misspell names and technical terms.

SRT files are also a quick way to reuse a video’s text, for a transcript, a blog post or a translation.

The first two blocks of a short’s SRT file might read: `1` / `00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,400` / “Your GPS never talks to satellites.” / blank line / `2` / `00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:04,100` / “It only listens.” Common mistakes are using a period instead of a comma in the timecode, overlapping times and missing blank lines.