Hi Marilyn

Did you edit the YouTube generated captions?

George has spent a lot of time experimenting with Zoom. I have limited experience with Zoom recordings and captioning. I have captioned videos in the past, including some FEMA videos. This was several years ago. At that time, the software I was using (now available Mac only, I have a PC) allowed me to make perfect captions - open or closed - placed anywhere on the screen, but it took me about an hour to caption ten minutes.

I tried captioning one of our chapter meetings (approximately 90 minutes) and tried several methods before giving it a rest. Using the VTT file from a CART captioner usually is the best way to start. In our last meeting's recording, I found that CADET could shift the timing in the VTT file - needed because I trimmed the video.  I still had issues with the timing. What I ended up doing was allow YouTube to create the captions and then edit the captions and adding speakers. While doing so, I managed to mess up the display lengths of many of the lines. You have to be careful when using deletes and backspaces. So while the captioning is accurate, the visual appeal leaves something to be desired. You can sample the captions here.

YouTube changed the method captions are created. You used to have an option to have Google generate a caption file. Now, that option is gone and it seems that the file is automatically generated after the video is uploaded. The only thing is that there isn't a way to know how long before the file is available. When I uploaded our video to YouTube Studio, it took a week for the captions to appear. Again, it was a 90-minute video and ended up with 4800 lines. How long was your video?

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Alan Katsura
Moderator HLAA Tech Group