Translate VTT files

Translate caption tracks for HTML5 video, online courses and webinars using more than 200 source and target languages, then download a VTT file with its header, cue settings and timestamps preserved for your web publishing and accessibility workflow.

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VTT

VTT translation overview

WebVTT caption tracks carry text and display settings for HTML5 video, learning platforms and webinar recordings. Upload a VTT (.vtt) file, including caption exports from YouTube or Vimeo, and translate the cue text while retaining the header, cue identifiers and settings. This page takes caption files, not video or audio.

Translate dialogue, narration and sound descriptions while NOTE, STYLE and REGION blocks remain exactly as written and are excluded from billing. Voice tags retain their speaker names; speaker names written in the visible caption text are translated. Reserved characters in translated text are escaped to keep the caption syntax valid.

A sample of the file and neighboring cues guide names, politeness and sentences that span captions, with glossaries for recurring terminology. Each target language comes back as a separate file with the uploaded name and extension. qlot checks cue structure and timing before delivery: if the check fails or too many cues remain untranslated, nothing is charged. A finished-job quality report is available on PRO and TEAM.

Caption structure retained

The header, NOTE comments, STYLE and REGION blocks, cue identifiers and cue settings remain unchanged.

Unchanged cue timing

Translate caption text while retaining every timing line and the original cue count and order.

Context-aware caption translation

A file sample and surrounding cues guide recurring names, speaker politeness and sentences spanning multiple captions.

Multilingual caption tracks

Choose from more than 200 source and target languages, apply glossaries and translate one file into several languages at once.

Paid-plan file translation

Upload a caption file up to 12MB and up to 1 million lines and download its translation on a paid plan.

Caption text billing

Credits cover selected caption text, excluding headers, notes, timing and tags, with repeated cue text counted once.

Translate your VTT file in three simple steps

1

Upload your VTT track

Drop your .vtt caption file here or select it from your device, up to 12MB and up to 1 million lines.

2

Select your caption languages

Choose the source language and one or more target languages, then start on a paid plan.

3

Download the translated track

Download your translated caption file with its header, cue settings and original timestamps preserved.

What stays intact

Cue timestamps and identifiersTiming lines, cue identifiers, cue count and cue order remain exactly as written. Blank lines, line endings and text outside cues stay unchanged; a blank line ends a cue, as it does in video players.
Header, blocks and cue settingsThe WEBVTT header and its metadata, NOTE comments, STYLE and REGION blocks, and position, line, align and size settings remain unchanged and are not billed.
Formatting and voice tagsInner italic, bold, underline, color and class tags are restored around translated words when possible; otherwise the cue text loses its inner tags. Voice tags and their speaker names, and whole-line tags, stay unchanged. Word-timed lines lose inner timing, formatting and class tags. Reserved ampersands and less-than characters in translated text are escaped.
Speakers and sound descriptionsDialogue, lyrics, sound descriptions and speaker names in caption text are translated. Speaker dashes, double-chevron marks, music notes and position codes stay as written. Two speakers, including those identified by voice tags, stay on separate lines without further splitting.
Caption line layoutSingle-speaker cues use one line when the translation fits, otherwise two balanced lines, breaking after punctuation where possible. Lines are kept within 42 display columns for most languages, 16 full-width characters for Korean and Chinese, 13 for Japanese and 35 characters for Thai wherever the translation allows; a full-width character counts as two display columns. Longer translations may exceed the limit on two lines rather than being shortened or truncated. A cue gets no more than two lines unless the original had more. Korean, Japanese and Chinese cues end without a full stop.
Automatic and rolling captionsRepeated lines in rolling captions keep the same translation each time and remain one line each. Lines containing word-by-word timing become plain translated text, without inner timing, formatting or class tags; cue timing is preserved.
Encoding and byte-order markEncoding is detected automatically: UTF-8, UTF-16 and UTF-32 retain their encoding and byte-order mark; legacy encodings become UTF-8, with a byte-order mark for Windows code pages such as CP949, Shift-JIS, GBK, Big5 and Windows-1252, and without one for other legacy encodings such as EUC-JP and ISO-8859.
File limits and refusalsFiles up to 12MB and up to 1 million lines are accepted. Empty or oversized files, binary data, undetectable encodings, files with no subtitle cues or no translatable text, and subtitle text that does not appear to match the selected source language are declined before any charge; an .vtt extension alone does not make a file a subtitle file.

Keep your terminology consistent

Add your team's terms once and qlot applies them across your VTT files, from product names to legal phrasing.

Glossary
  • 클롯qlot
  • 계약 당사자the Parties
  • 売上高revenue
  • 结算settlement
  • Rechnunginvoice
  • essai cliniqueclinical trial
  • desplieguedeployment

Frequently asked questions

Find answers to common questions about translating VTT caption files with qlot.

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Contact us
01What stays unchanged when I translate a VTT caption file?

qlot keeps the header and its metadata, NOTE comments, STYLE and REGION blocks, cue identifiers, cue settings and every timing line exactly as written. Cue count and order stay the same; translation does not retime, merge or split cues. These structural elements are not billed.

The translated file is checked against the original cues, timestamps and line placement before delivery. If it fails that check or too many cues come back untranslated, the job fails and nothing is charged.

02Are VTT speaker labels and caption formatting translated?

Speaker names in voice tags stay unchanged, while names written in visible caption text are translated, along with dialogue and sound descriptions. Italic, bold, underline, color and class tags inside a line are restored where possible; if their placement cannot be retained, the cue text is delivered without inner tags. Whole-line tags, speaker marks and position codes remain.

Cues with only numbers or symbols, text outside cues, and lines in a different script from the source language in a dual-language input remain unchanged and are not billed. Translation produces one file per target language, not newly generated bilingual captions.

03Can I translate a VTT file exported from YouTube automatic captions?

Yes. qlot recognizes rolling captions, translating repeated lines consistently and keeping each line on one line. A line with word-by-word timing is translated as plain text: cue timestamps stay, but inner word timing, formatting and class tags are removed.

Upload the exported caption file. This page does not accept video or audio, create captions from speech or burn subtitles into a video.

04How are VTT caption translation credits calculated?

Credits are quoted before translation on selected caption text. Headers, notes, timestamps, cue identifiers and tags are excluded. Repeated cue text is counted once, or a repeated line once for rolling captions. A completed job is charged the quoted price, including the few cues that may remain in the source language. Use the pricing page’s credit guide to measure a file before translating.

More than 200 source and target languages are available, with several target languages per upload and glossary support. Each target language is delivered in a separate file.

05Does the Preview plan support VTT translation?

VTT translation needs a paid plan. The Preview plan produces page images, and a caption file has no pages, so it is not supported. Upload a caption file up to 12MB and up to 1 million lines.

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Translate within the tools your team already uses

Use qlot with the messaging, collaboration, and cloud storage tools you already rely on. New integrations are rolling out to bring translated VTT files directly into your existing workflow.

Webhooks and REST APIREST API and webhook access are available on request for teams that want to automate subtitle translation.
Get updates

Need to convert your files?

Convert VTT files into the formats your workflow needs, before or after translation.

VTT → SRTConvert WebVTT subtitles to SubRip format

Start translating VTT files with qlot today.

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