X

465Final Cut Pro User Guide
Caption formats
Final Cut Pro supports the following industry standards for captions:
• CEA-608 (also known as EIA-608): A caption standard for broadcasts and web video.
The CEA-608 caption standard features a variety of position, formatting, color, and
animation options. CEA-608 captions can be imported or exported as tracks embedded
in a media file or as separate files.
• iTT (iTunes Timed Text): A format for delivering caption content to the iTunes Store,
YouTube, and Vimeo. The iTT standard features formatting, color, and placement
options, including a wider range of alphabets, making it the best choice for languages
with non-Roman characters. iTT captions can be imported or exported as separate files,
but they can’t be embedded in an output media file the way CEA-608 captions can.
• SRT (SubRip Text): A subtitle format supported by Facebook, YouTube, and Vimeo. The
SRT format is simple: Each caption has a number, a start and end timecode (in decimal
timecode), and one or more lines of text with HTML tags. SRT captions can be imported
or exported as separate files, but they can’t be embedded in an output media file the
way CEA-608 captions can. Unlike captions in other formats, exported SRT captions
can be read and edited in a plain text editor.
Final Cut Pro captions workflow
You can add captions to your projects to create subtitles, closed captions, and burned-in
captions. Special caption roles make it easy to deliver captions in multiple languages. The
basic workflow is outlined below.