Adding a Caption Track in QuickTime

The first step is to import the caption file. To do this, follow the steps below:

1. Start QuickTime
2. Select 'Import...' from the 'File' menu.
3. Navigate to the caption file and click 'Convert...'
4. A dialog box appears (shown below), allowing you to choose the location to save the converted file, type a name for the file, and to change the conversion options.

5. Make sure the name and the location are what you want.
6. Click 'Options...'
7. A new dialog box, entitled "Text Import Settings", appears (shown below). If your original caption file contained information about fonts and the size of the caption area, you will see that information reflected in this dialog box.

At this point you are ready to add the captions to the video. You will need to have both the video and the captions which have already been converted into a QuickTime movie open. To add the captions movie to the video, follow the steps below:

1. Click on the captions movie window and choose 'Select All' from the 'Edit' menu.
2. Choose 'Copy' from the 'Edit' menu.
3. Click on the video movie window.
4. If it is not there already, position the progress slider at the very beginning of the video.
5. Hold the Control and Alt keys (on a Mac, use just the option key), click on the 'Edit' menu, and select 'Add' from the 'Edit' menu to add the captions to the video.

6. You will notice that the captions overlap the video at the top of the video area. Fixing this is the next step, but first, play the video to make sure that the captions and the video are synchronized.

QuickTime provides an easy way to position the elements that make up a movie. In this case, the video track and the caption track can be repositioned. To reposition the captions, follow the steps below:

1. Click on the movie window to ensure that it is selected.
2. Choose 'Get Info' from the 'Movie' menu.
3. A window appears. At the top of the window, there are two drop-down menus. The left menu contains a list of all of the elements of the movie - select 'Text Track'.

4. The right menu contains attributes for the currently selected element. It is worth looking at the different options, but for now, select 'Size'.

5. You will notice that the window now has a button labeled 'Adjust'. Click the adjust button.

7. The caption area in the QuickTime player window should be highlighted -- this is indicated by red areas in the corners, the center, and in the middle of each edge. Hold the shift key for unidirectional movement, and click and drag the caption area (make sure to click in an area other than where the red marks are)to the desired location. The convention is to locate the captions underneath the video, not overlapping the video at all. If the caption area rotates or resizes instead of moving, just select 'Undo' from the 'Edit' menu.

8. Click 'Done' in the 'Get Info' window, and close that window.
9. Make sure to save your movie using 'Save As...'. We recommend adding cc to the end of the file name (e.g. biodiversity.mov becomes biodiversitycc.mov) to make it clear to you that the movie is captioned. We also recommend saving the movie as a 'Self Contained Movie'.