Did you know that over 80% of Facebook live videos are watched with the sound off? No? You do now! So how do you get people to understand your video without holding up a sign saying “Turn on the sound! I say great things”? How do you get them to continue watching without resorting to bribery or witchcraft?
You add Captions to Your Livestreams
Now, depending on who you talk to adding captions is easy, or it's something like bathing your cat and is better outsourced. Now there are people who will transcribe their livestreams, by hand after completing them. If you're one of these people jump straight to option 3 as I'm going to show you how to do this the easy way!
1.Using Rev.com to add captions to your FB Livestreams
- Send Rev.com your video or a link to your video
- Allow the team at Rev.com to transcribe your video. IF it's a short video you can get it back in an hour or so, and if it's longer (30+ minutes) then it can take 24 hours. Either way, it's quick!
- Rev.com sends you a special file (.SRT) with the transcript
- Open your .SRT file and skim through it. Rev.com is very good, but you need to proof it and edit it if there's an error.
- Now go to your Facebook page, and find the Livestream you will add the captions too.
- Click on the time stamp to open the video in theatre view
- Find the “Options” section and click “Edit this video”
- Under “Captions” ( you'll find this below “Description”) click “Choose File”
- Upload your .SRT file. save, and you’re ready to start sharing your video.
2. Using Facebook to Caption Your Videos
At the time of writing, using Facebook to caption your livestreamed videos is a relatively new thing.
- Find the videos section on your Facebook page. You cannot use the captions service for a Livestream you've done in a group or on your personal profile
- Go to Video Library
- Select the video you wish to caption and click edit (the semi-hidden button after the description)
- The video opens in a new tab
- On the right-hand side, you will see some options. Scroll down until you see subtitles and captions
- Click this link and choose your language
- Click “autogenerate”
- Go and make a cup of tea and check some emails. There's a progression bar that will let you know how much of the video has been transcribed.
- Once completed, on the right of the video you'll see what Facebook thinks you've said
- Scroll through this and lightly edit where needed
- Click save once you've made your adjustments, and then give it up to 15 minutes to update your Facebook page before you start sharing.
Remember, you cannot caption videos that are on your personal profile or in your groups. For these videos you can use Rev.com or YouTube.
3. Using YouTube to Transcribe Your Videos
So what do you do with our videos in groups and on your profile? This is where YouTube springs into action.
- Download the video from Facebook
- Upload it to YouTube
- When your video is uploaded, select edit
- You are now invited to do one of three things – Upload a file, transcribe and auto-sync, or create new subtitles / CC. Choose Transcribe and auto-sync.
- As you watch the video you can type in what you hear. I recommend you pause and then type rather than trying to keep up with your talking. You'll find there's a little tick-box that makes this easy.
- All done? Click Set Timings
- Watch your video and check your transcription
- Ready? Go to Actions.
- Click the download button and the .SRT file will download.
- Click on the time stamp to open the video in theatre view
- Find the “Options” section and click “Edit this video”
- Under “Captions” ( you'll find this below “Description”) click “Choose File”
- Upload your .SRT file, save and you’re ready to start sharing your video.
Captions are valuable pieces of content in their own right. To find out what else you can do with your content, check out the Content Repurposing Bootcamp.
