How to Edit Captions and Attribution

Vocal Video creates captions and a transcript for every video automatically. Choose from 30 preset caption styles, fine-tune every detail, correct the words, and manage the name and title shown for each speaker, all in the video editor.

In this article:

Choose a caption style

  1. Open a video in the editor.
  2. Click Captions in the right sidebar.
  3. On the Presets tab, click a style. It applies to the captions in the whole video, and the preview at the top of the panel shows how it moves.

The Vocal Video editor with the Captions panel open on Presets, the Flashcard style selected and a one-word Flashcard caption on a customer's video.

There are 30 preset styles, from minimal ones that stay out of the way (Clean, Calm, Brandline) to animated, word-by-word styles for social video (TikTok, Flashcard, Karaoke). Theme Default follows your video theme's own typography.

Five styles, TikTok, Comic Book, Ticker Tape, Editorial and Executive, use a Pro font and show a Pro badge. On Free and Essential plans, change the font under Customize > Text > Font before you publish.

💡 Pick for where the video will be watched. A restrained style suits a testimonial on your website; a high-energy style suits a vertical cut for TikTok, Reels or Shorts. For a guide to every style, see Caption Styles for Your Videos: 30 Presets (and How to Choose One).

Customize a caption style

Every preset is a starting point. Click the Customize tab to adjust it. Settings are grouped into six sections:

  • Size & Position: where captions sit, plus Size, Width and Angle (tilt).
  • Text: Font, Outline, Shadow, Lines per phrase and Max words per phrase.
  • Active word: the Style used to highlight the word being spoken (None, Color change, Box, Underline, Underline sweep, Marker, Pill or Glow), and how Upcoming words look before they're spoken.
  • Colors: Text, Active word, Upcoming words, Background and Outline / shadow.
  • Background: a Box behind each phrase, its Opacity, and a Full-width Backdrop (gradient or frosted).
  • Motion: how each Phrase enters, how the Active word animates, and the Speed.

To start over, click Reset to preset.

The Customize tab of the Captions panel, with the Active word section open to show highlight styles (None, Color change, Box, Underline, Underline sweep, Marker, Pill, Glow) and options for upcoming words.

💡 The caption font now lives here, under Customize > Text > Font. It's no longer on the Design panel's Fonts tab.

Quick edits from the video preview

Click any caption in the video preview to show a toolbar:

  • Show in Transcript: jump to those words in the transcript to correct them.
  • Change Preset: open the Presets tab.
  • Customize: open the Customize tab.
  • Hide: hide captions in all scenes.

Clicking a caption in the video preview opens a toolbar with Show in Transcript, Change Preset, Customize and Hide.

Edit caption text

Captions come from the video's transcript, so you correct a word by editing the transcript. Your edits update the captions in the video and the transcript available after publishing.

  1. Open the video in the editor.
  2. In the left panel, choose Scenes + Transcript if the transcript isn't already visible.
  3. Select the words you want to change, or click a caption in the preview and choose Show in Transcript.
  4. Click Edit, make your changes, and save.

Turn captions on or off

Use the switch at the top of the Captions panel, or click a caption in the video preview and choose Hide. Hiding captions only changes what appears in the video; the transcript and caption downloads are still available after publishing.

Set your caption style in a template

Your caption style is part of your video's look, so you can save it in a template. Every video built from the template, including the draft videos your collectors create automatically, starts with that style.

  1. Go to Video Templates and open a template.
  2. Click Captions in the right sidebar.
  3. Choose and customize a style, just as you would in a video.

You can keep a different caption style in each template, for example a restrained style for customer stories and a high-energy style for social cuts.

Edit speaker names and titles

Each speaker's name and title appear in a name card on their scenes. You manage them separately from captions.

  1. Click People in the right sidebar.
  2. Expand a speaker to edit their name or title.

The People panel in the video editor, with the Show attributions switch on and each speaker's name and title listed below it.

  • Show attributions: the switch at the top of the People panel hides the name card on every scene in the video. When it's on, you can still hide it scene by scene.
  • One scene: select the scene, open Scene, and use the Attribution switch to show or hide the name card there.
  • From the preview: click a name card to Edit the name and title, Add Title, change its Fonts or Colors, Hide it in that scene, or see the speaker's Details.

FAQ

Can I use a different caption style in each video? Yes. The style is set per video, and a template sets the starting style for every video built from it.

Do caption styles use AI credits? No. Choosing and customizing caption styles doesn't use AI credits.

Can captions be in other languages? Yes. Transcripts and captions support 100+ languages. See Localizing Video Collectors, Transcripts and Subtitles.

For more information see:

Still need help? Contact Support at support@vocalvideo.com