How to make subtitles for Netflix?

Being the world’s leading entertainment giant, Netflix is one streaming platform that we are all familiar with. With 158 million registered subscribers in 190 countries, it comes as no surprise that Netflix strives to provide the best streaming experience—one that is accessible to all. An essential part of this comes down to captions and subtitles.

First and foremost, it is necessary to establish what preciselyclosed captions and foreign subtitles are. Closed captions are a text version of the audio of a production and are of the same language as the audio of the film. Closed captions can be turned on and off with the use of a button, while open captions are a part of the production.

On the other hand, foreign subtitles are a translated text version of the audio of a production and are generally used with foreign films. If you are watching a film in a language you do not understand, say French, you would need subtitles to convert the audio into a language you do understand.

However, the primary purpose of both subtitles and captions is the same: accessibility. Not only do they make productions accessible for those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, but they also come in handy for all viewers to follow the production. Captions and subtitles are necessary tools for appealing to a wider audience and for content retention, especially in the increasingly globalizing world of today. It makes sense, therefore, that a media giant like Netflix would pay meticulous attention to these handy tools.

As a result of Netflix’s partnership with the National Association of the Deaf in 2012, the platform pledged that the entirety of Netflix streaming content would have closed captions by 2014. At this time, Netflix released a statement saying, “We need to change the way we think about subtitles and closed captions. They are no longer secondary assets in a world where content knows no physical borders.”

As is evident from the statement above, Netflix is a platform that recognizes its global reach and, therefore, strives to make all its content accessible to all viewers in all countries. Considering the importance of such a task, Netflix has some stringent and detailed standards for subtitles and captions. If you are hoping to get your production hosted on Netflix’s streaming service, you will need to pay careful attention to the Netflix Timed Text Style Guide for captions and subtitles. Fortunately, we here at Caption Easy can not only take you through the specifics of this guide, but we also specialize in producing captions and subtitles that are catered to Netflix’s requirements.

Getting your content streaming on Netflix involves several complicated steps. Getting a distributor is the first step and if you want to have a shot at getting picked up, you’ll need to create subtitles or captions as part of the delivery package. This guide basically instructs you on everything from frame gap requirements to file formats. Below, we have explained some of the basic requirements of the guide:

• Duration: The minimum duration of a subtitle event is 5/6th of a second and the maximum is 7 seconds.
• Glyph list: Netflix has a defined list of characters that can be used within timed text; characters that are not part of the list cannot be used.
• File format: All files must be delivered in the TTML (.dfxp or .xml) format, or Videotron Lambda Cap format for Japanese.
• Line treatment: Although text should generally be kept to one line, this defines how text should be broken into two lines if needed:
1. After punctuation marks
2. Before conjunctions
3. Before prepositions

• Positioning: Subtitles should be center justified and placed either at the top or the bottom of the screen. They should not overlap with any on-screen text.
• Consistency: To ensure consistency through the film or TV show, KNPs/formality tables should be created and used for translations.