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✂️ Module 4 • Lesson 2

Automatic Captions, Translation, and Dubbing

Make your content accessible and global with automatic captions, AI translation, and dubbing.

⏱️ ~90 minutes 📊 Beginner 🔄 Updated Apr/2026
1

💬 AI Auto-Captions

Captions are no longer optional: 85% of videos on social media are watched without sound. In addition, captions increase engagement, improve accessibility, and help with SEO. In 2026, AI generates captions with over 98% accuracy in Portuguese.

Why captions are essential

  • • Accessibility: Deaf or hard-of-hearing people
  • • Engagement: +80% watch time on videos with captions
  • • Reach: Platforms prioritize videos with captions in the algorithm
  • • Context: Many people watch on public transit, at the office, etc.

Automatic captioning tools

Tool PT-BR Accuracy Price Highlight
CapCut Auto-Captions ~96% Free Integrated with the editor
Whisper (OpenAI) ~98% Free (open source) Greater accuracy, local use
YouTube Auto-Captions ~94% Free Automatically upon publishing
Descript ~97% Starting at $24/month Text-based editing
Captions.ai ~97% Freemium Stylized captions for social media

Generating Captions in CapCut

  1. Import your video with narration into the timeline
  2. Click Text > Auto-Captions
  3. Select the language: Portuguese (Brazil)
  4. Wait for the AI to process the audio (usually 30s-2min)
  5. Review and correct any errors (proper names, technical terms)
  6. Choose a caption style (font, color, position, animation)
  7. Adjust the size to ensure readability on mobile

Pro Tip

Always review automatically generated captions. AI can get proper names, regional slang, and technical terms wrong. A 5-minute review can prevent embarrassing mistakes.

2

📄 SRT and VTT files

Captions are stored in special text files. The two most common formats are SRT and VTT. Understanding these formats lets you edit, reuse, and import captions on any platform.

SRT format

1
00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,500
Olá! Bem-vindos ao nosso
vídeo sobre IA.

2
00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:08,200
Hoje vamos aprender a criar
conteúdo incrível.

More universal, accepted on almost all platforms.

VTT format (WebVTT)

WEBVTT

00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:04.500
Olá! Bem-vindos ao nosso
vídeo sobre IA.

00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:08.200
Hoje vamos aprender a criar
conteúdo incrível.

Web standard (HTML5), supports CSS styling.

Exporting captions from CapCut

In CapCut, after generating automatic captions, you can export them as a separate SRT file. Go to Text > Export subtitle as SRT. This lets you reuse the captions on other platforms or translate them separately.

3

🌍 Automatic AI Translation

Translating your content into other languages multiplies your potential reach. In 2026, automatic translation tools offer quality close to human translation for the most common languages.

Video translation tools

Tool Languages What it translates Price
CapCut Translate 20+ Captions Free
ElevenLabs Dubbing 30+ Voice + subtitles Starting at $5/month
HeyGen Translate 40+ Voice + lip sync Starting at $29/month
Rask.ai 60+ Voice + subtitles Starting at $50/month
DeepL + Whisper 30+ Caption text Free/Freemium

Recommended translation workflow

  1. Generate captions in the original language (PT-BR) with CapCut or Whisper
  2. Export the SRT from the original language
  3. Translate the SRT using DeepL (better quality) or ChatGPT
  4. Review the translation (especially idioms)
  5. Import the translated SRT in CapCut as a new caption track
  6. Publish with captions in multiple languages
4

🎙️ Automatic AI Dubbing

Automatic dubbing goes beyond text translation: it recreates the video narration in another language, preserving the tone, rhythm, and even the original voice. In 2026, the results are surprisingly natural.

Dubbing with ElevenLabs

ElevenLabs offers the Dubbing Studio feature, which automates the entire dubbing process:

  1. Access ElevenLabs > Dubbing
  2. Upload your video (or paste the YouTube link)
  3. Select the source language (Portuguese)
  4. Choose the target languages (e.g., English, Spanish)
  5. AI transcribes, translates, and generates the narration in the new language
  6. Review and adjust the synchronization
  7. Export the dubbed video

HeyGen: AI Lip Sync

If your video shows someone speaking, HeyGen goes further: it doesn’t just dub the voice, it also adjusts the lip movements to sync with the new language. The result is so natural that it looks like the person is really speaking that language.

5

🌐 Multilingual Content Strategy

With AI translation and dubbing tools, creating multilingual content has become accessible. But it’s important to have a clear strategy to maximize impact.

Priority languages by niche

Niche Recommended languages Reason
Technology EN, ES, HI Larger audience and global demand
Lifestyle/Travel EN, ES, FR Diverse international audience
Education ES, EN Latin American + global market
E-commerce EN, ES, DE Markets with greater purchasing power

MVP strategy: Start with 2 languages

Don't try to translate into 10 languages at once. Start with Portuguese + English (or Spanish). Measure the results, adjust your approach, and then expand gradually. The cost of translating a 1-minute video with ElevenLabs is less than R$5.

6

♿ Accessibility: Best Practices

Accessibility isn’t just a legal issue—it’s a matter of respect and reach. Accessible videos reach more people and perform better in algorithms.

Video Accessibility Checklist

📝
Descriptive captions: In addition to speech, include important sounds in brackets: [upbeat music], [door slamming], [laughter]
🎨
Caption contrast: Use a dark semi-transparent background with white text. Never place white text directly over a light video.
📏
Font size: Minimum 28px for 1080p videos. On mobile, captions need to be readable on small screens.
⏰
Display time: Each caption should stay on screen for at least 1.5 seconds. Maximum of 2 lines at a time.
🔊
Audio description: For important visual content, consider adding audio description for people with visual impairments.
7

🛠️ Practical Exercise

Exercise: Complete Captions and Translation

  1. Generate captions: Use CapCut Auto-Captions on a video with Portuguese narration
  2. Style: Apply an engaging caption style (font, color, animation)
  3. Export SRT: Save the captions as an SRT file
  4. Translate: Use DeepL to translate the SRT into English
  5. Import: Add the English captions as the second track in CapCut
  6. Bonus: Test ElevenLabs' automatic dubbing (the free version allows 1 video/month)
8

✅ Lesson Checklist

  • I generated automatic captions in CapCut
  • I reviewed and corrected the captions generated by AI
  • I understand the SRT and VTT formats
  • I exported an SRT file of my video
  • Translated captions into at least one additional language
  • I know the automatic dubbing tools (ElevenLabs, HeyGen)
  • I applied accessibility best practices to the captions
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