DaVinci Resolve Subtitles: Create, Style, Import & Export

Quick answer: Use a subtitle track for readable captions you can edit, restyle and export. Import an SRT if the text is already timed, add cues manually if it isn't, or use Create Subtitles from Audio in Resolve Studio. Finish the edit before final timing, then choose a separate subtitle file, embedded captions or permanent burn-in on the Deliver page.

Subtitles are easy to add and surprisingly easy to finish badly. A clean-looking track in the Edit page can still export an hour out of sync, lose its styling in an SRT file or disappear because the wrong subtitle track was enabled. The fix is to treat captions as four separate jobs: text, timing, presentation and delivery.

This guide covers that full subtitle-track workflow in DaVinci Resolve 21. It also draws a firm line between ordinary captions, Studio's speech-to-text tools and animated Text+ graphics, because choosing the wrong one at the start creates most of the avoidable work later.

Choose the Right Caption Workflow First

Resolve offers three routes that look related but do different jobs. Pick from the output backward:

The subtitle track is the default for long-form work because it keeps hundreds of cues manageable. Track style lets you change the common font, size, position, color, outline and background without rebuilding every line. The current Edit page documentation also confirms support for multiple subtitle tracks, useful when one timeline has several languages.

Do not build a 20-minute caption job from separate Text+ clips just because a social tutorial demonstrates animated words. Use graphics only when the animation is part of the creative brief. Our Text and Text+ guide covers that separate workflow.

Add a Subtitle Track and Create Captions Manually

1. Open the finished timeline on the Edit page.
2. Right-click in the track-header area at the left of the timeline and choose Add Subtitle Track.
3. Move the playhead to the first spoken line.
4. Right-click the subtitle track and add a subtitle, or use the subtitle command available in your workspace menu.
5. Select the cue and open Inspector > Caption to type or correct the text.
6. Drag the cue's left and right edges until it enters and leaves with the spoken phrase.

Keep captions as short reading units rather than transcribing punctuation mechanically. Break a line at a natural phrase boundary, not between an article and noun or a person's first and last name. Two balanced lines are usually easier to scan than one line that stretches across the frame.

Lock picture before the detailed timing pass. If you trim dialogue after captions are finished, downstream cues may no longer match the speech. For a late edit, inspect every caption after the cut instead of assuming the track followed the editorial change correctly.

Import an SRT Without Losing the Timing

An SRT file contains numbered cues, start and end timestamps, and plain text. It doesn't carry your Resolve font, outline, screen position or animation. That separation is useful: timing and language can move between platforms, while presentation stays under control in the project or player.

1. Choose File > Import > Subtitle, or import the SRT into the Media Pool.
2. Create a subtitle track if the timeline doesn't have one.
3. Drag the SRT from the Media Pool onto the subtitle track for playhead-relative placement.
4. If the SRT was authored against the same program timecode, use the option to insert subtitles using timecode.
5. Play the first, middle and last cues before styling anything.

The classic failure is a zero-based SRT whose first cue starts near 00:00:01,000 and a timeline that starts at 01:00:00:00. Absolute timecode placement puts them in different ranges. Either align the timeline start and SRT timestamps, or place the file relative to the playhead when that matches your intended workflow.

If accented or non-Latin characters arrive as boxes or nonsense, save the SRT as UTF-8 and test a font that contains the required glyphs. If cues drift progressively rather than remaining a fixed distance early or late, check the file's source frame-rate assumptions and whether the video was retimed after the captions were created.

Generate Captions from Audio in Studio

Resolve Studio can turn timeline speech into a first-pass subtitle track. Build and clean the dialogue first, then use Timeline > AI Tools > Create Subtitles from Audio. Choose the source language, line settings and gap options, generate the track, and correct the result against the actual audio.

This speech-to-text route is a Studio feature. The free edition can still create manual subtitles, import an SRT, style the track and deliver captions. If the automatic command is absent, confirm which edition is installed before troubleshooting menus or reinstalling.

Automatic captions aren't a final transcript. Check names, numbers, homophones, acronyms and speaker changes. Overlapping voices, music under dialogue and strong room reflections deserve extra attention. If transcription itself is the main job, use the full Resolve 21 transcription workflow rather than duplicating that process here.

Time and Style the Subtitle Track

Select a cue and use the Caption controls for its words and cue-level settings. Use the Track controls when you want the same presentation across the subtitle track. The exact Inspector layout can vary with the subtitle format, but the editorial rule stays simple: global consistency belongs at track level; a deliberate exception belongs on the cue.

Start with these checks:

• Position: keep captions inside a safe area and above player controls, lower thirds or burned-in platform UI.
• Contrast: use a restrained outline, shadow or background so light footage doesn't erase white text.
• Line breaks: preserve meaning and avoid a single short word stranded on the second line.
• Duration: give the viewer time to read without leaving an old caption over the next thought.
• Case: sentence case is usually faster to read than long blocks of all caps.

Resolve 21 adds practical finishing tools documented in Blackmagic's New Features Guide. The subtitle Inspector can find and replace a name across the track. Manually entered or imported captions can have word timing analyzed, and a whole track can synchronize word timings from its header menu. Subtitle clips also have fade handles. Those fades can soften a designed caption entrance, but avoid turning every accessibility caption into a slow animation that appears after the dialogue begins.

Run a Real Caption QC Pass

Don't proof captions only while stopped on individual frames. Watch the program at normal speed with sound, then watch difficult sections muted. The first pass checks fidelity to speech; the muted pass exposes whether the text can stand on its own.

1. Correct spelling, names, numbers and technical terms.
2. Check that each cue begins with the phrase and clears before the next speaker or idea.
3. Remove accidental double spaces and inconsistent punctuation.
4. Identify meaningful non-speech audio when the delivery requires accessible captions.
5. Check captions over the brightest and busiest shots.
6. Confirm that every active language track has the intended label and content.
7. Export a short test and inspect the actual output outside Resolve.

Find and Replace is excellent for a consistently misspelled surname, but review replacements in context before using Replace All. A short word can be part of a longer word, and capitalization may differ at the beginning of a cue.

Export SRT, Embedded Captions or Burned-In Subtitles

Move to the Deliver page and open Subtitle Settings. Enable subtitle output, choose the correct subtitle track, then match the export mode to where the video will be used.

For a sidecar, choose the required file format and render. Blackmagic officially lists TTML, SRT and VTT as separate subtitle outputs. SRT is broadly accepted but plain; don't expect it to preserve the exact Resolve typeface or background box. For a permanent result, choose Burn into video and inspect the rendered file for clipping, line wrapping and timing.

Embedded delivery is specification-dependent. Confirm the receiving platform's required container, caption standard, language metadata and frame rate before rendering a long master. The general video export guide covers codecs and render settings; this page stays focused on the subtitle payload.

Fix Common Subtitle Problems

The imported subtitles are missing

Zoom out and compare the SRT's first timestamp with the timeline start timecode. The cues may have been inserted correctly at a time your current timeline doesn't reach. Also confirm the subtitle track is visible and enabled.

Every cue is early or late by the same amount

That's usually an offset, not drift. Move the imported group together or correct the zero point in the SRT workflow. Don't retime every cue separately.

The error grows toward the end

Progressive drift points to a duration or timing-base mismatch. Check whether the program was speed-changed, frame-rate converted or re-edited after the subtitle file was generated.

The font and box disappear from the exported SRT

That's expected. SRT stores cue timing and text, not Resolve's complete visual design. Burn the subtitle track into the picture when exact appearance is mandatory, or use a delivery format and player that support the required styling.

Automatic subtitles are not available

Built-in speech-to-text subtitle creation requires Resolve Studio. Manual cues, SRT import, track styling and subtitle delivery don't require the AI generation step.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the free version of DaVinci Resolve add subtitles?

Yes. The free edition can create a subtitle track, add cues manually, import SRT files, adjust timing and style, and export or burn subtitles. Create Subtitles from Audio is part of the Studio speech-to-text toolset.

How do I import an SRT file into DaVinci Resolve?

Use File > Import > Subtitle or import the SRT into the Media Pool, then place it on a subtitle track. Check the first cue, timeline start timecode and last cue before styling the track.

Why are imported subtitles one hour out of sync?

The SRT may start near zero while the timeline starts at 01:00:00:00, or the reverse. Align the timecode ranges for absolute placement, or place the SRT relative to the playhead when that matches the project.

Does SRT preserve subtitle fonts and styling?

No. Standard SRT primarily carries cue numbers, timestamps and text. Burn subtitles into the video when their exact font, position, outline or background must survive delivery.

Should I use subtitles or Text+ for animated captions?

Use the subtitle track for long, exportable captions and multiple languages. Use Text+ or Fusion titles when per-word animation and free graphic placement matter more than caption-file export.

Can DaVinci Resolve translate subtitles automatically?

Do not plan around a native translation step unless your exact Resolve build and documentation confirm one. A reliable localization workflow is to export a timed subtitle file, translate and review it externally, then import the translated file onto a separate language track.

This guide belongs to the DaVinci Resolve tutorial map. For the next step, use the transcription guide when audio must become text, the Text+ guide for animated graphics, or the export settings hub when the subtitle decision is part of a larger delivery workflow.

Related guides

• How to Transcribe Audio in Resolve 21: the transcription engine behind auto captions.
• How to Add Text in DaVinci Resolve: Text and Text+ when a graphic title beats a subtitle track.
• How to Export Video in DaVinci Resolve: burned-in versus sidecar captions at delivery.

Jason Miller I run DaVinci Resolve Club as an independent publication: hands-on edits, color grading breakdowns, Fairlight sessions, Fusion tests, and honest notes on where Resolve gets in the way.