What Does It Mean to Burn In Captions? Definition
To burn in captions means to permanently render the caption text into the video pixels during the export process, making them part of the image itself.
Definition
To burn in captions means to permanently render the caption text into the video's pixels during export, so the captions become part of the image and cannot be turned off.
Also known as: caption burn-in, hardcode
Full Explanation
Burning in captions is the process of permanently rendering caption text into the pixels of a video file during the export stage. Once burned in, the captions cannot be turned off, restyled, or replaced, they are visually part of every frame. Captioning tools burn in captions by compositing the rendered text on top of each video frame and then re-encoding the result as a new MP4 (or other format). Burn-in is the default for short-form social platforms (TikTok, Reels, Shorts) because these platforms do not support toggleable caption tracks. Burn-in is also required when you want the captions to appear identically across all viewing contexts, for ads, presentations, and reposts. The alternative is soft subtitles delivered as a separate SRT or VTT file, which the viewer's player overlays at playback.
Examples
- -Exporting a captioned MP4 from VideoCaptions.AI ready to upload to TikTok.
- -Using ffmpeg to burn an SRT file into a video as hardsubs.
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