Adding subtitles

Moniviestin supports adding subtitles to the video. Subtitles are in WebVTT-format that enables accurate timing of the texts. If your subtitle file is in SRT-format, you can find instructions for SRT-WebVTT conversion later on this page. If you use automatic subtitling, you don't have to pay attention to these technical formats.  One video can contain subtitles in multiple languages and the viewer can also switch the subtitles off.

Act on the Provision of Digital Services requires that the video and audio recordings provided on a website should be made accessible from 23 September 2020, within 14 days after publishing the video. This means that videos must be subtitled and audio recordings must have a text alternative. However, the requirement of subtitles does not apply to live streams or videos published before 23 September 2020. In addition, videos need not meet the accessibility requirements if the learning material is used within a limited group and for temporary use only.

More information about these exceptions can be found here:

• Accessibility of video and audio material in Moniviestin

Subtitling a video  with automatic speech recognition

Speech-to-text function of Moniviestin is now available in Finnish and English, so you can create subtitles without time consuming, manual typing work. When the speech recognition process is ready, you will receive an e-mail notification. Then you can log in to Moniviestin, review the result and correct the mistakes that automatic speech-to-text might have caused. When subtitles are ready you can publish them. If the subtitles have not been published manually within 7 days, Moniviestin will publish them automatically.

Remember to choose the language of your video/subtitles before starting the automatic subtitling. The function is available in English and Finnish. If you need subtitles for videos in other languages, please contact Video Support at HelpJYU.

Automatic subtitling is only available in the public folders of Moniviestin. You cannot create automatic subtitles for the videos in your Personal Folder (Oma Kansio). If you want to subtitle these videos, they have to be moved into a public folder by Video Support. You can make a transfer request in HelpJYU.

Things to notice when recording your video

In order to achieve the best possible results in automatic subtitling, you should pay attention to the sound quality of your recording. Here are some useful tips for recording your audio:

• Use an external, good quality microphone
• Integrated laptop or webcam microphones can't usually deliver good quality sound. Better results can be achieved with lapel microphones or headset microphones.
• Minimize the ambient noise
• The sound quality is better when the microphone is placed closer to the person who is speaking. When the microphone is too far, it picks up noise and echo of the room, in addition to the actual voice.
• Speak calmly and in a steady pace
• Articulate clearly

Choosing the language for speech recognition

The default language of speech recognition is Finnish. If you want to subtitle a video in English, this guide will show you how to change the language.

Upload the video to Moniviestin in a normal manner, but don't publish it yet. At this point, don't start the automatic subtitling function either. First, click Muokkaa (Edit) in the green toolbar.

Then choose the tab Kategorisointi (Categorization).

On this tab you can set the language for automatic speech recognition. At this point, the options are Finnish and English. Choose your preferred language from the dropdown menu and click Tallenna (Save).

When the language has been chosen, you can start creating automatic subtitles, following the next instructions.

If you forgot to choose correct language for speech recognition the captioning will mostly fail. In this case, please make sure you have the original video file on your computer, then delete the mediapage, upload video again and check the language selection before starting the automatic captioning again.

Activating automatic subtitles when publishing the video

When publishing a video with automatic subtitles, the uploading process is similar to any video publication. After that there are some key differences.

When you have uploaded the video to Moniviestin and the encoding process is finished, take a look at the right end of the green toolbar, where it reads Tila: Yksityinen (State: Private). Click the text and a dropdown menu will appear. Choose Julkaise automaattisella teksityksellä (publish with generated subtitles). If you want to edit your subtitles without publishing them at this point, choose Tekstitä mediasivu yksityisenä (Generate subtitles in private).

Now the system starts subtitling the video. The speech-to-text process takes some time - this delay depends on the length of the video. You can see the text "Automaattinen tekstitys kesken" (Generated subtitles pending) in the green toolbar. This means that the speech recognition system is processing your video.

When the subtitles are finished, you will receive an e-mail notification.

Now you can see the text "Julkaistu tekstityksellä" (Published with subtitles) in the green toolbar. At this point, this doesn't mean that everyone can see your subtitles. You can still review and edit the result privately, before the actual publishing. When you have checked that everything is correct, you can set it to be visible immediately (See also: Publishing the subtitles). If the subtitles are not edited and published manually, the system will publish them automatically after 7 days.

You can view and edit the subtitles by clicking the link English (automated) under the video player.

Editing the subtitles

Now you can see the automated subtitles and timecodes on your screen. You can access the editor by clicking Muokkaa (Edit) on the green toolbar.

In the edit view you can modify the contents of your subtitles. In the normal situation, you should not edit the timecodes, as it can cause problems in the timing of your subtitles. However, you can change the text part freely, if you need to. Make sure that the part containing "WEBVTT" and the numbering of the subtitle screens remain intact.

"Nimike" (Title) refers to the text visible in the video player, when you're setting the subtitles on. By default, the title is showing you the language choice, for example "English (automated)".

When you have finished editing or if you want to save the current version, click Tallenna (save) under the edit window.

Publishing the subtitles

When your subtititles are ready for publishing, click Päivät (dates) in the edit view.

In this view you can choose when the subtitles are set visible to the viewers. If you are ready to publish them immediately, you can set Voimaantulopäivä (Publishing date) to the current date and time. You can also set it to yesterday. When the chosen time has passed, the subtitles will be visible. You can set the date faster by clicking the small calendar icon, and choosing the date in the popup window.

When the publishing date has been set, click Tallenna (save).

Now your subtitles are ready and published! You can preview the subtitles by clicking the quotation mark icon on the lower right corner of the  video player and choosing the language. The common viewer can access the subtitles in the same way.

The viewer can also hide the subtitles by choosing "subtitles off".

Adding new subtitles manually

You need to have editing permissions to the video in order to add subtitles. From Uusi liite (New attachment)-menu choose Tekstitys (Subtitles) and click Lisää (Add).

In the subtitle editing page please fill all the fields:

• Nimike (Title): Name of the subtitle track that will be shown in the subtitle selection menu during video playback
• Kieli (Language): Choose the subtitle language from the dropdown menu.
• Tekstitys (Subtitles): Write all the subtitle texts to this field. Input format is WebVTT (read on for detailed instructions)

Every subtitle track begins with word WEBVTT.

Next write all the texts with two lines:

• First line: Time stamps for each text - when the text should appear and disappear. These two time stamps are separated with -->.
• Time stamp ordering is hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds. Numbers are separated with colon, except milliseconds with dot. For example you can point to five seconds mark with 00:00:05.000. If the video is shorter than one hour, you don't need to define hours in the timestamp.
• If you want the text to appear at five seconds mark and disappear at ten seconds mark, whole timestamp line should look like this: 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:10.000
• Second line: Text content. You should input the text without line breaks as the video player will place the line breaks automatically.

Correct code showing one subtitle screen should look like this:

00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:10.000
New feature in Moniviestin

Subtitle feature will also obey line breaks. If you need to subtitle for example conversation between two people, it is good idea to divide the text to two lines. In that case you can continue the text to the third line of the code like this:

00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:10.000
- Have you heard about the subtitling feature?
- Not yet!

Save all the changes with Tallenna (Save) -button that is located below the text field.

After saving the subtitle you will see a confirmation screen:

Deleting a subtitle

All the subtitles attached to the video are shown under Liitteet (Attachments) -title. You can remove subtitle by clicking the red Delete -link:

 

Choosing the subtitle language during video playback

If the video contains subtitle tracks, an quotation mark icon will be shown below the video screen. You can choose subtitle by cliking that icon:

If you want to switch subtitles off, choose subtitles off from the same list.