Free DaVinci Resolve Auto Captions: SRT Without Studio

Make auto captions for DaVinci Resolve without Studio: generate an SRT in your browser for free, then import it onto a subtitle track in free Resolve.

Video & Audio to Text

Drop an audio or video file to transcribe it.

Supported: MP3, WAV, M4A, AAC, OGG, OGA, OPUS, FLAC, MP4, WEBM, M4V, MOV, MKV

Powered by Whisper AI: runs entirely on your device.

One-time download for the selected quality. Each run then starts by getting the model ready on your device.

On-device model: review and edit before exporting; accuracy won't match paid cloud services.

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How It Works

  1. 1Drop an audio or video file, nothing leaves your device.
  2. 2Pick the spoken language, or let auto-detect handle it.
  3. 3Your browser transcribes it on-device with Whisper AI, the first run downloads a one-time model, sized for your device.
  4. 4Review, edit, and download as SRT, VTT, or plain text.

Runs entirely in your browser.

How to add free auto captions in DaVinci Resolve

1

Drop your video here

Use the clip you are editing in Resolve, or the file you rendered from your timeline. MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM and audio files all work.

2

Pick the language and transcribe

Choose the spoken language or keep auto-detect on. The captions appear line by line as your browser transcribes.

3

Check and download the SRT

Click any line to replay it, fix names or words, then download the captions as an SRT file.

4

Import it into Resolve

On the Edit page, choose File → Import → Subtitle, or drag the .srt into the Media Pool, then drag the subtitle clip to the start of your timeline. Resolve adds a subtitle track you can edit and style.

DaVinci Resolve Auto Captions Without Studio: Make the SRT Here

In DaVinci Resolve, subtitles made automatically from the audio are a Studio feature: Blackmagic's own feature guide marks Auto Caption "Studio Version Only" (checked October 2026). The free version of Resolve can still import a subtitle file, so make the captions here instead: drop the same video, let Whisper AI write timed subtitles in your browser, download an SRT and import it onto a subtitle track in free Resolve. No Studio upgrade, no plugin, no account, and the video stays on your own device.

How the captions get into Resolve

Resolve's subtitle tools import SRT and TTML files and place each line on a subtitle track above your video, where it can be moved and trimmed like any other clip. This page makes that file. A Whisper AI speech-recognition model loads into your browser, listens to the audio of your video and writes timed cues on your own device, breaking lines at natural pauses. The SRT you download is plain UTF-8, so accented letters, Cyrillic and Asian scripts come through intact.

What free Resolve does with subtitles

What the free version of DaVinci Resolve can and cannot do with subtitles, from Blackmagic's own pages (checked October 2026):

  • Import: SRT and TTML files land on a subtitle track, in the free version too
  • Edit and style: change words, timing, font, size, color and position in the Inspector
  • Export: burn the captions into the video, or deliver them as a separate SRT, VTT or TTML file
  • Create subtitles from audio: Studio only, and that is the step this page does for free

Who makes Resolve captions this way

YouTube videos and shorts

Caption every video you cut in free Resolve, then burn the captions in or upload the SRT to YouTube next to the video.

Long videos and podcasts

A full episode or a long tutorial is captioned in one go: files up to 2 GB and 4 hours of audio, with no monthly quota of minutes.

Videos in other languages

Captions in 22 languages with auto-detect, including Spanish, Portuguese, German, Japanese, Korean and Arabic.

Viewers watching on mute

Captions make a video easy to follow with the sound off, and open it up to deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers.

Caption files for delivery

A client or a platform wants a separate caption file? Fix the lines on Resolve's timeline and export them as SRT, VTT or TTML.

One file for every editor

The same SRT also imports into Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro and CapCut desktop, so one transcription serves every editor you use.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get auto captions in DaVinci Resolve without Studio?

Make the captions outside Resolve and import them. Drop your video into the tool at the top of this page, pick the language, download the result as an SRT file, then import it in free DaVinci Resolve with File → Import → Subtitle and drag it onto the timeline. Transcription runs in your browser, so there is no Studio upgrade, no plugin and no account.

Does the free version of DaVinci Resolve have auto captions?

No. Making subtitles from the audio is a Studio feature: Blackmagic's New Features Guide for Resolve 18.5 marks Auto Caption "Studio Version Only", and the Resolve 20 guide marks its extra transcription languages and animated subtitles Studio only too. Studio is a paid upgrade, listed at $295 on Blackmagic's site in October 2026. Importing, editing and exporting subtitle files works in the free version, and that is the free route this page gives you.

How do I import an SRT file into DaVinci Resolve?

On the Edit page, choose File → Import → Subtitle and pick the .srt file, or drag it into the Media Pool. Then drag the subtitle clip onto the start of the timeline. Resolve adds a subtitle track above the video, and each line becomes a caption you can edit, retime and style in the Inspector.

What about free plugins like AutoSubs?

AutoSubs is a free, open-source desktop app that runs Whisper on your computer and connects to Resolve, a good choice if you are happy to install software. This page needs no install: it runs in your browser and hands you a plain SRT, which also works in other editors and on YouTube.

Why won't Resolve import my subtitle file?

Check the format and the encoding. Resolve imports SRT and TTML, so a VTT or ASS file from somewhere else needs converting first: use VTT to SRT or ASS to SRT. A file saved in an older encoding can turn letters outside English into gibberish, and the UTF-8 converter fixes that. The SRT downloaded from this page is already UTF-8.

Can I translate the captions for Resolve?

Yes. Drop the SRT into the subtitle translator, pick the target language and import the translated file into Resolve as a second subtitle track. Resolve can switch between subtitle tracks for different languages, and the timing stays as it was, so both tracks line up with your edit.

Which languages can it caption?

22, with automatic language detection, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Turkish, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Arabic. Chinese comes out in Simplified characters by default; pick Chinese (Traditional) to keep the characters as recognized.

Is my video uploaded anywhere?

No. The video is transcribed on your own device and is not sent to a server. Only the AI model is downloaded, once, and your browser keeps it for next time. Files can be up to 2 GB and 4 hours of audio.

Is this tool made by Blackmagic Design?

No. SubtitleKit is a free tool built by Daniel, a solo developer, and it is not affiliated with Blackmagic Design. DaVinci Resolve is named here only to explain how to bring your captions into it.

Tips for clean Resolve captions

Transcribe the finished edit: the times in the SRT count from the start of the file you drop here. If you already cut the video in Resolve, render the timeline and transcribe that render, so the captions line up with your edit.

Start the subtitle clip at the start of the timeline: the first caption then lands exactly where its words begin, and every line after it follows.

Set the language by hand for very short clips, or clips that open with music, which give auto-detect little speech to work with.

Check names and numbers: click a line to replay that part of the audio and fix the word here, before the captions go onto Resolve's timeline.