About

Kaltura’s captions editor allows you to review and edit captions for your videos, whether they’re generated by Reach or uploaded manually. With an intuitive interface, you can easily adjust caption text, timing, and speaker names, and if you have enabled Kaltura's transcript widget, any changes you make are reflected in the transcript.

The editor also includes features like auto-scroll, timestamp adjustment, and search and replace, giving you full control to fine-tune captions and enhance the viewing experience for your audience. 

This tool is particularly useful for improving the accuracy of machine-generated captions (ASR).

Access the editor 

1. Log into your KMC.
The Entries page displays by default.



2. Click on the desired video's thumbnail.



The entry details page displays.



3. Click the Captions tab.



The Captions page displays.



4. Click the three-dot menu at the far right and select Closed Captions Editor.



The closed captions editor opens.



Editor layout



The editor includes two main areas:

• Captions panel – Displays caption lines and editing tools
• Player panel – Displays the video for real-time preview

When you select a caption line, the player jumps to the relevant point in the video. The selected caption is also displayed below the player, allowing you to preview it in context while editing.

Kaltura supports dual screen inside the captions editor. 

Captions panel 

The captions panel includes:

• Captions dropdown – Select a different caption file if multiple files exist
• Edit details – Update caption language, accuracy, and label
• Search – Enter a term and press Enter to highlight matches
• Replace – Find and replace text across captions
• Add speaker – Add speaker names to selected rows
• Autoscroll – Automatically scroll captions during playback
• Delete caption – Delete a caption line (available on hover)
• Add caption – Add a new caption line (available on hover)
• Timestamp – Edit start and end times

The editor uses SMPTE time format (hh:mm:ss,mmm) for precise timing.

• Caption text – Edit the caption content

Player panel 

The player panel lets you preview captions alongside the video.

• Playback controls help you align captions with audio and visuals
• Selecting a caption line moves the player to the correct timestamp
• The active caption is displayed below the player for easy reference during editing

Edit caption details

1. Click Edit details. 



The 'Edit caption details' window opens.

2. Update the caption's language, accuracy, and label.



3. Click Save.
Changes are applied immediately.

Find and replace text

1. Click Replace. 



2. Enter the search term in the Find match field. 
3. Enter the replacement term in the Replace with field.



4. Click Replace.
5. Click Save.

You are asked to confirm captions accuracy.



6. Move the slider accordingly, then click Save.
The search term is replaced immediately.

Add speaker names

1. Select the row(s) where you want to add the speakers, then click Add speaker.
2. In the 'Speaker name' field, type the name.



3. Click Add Speaker.
The name is added to the selected captions.



4. Click Save.
You are asked to confirm captions accuracy.



5. Move the slider accordingly, then click Save.  
The information is immediately updated.

For general information about Kaltura's player, check out our article Introduction to the Kaltura Player.

Add a caption line

1. Hover over a caption row and click + Add caption.



The caption is duplicated.



2. Click the text field and enter the new caption.

Adjust timing as needed. Overlapping timestamps are highlighted for correction.



3.  Click Save.
You are asked to confirm captions accuracy.



4. Move the slider accordingly, then click Save.
The information is immediately updated.

Edit a caption line

1. Click a caption line.
2. Update the text as needed.



3. Click Save.



You are asked to confirm captions accuracy.



4. Move the slider accordingly, then click Save.
The information is immediately updated.

Revert or save changes

• Revert restores the last saved version
• Save applies your changes



Keyboard shortcuts  

• Player seek 5S backwards = Ctrl <-
• Player seek 2S backwards = <-
• Player seek to 0 = Home and in Mac Command <-
• Player pause-play toggle = space 
• Player seek 5S forward = Ctrl ->
• Player seek 2S forward = ->