Import YouTube Subtitles into DaVinci Resolve

Which subtitle format does DaVinci Resolve import?#

DaVinci Resolve imports .srt files as a subtitle track, and SRT is the one to pick for a YouTube video. The DaVinci Resolve 21.1 Reference Manual (September 2026) lists .srt, .srtx, .vtt, .xml and .ttml as supported subtitle files. ASS is not on that list.

The table maps each subtitle option in B-ROLL’s Subtitles menu to what Resolve does with it.

SRT wins for editing: plain text plus timing, fixable in any text editor. The fuller comparison of the three files is in SRT vs VTT vs ASS: which subtitle format to keep. The Embedded option is for playback copies: Resolve’s Import Subtitle wants a separate file, and B-ROLL does not embed subtitles into clip files at all. Embedded also fails for WEBM and skips titles with square brackets, leaving the .srt beside the video.

How do you download subtitles for Resolve with B-ROLL?#

B-ROLL downloads a video’s subtitles when you set the Subtitles menu, next to Format, to SRT. Pair it with DNx or ProRes as the format, so Resolve gets an edit-ready .mov and an .srt that share the video’s title.

Before the first download of a batch, B-ROLL opens a Subtitles dialog with the languages that video really has. Official tracks sit under OFFICIAL: uploaded by the creator, machine captions under AUTO-GENERATED, and the original language, the app language and English come pre-ticked. Every option in that dialog is on the YouTube subtitle downloader page.

B-ROLL fetches subtitles in a separate pass after the video, so a subtitle error never costs you the video. One language lands as Title.lang.srt beside the .mov; several go into a Title - subtitles folder. The codec side of the same download is explained in download YouTube videos for DaVinci Resolve.

How do you import an SRT into DaVinci Resolve?#

DaVinci Resolve imports an SRT through Import Subtitle: right-click a bin or an empty area of the Media Pool, choose the command, pick the .srt and click Open. The file arrives as a subtitle clip with a badge in its corner.

Resolve offers two ways onto the timeline:

• Insert Selected Subtitles to Timeline Using Timecode (right-click the subtitle clip) splits the file into single subtitles at the timeline timecodes written in the file.
• Dragging the clip to the gray area above your video tracks creates a subtitle track, but the first subtitle lands where you drop it and the rest follow at their relative offsets.

The timecode route places each subtitle at the time written in the file, with one catch. A YouTube SRT counts from 00:00:00,000, while a new Resolve timeline starts at 01:00:00:00 by default. Right-click the timeline in the Media Pool, choose Timelines, then Starting Timecode, enter 00:00:00:00, and place the video at the start before you insert.

Rename the subtitle track after its language, for example “English”: Resolve uses track names when it exports subtitles.

How do you keep YouTube subtitles in sync with a trimmed clip?#

B-ROLL’s subtitles always cover the whole video, even for a clip download. The SRT starts at the video’s zero, so you slide the subtitles earlier by the clip’s in point.

The clip’s file name gives the in point: a clip saved as Interview [02-10 to 02-38].mov starts at 2:10 in the source video, so its subtitles need to move 00:02:10:00 earlier. Clips made with download part of a YouTube video follow the same naming.

Insert the SRT by timecode on a 00:00:00:00 timeline with the clip at the start. Delete the subtitles outside 00:02:10:00 to 00:02:38:00, select the ones left, type -21000 and press Enter. Resolve reads a leading minus as relative timecode and moves the selection back by 00:02:10:00.

How do you style or edit the imported subtitles in Resolve?#

DaVinci Resolve styles a whole subtitle track from the Track panel of the Inspector: click the subtitle track header, open the Inspector and open Track. Font, color, size, alignment, position, opacity, drop shadow, stroke and background all apply to every subtitle on that track.

To change one subtitle, select it and tick Customize Caption; the rest of the track keeps the track style. The Captions panel lists every subtitle with Prev and Next buttons, and the search icon in the subtitle Inspector opens Find and Replace for a whole track.

Auto-generated captions need that pass most. As of September 2026, YouTube Help says automatic captions come from speech recognition in the video’s default language, so expect misheard words and repeated lines. The cleanup routine is in download YouTube auto-generated captions as SRT.

Keep one subtitle track per language: Resolve shows one subtitle track at a time, and enabling one disables the others.

What goes wrong with YouTube subtitles in a Resolve timeline?#

YouTube subtitles go wrong in Resolve because of the subtitle file, a timeline that starts at 01:00:00:00, or a clip’s in point.

• No .srt next to the video: the video had no track in the ticked language, or only auto-generated captions existed and none was ticked. Work through YouTube subtitles not downloading.
• Subtitles set to Embedded: there is no file for Import Subtitle. Set the menu to SRT and download again.
• Subtitles an hour away from the picture: the timeline still starts at 01:00:00:00. Change the starting timecode to 00:00:00:00 and insert again.
• Every subtitle off by the same gap: the file was dragged, so its first subtitle landed at the drop point. Insert by timecode instead.
• Clip subtitles out of step: the SRT covers the whole video. Move the kept subtitles earlier by the clip’s in point.
• Subtitles missing on playback: another subtitle track is enabled. Enable the track you imported.

More workflows from download to edit live in Guides: YouTube footage from download to timeline.