Disclaimer: This workflow was tested on the Videolinq media bin storage environment for video-on-demand file playback and is not guaranteed to work with other streaming service providers.
Step 1
Prepare the closed captioning data on a VTT file as explained here.
Step 2
Rename the VTT file with the same name of the media file, and place them in the same folder, on the media server or hosting service.
Example of a single bitrate media clip with VTT file -
filename.mp4
filename.vtt
Example of a multi bitrate media clips with VTT files -
filename_360.mp4
filename_720.mp4
filename_1080.mp4
filename_360.vtt
filename_720.vtt
filename_1080.vtt
Point to a single media file like this (0000 is your account number):
https://media.videolinq.net/playback/_definst_/0000/file-name/playlist.m3u8
Point to multiple media files using adaptive bitrate (ABR):
https://media.videolinq.net/playback/_definst_/0000/amlst:file-name/playlist.m3u8?resolutions=240,360,480,720,1080
Optional Multi Language Closed Captioning
In general, captions insertion should match audio played on the video to help viewers read in text the spoken language in the video. You can prepare alternative multi-lingual caption files and label them properly. The player will prompt the user to select the proper language they want to read as closed captioning.
Follow the same guidelines to prepare the media clip and VTT files. Add two digit code language letter extensions to tell the player what file language to select.
Example of single bitrate clip with multi lingual VTT files -
filename.mp4
filename_en.vtt (for English)
filename_de.vtt (for German)
filename_es.vtt (for Spanish)
filename_it.vtt (for Italian)
Example of multi bitrate clips with multi lingual VTT files -
filename_360.mp4
filename_720.mp4
filename_1080.mp4
filename_360_en.vtt (for English)
filename_360_de.vtt (for German)
filename_360_es.vtt (for Spanish)
filename_360_it.vtt (for Italian)
filename_720_en.vtt (for English)
filename_720_de.vtt (for German)
filename_720_es.vtt (for Spanish)
filename_720_it.vtt (for Italian)
filename_1080_en.vtt (for English)
filename_1080_de.vtt (for German)
filename_1080_es.vtt (for Spanish)
filename_1080_it.vtt (for Italian)
Need a media server storage bin to upload files? First, calculate how much storage you will need. Next, order the service.
IMPORTANT: Mac/Chrome and iOS/Chrome computers block upload of .VTT files. Mac and iOS users, please use Safari or Firefox browsers to upload .VTT files to Videolinq.