# Video Captioner

Transcribes, translates, and burns styled subtitles into videos.

- Repository: https://github.com/WEIFENG2333/VideoCaptioner (16430 stars)
- Category: Media
- License: GPL-3.0
- Last updated: 2026-09-12
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add WEIFENG2333/VideoCaptioner --skill videocaptioner -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add WEIFENG2333/VideoCaptioner --skill videocaptioner -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add WEIFENG2333/VideoCaptioner --skill videocaptioner -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add WEIFENG2333/VideoCaptioner --skill videocaptioner -g -a gemini-cli -y`

## Description

Process video subtitles, transcribe speech, optimize/translate text, burn styled subtitles into video. Use when you need to add subtitles to a video, transcribe audio, translate subtitles, or customize subtitle styles.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# VideoCaptioner CLI

AI-powered video captioning: transcribe speech → optimize subtitles → translate → burn into video with beautiful styles.

## When to use

- User wants to **add subtitles to a video**
- User wants to **transcribe audio/video** to text
- User wants to **translate subtitles** to another language
- User wants to **customize subtitle appearance** (colors, fonts, rounded backgrounds)
- User wants to **download and subtitle online videos**

## Before you start

**Always run `videocaptioner <command> --help` first** to check the latest options and defaults before executing a command. The examples below are common patterns, but --help is the source of truth.

- Install: `pip install videocaptioner`
- FFmpeg required for video synthesis (`brew install ffmpeg` on macOS)
- **Free (no API key):** transcription (bijian/jianying), translation (Bing/Google)
- **Requires LLM API key:** subtitle optimization, subtitle re-segmentation, LLM translation. Set via `OPENAI_API_KEY` env var or `--api-key` flag

## Common scenarios

### 1. Give a Chinese video English subtitles (one command, all free)

```bash
videocaptioner process video.mp4 --asr bijian --translator bing --target-language en \
  --subtitle-mode hard --quality high -o output.mp4
```

### 2. Transcribe a video to SRT (free)

```bash
videocaptioner transcribe video.mp4 --asr bijian -o output.srt

# Output as JSON format to a directory
videocaptioner transcribe video.mp4 --asr bijian --format json -o ./subtitles/
```

### 3. Translate existing subtitles

```bash
# Free Bing → English, bilingual output with translation above original
videocaptioner subtitle input.srt --translator bing --target-language en --layout target-above -o translated.srt

# Free Google → Japanese, translation only (discard original text)
videocaptioner subtitle input.srt --translator google --target-language ja --no-optimize --layout target-only -o output_ja.srt

The rest: https://github.com/WEIFENG2333/VideoCaptioner/blob/HEAD/skills/SKILL.md