Subtitles for recorded lectures on Mac

Keep the lecture and its permissions together

Use a lecture you recorded yourself or one you are authorized to process and share. Permission to attend a class does not necessarily include permission to record it or distribute a subtitled copy. Check your institution’s recording policy and the rights of speakers and participants, particularly when a recording includes student questions or identifiable personal information.

Polyglot processes imported media and subtitle text locally on your Mac after model setup. That can help you avoid uploading the lecture for transcription, but it does not replace your institution’s privacy, storage or consent requirements. Choose an appropriate local storage location and decide who should receive the finished recording and subtitle files.

Build a terminology list before reviewing

Lecture audio often contains abbreviations, technical terms, citations and unfamiliar names. Before you process the recording, keep the slide deck or your course glossary nearby. Use it as a reference during review; Polyglot does not currently promise a custom-vocabulary training feature. Clear source audio and a manageable first excerpt make it easier to assess the draft.

Import the final recording, create the original-language subtitle draft and play it back alongside the cues. Check every formula spoken aloud, numerical example and word that could change a concept if misheard. A grammatically plausible subtitle may still be wrong. Correct the original text before approving a translation so that a mistaken term does not travel into another language.

Make the lesson readable at its actual pace

Read the subtitles while watching the slides, as a student would. Dense explanations can demand attention in two places at once. Look for overly long lines, ambiguous pronouns and missing context around references such as “this value.” Where a shorter phrase preserves the meaning, edit the text. Do not simplify a technical definition so much that it changes the lesson.

Polyglot keeps the source cue timing. If the final captions require different timing or cue segmentation, use a compatible subtitle editor for that finishing step. Speech recognition also does not guarantee complete accessibility captions: relevant non-speech sounds and speaker identification may need to be added and checked. Review your institution’s accessibility requirements before publishing.

Translate with a subject-aware review

If you choose translations, compare their technical vocabulary with the original text. A subject expert or a fluent reviewer can catch an everyday translation that is incorrect in the course’s discipline. Automatic speech recognition supports 25 European languages; available translation targets are separate and do not expand speech recognition coverage.

Export one completed language or all completed languages as UTF-8 SRT files. Label each file with the lecture, edit version and language. Keep a saved Polyglot project so that corrections can be made later. If you update the source text, review the affected translations before replacing the files on your course platform.

Test inside the course player

Upload or attach the SRT using the subtitle feature of a compatible learning platform or video player. The exported file is separate from the video and does not burn captions into the picture. Check the platform’s supported subtitle formats and its current instructions; compatibility is not implied merely because it accepts a video file.

Play a section with specialist vocabulary and a section near the end. Check caption timing, language selection and character rendering. Confirm who can access the recording and whether students can turn captions on. Only then share the lesson. For a first run, our SRT guide walks through the export and playback checks in more detail.

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