What burned-in subtitles mean
Burned-in subtitles are rendered into the video frames. They are always visible because there is no separate caption track for the viewer to enable or disable.
This is useful for social clips, previews, ads, short videos and any destination where separate caption files may not travel with the video.
What closed captions mean
Closed captions are delivered as a separate track or subtitle file, such as SRT or VTT. The player or platform loads the captions and can let viewers control whether captions appear.
Closed captions are often better for accessibility workflows, searchability, archives and platforms that have native caption support.
Which export should you choose?
Choose based on the publishing destination. Social platforms and shared MP4 files often benefit from burned-in subtitles. Web players, training platforms and archives often benefit from separate caption files.
- Choose burned-in subtitles for always-visible social video.
- Choose SRT or VTT when the destination accepts caption files.
- Export both if you need a shareable video plus a reusable caption file.