If you're a video editor working in 2026, you've probably noticed that more platforms than ever now auto-play videos muted. Whether you're posting on YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, or embedding in a course platform, your viewers watch the first 3 seconds with the sound off.
Subtitles aren't optional anymore. They're how you communicate before your viewer decides to unmute. They're how deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers access your content. They're how people watch your video in a noisy coffee shop.
The good news: Final Cut Pro supports three different subtitle workflows, and the right choice depends on what you're trying to do.
SRT (SubRip) is the universal subtitle format. Almost every tool exports it. Final Cut Pro can import SRT directly:
.srt file.The downside: SRT in FCP doesn't give you styling control. The captions appear in FCP's default caption style. If you need a specific font, color, or position, you'll need a different method.
iTT (iTunes Timed Text) is Apple's preferred caption format. It's XML-based, supports positioning and styling, and Final Cut Pro imports it natively:
.itt file.The advantage: you can preview how your captions will look on the actual video before rendering. The iTT format gives you control over things like vertical position (top/middle/bottom) and horizontal alignment (left/center/right) that SRT can't.
FCPXML is Apple's full project interchange format. When you export captions as FCPXML, you can include font styling, motion templates, position parameters โ everything FCP needs to render the captions exactly the way you designed them.
The drawback: FCPXML is complex, and a hand-written XML file usually fails to import. The right way to create one is to use a converter that knows the FCPXML 1.14 schema and the internal Apple Motion template paths.
Our subtitle converter handles this for you โ it generates valid FCPXML with the correct uid for FCP's built-in caption templates, so the file imports cleanly.
Yes. Once imported (via any method), each caption becomes a clip on the captions track. Double-click to edit text, use the Inspector to change timing, or apply a different text style.
Only if you burn them into the video before exporting. To do that: go to Share โ Master File, and in the export options check Burn in Captions. Your video will export with the captions permanently visible.
SRT and iTT work in all three NLEs (Final Cut, Premiere, Resolve). FCPXML is Final Cut-only. If you need to move between editors, stick with SRT or iTT.