Kaltura - Using a Script to Create Captions for Media in MediaSpace [UW-Madison]

This document describes how users can use a script to generate captions for media in Kaltura MediaSpace. This tool can also be used to fix mistimed or aligned machine captions.

Creating a video from a script has a number of advantages including that you can create captions from your script to make it more accessible to all users. Upload your video to Kaltura MediaSpace as described in Kaltura - Uploading Files to Kaltura Mediaspace [UW-Madison]You must be the owner of a media item or a co-editor to create captions from a script. Your script file should be in text (.TXT) format. Additional information is available in Kaltura's document, Requesting and Ordering Captions and Enrichment Services through the KMS/KAF - REACH v2.

To create captions from a script:

  1. Launch Chrome or Firefox and log in to Kaltura MediaSpace.
  2. Click on your name or the person silhouette icon in the upper-right corner and click My Media.
    Screenshot showing the user having clicked their user icon in Kaltura MediaSpace with the cursor hovering over the drop-down menu option "My Media".
  3. Search for or scroll until you find the media you want to generate captions from a script. Click on the thumbnail of the media entry.
  4. Click the Actions drop-down menu and select Caption & Enrich.
    A screenshot showing the user having clicked on "Actions" and hovering over "Captions & Enrich" which is outlined in orange.
  5. The Order Captions & Enrichment Services options will display underneath your media item. Select your options:
    • Service - select Machine.
    • Source Media Language - select the appropriate language.
    • Feature - select Alignment.
A screenshot showing the Kaltura MediaSpace "Order Captions & Enrichment" screen. The drop down menus read - Service: "Machine", Source Media Language: "English", and Feature: "Alignment". An "Upload Txt" button is visible on the loawer right.
  1. Click the Upload Txt button. An Upload Attachment window will open. If you are using this tool to fix mistimed machine captions the machine caption file will display here and should already be selected. If it isn't, select the radio button next to it.
  2. Click the Select File button and locate your script in text (.TXT) format.
    A screenshot showing Kaltura MediaSpace's "Upload Attachment" window. A "Select File" button is near the top. Fields for "Title" and "Description" follow. At the bottom are buttons for "Cancel" and "Save".
  3. Enter title and description in the Title and Description fields, then click SaveThe Order Captions & Enrichment Services window will update with the filename, title, and description of the text file you uploaded. 
  4. Click the Submit button. The Existing Requests will update to show your alignment pending request order. It will eventually change to processing and eventually completed. You will also receive an email notification that your alignment request is done processing.
A screenshot showing the "Order Captions & Enrichment" window. A user has uploaded a text script file which is listed as "Script01.txt". The "Submit" button is now available and outlined in orange to help draw attention to it.
  1. After the script alignment has completed you will need to show the captions. To show your captions click the Actions drop-down menu and select Edit.
A screenshot showing the user having clicked the Actions drop-down menu. The cursor hovers over the "Edit" option which is outlined in orange.
  1. Click the Captions tab. Your aligned caption will be listed with the language you previously selected.
    A screenshot showing the Kaltura MediaSpace "Edit → Captions" tab. Two rows of a table are displayed with "Language: English", "Label: English", "File type: SRT", and "Actions" which has a series of 5 icons below it - a check mark (Set as Default), a pecil (Edit), an X (Delete), an arrow pointing down (Download), and a display with a line through it (Show on Player).
  2. Click the pencil icon / edit function and update the label for your captions. You should still review and edit aligned captions to ensure their accuracy.
  3. Once your captions are reviewed for accuracy and the captions are labeled appropriately, publish your captions by clicking the Show on Player icon on the far right to display captions to users.
The complete list of actions you can take on a caption file include from left to right:
    • Screenshot showing the "Set as Default" icon which looks like a check-mark in the "Captions" tab of the "Edit" window. Set as Default - Sets the caption as the default caption for a video.
    • Screenshot showing the "Edit" icon which looks like a pencil in the "Captions" tab of the "Edit" window. Edit - Edit the language and the caption label that displays to viewers. If you click the Edit icon, it will change to a  Save icon which you will need to click after editing the language or label for a caption.
    • Screenshot showing the "Delete" icon which looks like a X in the "Captions" tab of the "Edit" window. Delete - Delete the caption from your media.
    • Screenshot showing the "Download" icon which looks like an arrow pointing down into a computer in the "Captions" tab of the "Edit" window. Download - Download the caption file in .SRT format.
    • Screenshot showing the "Show On Player" icon which looks like a monitor with a line through it in the "Captions" tab of the "Edit" window.Show on Player - Shows the caption as an option for users to display on a video. Aligned captions are not shown by default so users don't see inaccurate captions. Once you've clicked this the icon will change to a Don't Show on Player icon.
  1. You may need to refresh your browser window to get the CC button to display on the Kaltura media player. The CC (for Closed Captions)button in the lower right to display the closed captions during playback. Click on CC to display the closed caption options and select English (or the appropriate language) to display them.
    A screenshot showing the lower right of a Kaltura video. The user has clicked on the "CC" button to display the available captions. The cursor hovers over the "English" option.


Keywords:
kaltura, machine, caption, subtitle, generate, request, create media, script, transcript, alignment, sync synchronize file txt align 
Doc ID:
98867
Owned by:
Learn@UW Madison in Learn@UW-Madison
Created:
2020-03-15
Updated:
2023-12-20
Sites:
DoIT Help Desk, Learn@UW-Madison