Glossary

Words we keep using.

Short definitions for captions, subtitles, WebVTT, chapters, tags, and the other words this site uses.

This glossary is for creators and researchers who use YouTubeScribe's extractors and calculators. Each entry explains a word the tools and blog posts use, without turning into a keyword list. When a term has a longer article, the child page goes deeper; the index stays short so you can scan before you click.

Where to go next

Transcript downloader · Subtitle downloader · WebVTT

Captions vs subtitlesCaptions include speech and non-speech sound. Subtitles usually carry dialogue only, often as a translation. On YouTube both labels often name one timed track.
Auto-generated captionsA speech-to-text track YouTube builds for most public uploads. Useful, incomplete, sometimes missing. Extractors read this track and run no speech recognition.
YouTube chaptersTimed headings a creator adds in the description. They become the jump marks under the player.
YouTube tagsHidden keywords on a video, capped at 500 characters in total. Viewers do not see them on the watch page. Tag tools list what the uploader set in Studio.
WebVTTThe subtitle format browsers play natively. It can carry voices, positioning, and comments that SRT cannot. YouTubeScribe offers VTT on Pro; SRT is free.
TimecodeA clock reading on a frame of video, usually hours:minutes:seconds:frames. Not a YouTube timestamp: caption cues use seconds, production timecode counts frames.
Closed captionsCaptions the viewer can turn on or off. Open captions are burned into the picture and cannot be switched off.
Description timestampsLines in a YouTube description that start with a time. They become clickable jumps, and they are how chapters are declared.

FAQ

Questions, answered.

What is this glossary for?

The words this site uses: captions, subtitles, WebVTT, chapters, tags, timecode.

Are captions the same as subtitles?

No. Captions include who is speaking and non-speech sound. Subtitles are usually translation only.

Where do I start?

If you only need one term, start with captions vs subtitles, then WebVTT.

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