Make Your First Caption Bigger With Curiosity Hook

The first caption is the first thing a viewer reads, so three caption styles give it extra size: Curiosity hook, Big & punchy and Neon. This post covers the first two. Every caption after the first returns to the style's normal size.

What counts as the first caption

The opener is the first caption in a caption track, as listed in the Content tab. The preview and the export both follow this rule, so what you see is what you export.

• In Curiosity hook the opener is drawn 28 percent larger than the rest.
• In Big & punchy the opener is drawn about a third larger.
• The Size slider in Options scales the opener along with everything else, so the gap between the opener and the other captions stays.

The two styles

• Curiosity hook uses the Rounded font in bold at 46 px. The letters are white on a blue plate that is slightly translucent.
• Big & punchy uses Impact at 50 px. The letters are yellow with a shadow, and there is no plate. It sits a little higher in the frame than the other styles.

With Highlight spoken word on, Curiosity hook puts a box behind the current word. In Big & punchy the current word turns white and gains an underline.

Prepare the first line

The enlarged size works best when the first caption is your hook, so start with the words.

1. Open the Subtitles tab and the Content tab, and read the first caption.
2. If it is a false start such as "okay so", clear its text and click away. A caption with no text is removed, and the next one becomes the opener.
3. If the first caption is long, click in the text where the hook ends and press Enter. The hook becomes its own short caption and takes the bigger size.
4. Open the Styles tab and select Curiosity hook or Big & punchy.
5. Move the playhead to the start of the video and look at the opening caption in the preview. Then play on to the second caption and compare.

Choose between them

Choose Curiosity hook when your video has a friendly, question-led opening: "Why does this keep happening?" The blue plate reads clearly on most footage and the rounded letters read as approachable.

Choose Big & punchy for statements and bold claims. The Impact letters in yellow work on dark or mid-tone footage. With no plate, the shadow carries the contrast, so check the opener against your first shot. A pale first frame is the likeliest place for yellow letters to wash out.

If your video opens on a quiet establishing shot and the speech begins several seconds in, the first caption still gets the larger size when it arrives. For a calm opening, a style without an opener boost, such as Clean or Editorial, keeps the first line at the same size as the rest.

Only the first caption gets the boost. To enlarge every caption, raise Size in Options. The slider runs from 24 to 120 px.

Try it on your next hook

Open a short video in DepCut, generate captions, and trim the first line to the hook. Then switch between the two styles and watch the first second of each.