Use Block Captions When the Footage Behind Them Is Busy

Words laid over moving, bright or detailed footage are hard to read. Block is the caption style with the firmest backing: bold white letters on a solid near-black plate. Whatever happens behind the caption, the letters keep the same contrast.

What makes Block different

• The plate is near-black and fully opaque. Clean uses a translucent black plate that lets part of the picture show through.
• The font is SF Pro in bold at 44 px, a step larger than Clean's 42 px.
• There is no shadow. The plate carries all the contrast.
• With Highlight spoken word on, the word being said gets a box behind it. The box is yellow by default, and its letters switch to dark so they stand out on the plate.

Footage that suits it

• Sports, crowds and event footage with constant movement.
• Street scenes with signs, traffic and changing light.
• Screen recordings with dense interfaces.
• Bright skies, snow, beaches and white rooms.
• Clips that already contain text, such as slides or storefronts. The plate keeps your caption apart from that text.

Clips collected from friends, guests or events vary from shot to shot, and a solid plate gives you one setting that works for all of them. If your footage is calm and dark in the lower third, Block is more than you need. Minimal or Editorial give a lighter feel, and Clean keeps a plate while letting some of the picture through.

Set it up

1. Open the Subtitles tab, then Styles, and select Block.
2. Pause the video and move your pointer along the timeline. The preview shows each frame with its caption as you pass.
3. Stop on the brightest shot and then the busiest shot. Check that the captions look clear on both.
4. Open Options and adjust Size if a caption feels heavy. Block starts at 44 px.

Keep the plate small

A solid plate hides the picture behind it, so a long caption hides more of the frame than a short one. Two habits keep it under control.

First, split long captions. In the Content tab, click in the text where the break should fall and press Enter. Shorter captions make a smaller plate.

Second, move the plate when it sits on something important. Drag the caption on the video to a spot clear of faces, product shots or an interface. The change applies to every caption in the track, and Reset in the Position row of Options puts it back.

Add the spoken-word box

A solid plate gives the spoken-word box a strong background to stand out from.

1. Open Options and switch on Highlight spoken word.
2. Choose Highlight from the three buttons. This draws a box behind the current word.
3. Use the color swatch beside the buttons to change the box color. The letters inside it switch between dark and white to stay readable.

Test it on your hardest clip

Pick the busiest clip in your next project in DepCut, generate captions, and set the style to Block. If the words stay easy to read, the rest of the video will be easy too.