How to Add Subtitles to MP4

Burn subtitles into your videos for permanent display.

Basic Command

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "subtitles=subtitle.srt" output.mp4

This burns SRT subtitles into the video.

With Custom Style

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "subtitles=subtitle.srt:force_style='FontName=Arial,FontSize=24,PrimaryColour=&HFFFFFF'" output.mp4

• FontName: Font family
• FontSize: Text size
• PrimaryColour: Text color (BGR format)

Color Codes

Color	Code
White	&HFFFFFF
Yellow	&H00FFFF
Red	&H0000FF
Green	&H00FF00

ASS/SSA Subtitles

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "subtitles=subtitle.ass" output.mp4

ASS files include their own styling.

Common Issues

Codec error? Re-encode video:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "subtitles=subtitle.srt" -c:v libx264 -crf 23 output.mp4

Chinese characters not showing? Specify font:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "subtitles=subtitle.srt:force_style='FontName=Microsoft YaHei'" output.mp4

Quick Reference

# Basic
ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -vf "subtitles=subs.srt" out.mp4

# With styling
ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -vf "subtitles=subs.srt:force_style='FontName=Arial,FontSize=24'" out.mp4

# ASS subtitles
ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -vf "subtitles=subs.ass" out.mp4

Add subtitles permanently!