Starting in Ensemble version 4.4, automated captions allow quick and easy creation of closed captions. Captions can be created automatically when a video is uploaded, or users can submit content to the captioning service from the media library.
- Automatic Captions Configuration
- Using the Automatic Captioning Service
- Finalizing Captions with the Amara Caption Editor
Video Guide
Automatic Captions Configuration
The Automatic Captioning Service is an affordable machine-assisted service that must be licensed before use. For licensing information, contact sales@ensemblevideo.com.
Once a license is acquired, it must be added to an institution. Click Administration >Institution >License to visit the licenses page. Click on Action > Automatic Captions.
This will open the page to input a license. Once a license is added, the blue information field will display the total and used captioning hours.
First, select the intended Institution for the license key. Then paste the License key and select the Notification Threshold, which will inform administrators when the available captioning hours are nearly depleted. Note: each institution will need a separate license key.
Once the license for an institution is configured, the automatic captioning service should be ready to use. If not, a system administrator should visit Administration > System > Settings and confirm the following settings are not turned off or empty:
Once enabled, automatic captions can be set to apply to all uploads in selected locations, or users with permission can select content to be captioned.
Captions for Selected Locations
To automatically caption all future uploads for a specific institution, organization, or library, turn on the Auto-Caption checkbox for the desired location. Previous uploads will not be affected. See below for the path to each setting:
Institution: Administration > System > Institutions > Action > Edit
Organization: Administration > Institution > Organizations > Action > Edit
Library: Administration > Organization > Libraries > Edit
Example: In the image below, if the Auto-Caption checkbox is enabled, all future content added to this library will be captioned after the upload completes.
Auto-Caption Control for Selected Users
All System and Institution Administrators have permission to use the Automatic Captions feature. Organization Administrator, Contributor, Editor, and Viewer cannot select the Automatic Captions option during or after an upload unless they have been added to the Automatic Captioning permission group.
Go to Administration > Organization > Permissions to edit or view Automatic Captions permissions.
See Managing User Permissions for more information. For institutions/organizations/libraries where the auto-caption option is enabled, all uploads will be captioned, regardless of permissions.
Automatic Caption Permissions
Manage Automatic Captions
- allows you to provide Automatic Captions permission to users
- allows you to set the Automatic Captioning setting (all new files get auto-captioned) for Institution, Organization and Library
- allows you to add/edit an Automatic Caption license
- can grant all three Automatic Captions permissions
Manage Automatic Captions Access
- allows you to provide Automatic Captions permission to users
- allows you to set the Automatic Captioning setting (all new files get auto-captioned) for Institution, Organization and Libraries
- can only grant the Use Automatic Captions permission
Use Automatic Captions
- allows a user to submit media items to the Automatic Captioning service
Using the Automatic Captioning Service
If an administrator has turned on the Auto-Caption option in your institution, organization, or library, all applicable content will be captioned after it is uploaded. If the Auto-Caption option is not in use, it can still be selected during or after an upload. Users must be granted permission to the Automatic Captioning Service by an administrator in order to select Auto-Captioning during or after an upload.
Selecting Auto-Captioning During an Upload
In the Manage Content step of the Add/Edit Wizard, the Auto-Caption checkbox will submit the content to the captioning service as soon as it is uploaded:
Note: Select the Auto-Caption button before pressing Start Upload.
Submitting Content for Captioning from the Media Library
If content was not Auto-Captioned during the upload process, it can still be submitted to the captioning service. Edit a video or MP3 from the Media Library, then select the Caption tab:
The Submit for Automatic Captioning button will generate captions for the selected file, which will be usable in the video player as soon as the captions are completed.
Finalizing Captions with the Amara Editor
The accuracy of auto-generated captions will vary based on factors like the quality of the audio track in a submitted file. For best results, check and edit auto-captions using the free Amara Caption Editor built in to Ensemble.
