Editing

What is Burned-in captions ?

Also called: hardcoded subtitles

Captions rendered permanently into the video so they always show.

Burned-in captions (hardcoded subtitles) — Captions rendered permanently into the video so they always show.

Burned-in (or hardcoded) captions are baked into the video frames rather than added as a separate subtitle track. They always display, in your exact style, regardless of the platform — which is why animated short-form captions are burned in.

Faceless creators rely on them because most viewers watch with the sound off, and a styled, animated caption is part of the visual identity.

Key points

Rendered into the frames
Always show, in your style
Standard for short-form
Essential for sound-off viewing

Browse caption styles

Related terms

Full glossary

Auto captions

Captions generated automatically from a video's audio, synced to each word.

Audience retention

How much of a video viewers actually watch — a core ranking signal.

Faceless shorts

Short-form vertical videos made without showing your face.

More in Editing

B-roll

Supplementary footage layered over a voiceover to illustrate what's being said.

Stock footage

Pre-made video clips you license and reuse as b-roll.

Local rendering

Exporting a video on your own computer's hardware instead of a cloud server.

Royalty-free music

Music you can use in videos without ongoing licensing fees or copyright claims.

Brand kit

A saved set of logos, fonts and colors applied to keep videos on-brand.

Watermark

A logo or stamp overlaid on a video — sometimes by the tool that made it.

FAQ

Burned-in captions, quick answers

What does Burned-in captions mean?

Captions rendered permanently into the video so they always show.

Why does Burned-in captions matter for faceless creators?

Faceless creators rely on them because most viewers watch with the sound off, and a styled, animated caption is part of the visual identity.

How does Clipmesh help with burned-in captions?

Clipmesh turns the whole faceless workflow — script, AI voiceover, auto-matched b-roll and word-synced captions — into a few clicks, rendered locally on your own machine, so you can put burned-in captions into practice without extra tools.