Step 1: Generate your captions
If you haven't already, generate your captions in the [Edit captions] panel. See Generate captions for your video.
Review your transcript before translating.
Step 2: Translate your captions
In the [Edit captions] panel, click the [Translation] icon at the bottom right, next to [Apply to sequence]. The [Add translation] window shows your captions' language at the top.
Select your target language, then click [Apply]. Premiere Assistant supports AI-powered translation in 29 languages.
Once translated, click any line to manually edit the text if needed. AI translations may not always be perfect. Review and adjust before applying.
Note: Caption editing keyboard shortcuts only work on the base language captions. They do not apply to the translated captions column.
Step 3: Apply to your sequence
Option A: As a Premiere caption track
Click [Apply to sequence] > [Add captions]. Select [Premiere Pro captions], check [Split track for translation] under [Track settings], then click [Apply].
In your Premiere timeline, activate the translated caption track.
Tip: Premiere places both caption tracks at the same position by default. Select all captions from the track you want to reposition and adjust the position from Premiere's [Properties] panel.
Option B: As Animated Captions (Premiere graphic track)
Click [Apply to sequence] > [Add captions] > [Animated captions] > [Next].
Choose a caption style and preset. See Add animated caption effects for details.
In the [General] tab, use the [Translation] dropdown to choose what to display:
[Show base language + translation (sub)]
[Show base language only]
[Show translation only]
[Show translation + base language (sub)]
In the [Style] tab, set the base language and the translation separately. Translated captions have no word-level timestamps, so the translation style has no Spoken, Default, or Highlight states.
Click [Apply].
Note: Word-by-word animation presets only apply to the base language, not the translation. See the workaround below.
How to apply word-by-word animation to translated captions
Word-by-word animated caption presets (a karaoke effect, for example) need word-level timestamps. Premiere Assistant creates them when it transcribes, but translated captions don't carry them.
To get word-by-word animation on your translation:
Translate your captions in the [Edit captions] panel as normal.
Click the export icon (top right) and select [Caption SRT file]. Under [Language], check [Translated] and uncheck [Original], then click [Export].
Go back to the [Edit captions] panel and import the exported SRT file using [Upload SRT file].
Click [Apply to sequence] > [Add captions] > [Animated captions] > [Next], choose your preset, and click [Apply].
The word-by-word animation will be applied to your translated captions. Note that the timing won't sync as precisely to each spoken word as it does with the original language.
Troubleshooting
Part of my translation is missing or incomplete
If only part of your captions was translated, one of these is usually the cause.
1. Multiple languages in the video. Premiere Assistant supports one language at a time. Transcribe each language separately, then combine the results manually.
2. Audio issues in a specific section. Poor audio quality or mismatched audio channels can affect transcription accuracy.
Right-click the audio clip in your timeline and select Audio Channels. Set all channels to L (Left).
Go to Window > Audio and check that the volume bar isn't pulled down.
Once you've checked both, re-transcribe just that section: set In and Out points in Premiere with I and O, move the clip to a new sequence, and transcribe again.
3. A temporary server issue. If the translation still looks incomplete, create a new sequence, copy the relevant clip into it, and run transcription and translation again.
Captions show in the timeline but not in the exported video
If your captions show in the Premiere timeline but are missing from the exported video, this is an export setting rather than a transcription problem. Premiere does not write a caption track into the video file unless you tell it to. Learn more in Generate captions for your video.