YouTube Integration

Closed Captioning YouTube videos with CaptionSync is easy. This tutorial describes how to set up CaptionSync's integration with YouTube.

CaptionSync can deliver caption files directly to YouTube when a Captioning request is made via our List of URLs. Each YouTube URL is checked to see if it belongs to a YouTube user you have authorized AST to deliver results to. You can have multiple YouTube users associated, and can disable the automatic delivery authorization at any time. We will only push captions automatically if the URL belongs to a YouTube user you have authorized.

Note: If you also wish to set up the YouTube Playlist integration for placing Captioning requests directly from your YouTube account, visit our YouTube Playlist Integration tutorial.

NOTE: This integration depends on a API quota allocated to us by Google. During periods of high demand for this integration, we may not be able to identify your video as belonging to the YouTube user your CaptionSync account is integrated with, and/or we may not be able to post the caption file back into the respective YouTube account.

Text Tutorial

One-Time Setup:

• Log into your CaptionSync account, click Settings -> Account Features, and select Enable my account for YouTube integration from the Account Feature to Add drop-down menu. Finally, click Request Account Feature. You will receive an email updating you about the feature status. Note that if you can't see YouTube integration on the "Account Feature to Add" drop-down menu, then it's already enabled.

Configuring the integration for a YouTube user:

• Once you're notified that the feature is enabled, go to Settings -> YouTube, and click Associate a new YouTube user:

• A CaptionPush to YouTube Google page will be opened, requesting that permission is given to AST to deliver results into your YouTube account. Click Allow (you will be prompted to log in if you're not already logged into Google):

You'll then see this user listed on Settings -> YouTube and can submit your List of YouTube URLs. You can add as many YouTube users as you need.

Submitting Content for Transcription and Captioning:

• Submit your list of YouTube URLs.

• Once the download of the media file is complete (i.e. the Tried field shows "Y"), and if the video was determined to be yours, you'll see the Will push results back message when you mouse over the URL. This means we'll be able to push back an .srt caption file to YouTube:

• If the video wasn't deemed to be yours, then we won't be able to push back captions automatically, and there will be no additional message when you mouse over the URL:

• If we're unable to deliver results into a YouTube account automatically, you'll need to take the .srt file and upload it into the YouTube account.
  For YouTube videos which are not yours, our Smart Player may be an alternative.

• Once captions are delivered into the YouTube account, they will be displayed when you play the video, showing the language selected when you made the List of URLs request, and the AST CaptionSync Captions identifier:

• If you still can't see captions, you may need to click the Captions/CC icon:

Troubleshooting Tips:

If we checked that a video is owned by a YouTube user you've associated, but YouTube deemed it to be not functional, we will mark that YouTube user as broken.  You can fix it by re-associating that YouTube user. You can check which users are broken under Settings -> YouTube:

Just use the Associate a new YouTube user link to associate it again.

If you tried to add the YouTube user again, but it is still listed as broken, or you're getting an error message, then please do the following: go to the Apps Permission page of your Google account and revoke all permissions given to AST CaptionSync. You will then need to re-associate the YouTube user.

Additional Notes:

• The YouTube integration doesn't work retroactively. So if you enabled it after submitting your content, you'll either need to cancel your requests (if they're not being transcribed already), and resubmit them once the integration is working; or, wait until results are available, and then manually upload the caption file into the relevant YouTube videos.

• An article describing known issues and tips regarding YouTube's Captioning feature can be found here.

• It is possible to have multiple CaptionSync accounts integrated with the same YouTube user. But note that we don't monitor for duplicate URLs. So if you submit a URL from a YouTube user integrated with one CaptionSync account, ensure it is not later submitted in another CaptionSync account also integrated with that user. This can be done by checking the Status of Existing Lists pages in both accounts, and then the individual List Details pages, which can give you details about the URLs submitted for each individual list.