Category: Workflow / Premiere Pro

You send a video to a client for review. They send back a Word document with 50 pages of text edits. "Here you go! We rewrote the script. Please update the subtitles."

Your heart sinks. You are staring at 4 hours of work: manually double-clicking every single caption block in Premiere Pro, finding the matching line in the Word doc, and copy-pasting it. One. By. One.

Stop. You are doing it the hard way.

Here is the "Round-Trip" workflow to automate subtitle updates using .SRT or .CSV files, so you never have to manually copy-paste a script again.

The Mistake: Sending Video Files Only

The problem started when you sent the client a video file and let them edit a Word doc. A Word doc has no concept of Time. If they add a sentence, they break your sync.

The Fix: The SRT Round-Trip

To automate this, you need the client to edit a file that Premiere can read.

Step 1: Export the SRT (Before they edit)

1. In Premiere, go to the Text Panel > Captions.

2. Click the three dots ... in the top right.

3. Select Export > Export to SRT file.

4. Send this file to your client along with the video.

Step 2: The Client Edits Tell your client: "Please open this file in Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac) and make your changes there. Do not touch the timecodes."

• Pro Tip: If your client is scared of "code," use a free tool like Subtitle Edit or tell them to use a spreadsheet (see below).

Step 3: Re-Import the SRT Once they send back the edited .srt file:

1. Drag the file into your Premiere Project bin.

2. Drag it onto your Timeline.

3. Premiere will create a New Caption Track above your old one.

4. Disable the old track (click the eyeball) and check the new one.

   • Result: All the text is updated, and the timecodes are exactly where you left them.

The "Nuclear" Option: Import Corrected Transcript

If the client already edited a Word doc and refuses to redo it, you can use Premiere's AI to match their text to your video.

1. Save as .txt: Open their Word doc and "Save As" a Plain Text (.txt) file.

2. Open Source Clip: In Premiere, find the original video file in your bin (not the timeline sequence) and double-click it to open it in the Source Monitor.

3. Import Transcript: Go to Text Panel > Transcript. Click the three dots ... > Import Corrected Transcript.

4. Select their .txt file.

5. The Magic: Premiere’s AI will read their text and try to align it to the audio waveforms of your video.

6. Click the "CC" button to generate a fresh caption track from this new text.

Summary

If a client wants to rewrite the script, don't let them do it in a vacuum. Force them into an SRT or Text workflow. It keeps the timecodes intact and allows you to update 2 hours of subtitles in 2 seconds.