How do I customize captions in My Media or Media Gallery?

In My Media or Media Gallery (Kaltura), you can customize the styling of captions while watching a video. You can change the size, alignment, color, font, and background color of the captions. These adjustments can help make the captions easier to read.

Note: The video must have closed captions in order for these features to work. Content owners can add closed captions by following the steps in How do I request to add captions to a file in My Media?

Some Kaltura files embedded in Canvas courses may still be using the legacy media player. Open the collapsed sections under the corresponding steps below to find instructions for using the legacy player.

Go to My Media or Media Gallery.

  1. To go to My Media: Select My Media from your Global Navigation Menu.
  2. To go to Media Gallery: Select Media Gallery from the Course Navigation Menu.

Note: To access the Media Gallery tool in a McIntire School of Commerce course site, select McIntire Kaltura from the Course Navigation Menu instead of Media Gallery.

In Media Gallery, access the Media tab.

Screenshot of tabs in the Media Gallery.

If you are accessing a file in Media Gallery and any playlists have been created in the course, the Playlists tab will display as the first page.  If this is the case, select the Media tab to go to it.

Note: The Media tab will display with the number of files currently included in it, e.g., 6 Media.

Select a video.

Screenshot example of files in a Media Gallery, with a video outlined.

Select the video to play.

Tip: This step and the steps below are the same in both My Media and Media Gallery.

Select Play.

Screenshot example of a video showing the Play button in the center.

Select the Play button in the center of the media player.

Select the CC button.

Screenshot example of a video with Closed Captions enabled.

Select the Enable Captions (CC) button near the bottom right of the video player.

Note: The Enable Captions (CC) button will only appear if the video has captions available.

Legacy Media Player
Screenshot example of a video of the Closed Captions button in the legacy player.

Select the Closed Captions (CC) button at the bottom right of the video player.

Note: The Closed Captions (CC) button will only appear if the video has captions available.

Pause the video. (Optional)

Screenshot of a video with the Pause button highlighted.

Select the Pause (two vertical bars) button to pause the video while editing the captions settings.

Select Settings.

Screenshot example highlighting the Settings button.

Select the Settings (cog) button.

Legacy Media Player

Select Options.

Screenshot example of the menu for captions.

Select Options from the menu that appears.

Open the Advanced captions settings.

Screenshot example of a video with Settings menu open.
  1. Select the label for the captions. The label is typically the language in which the captions are spoken, for example, English.
  2. Select Advanced captions settings.

Customize the settings.

Select one of the preset options.

Screenshot showing Advanced captions settings with a preset highlighted.

Three preset captions styles are available to select:

  • Sample 1: White text over a transparent background.
  • Sample 2: White text over a black background (this is the default setting).
  • Sample 3: Yellow text over a transparent background.
Legacy Media Player
Screenshot showing Advanced options in the legacy player with presets highlighted.

Three preset captions styles are available to select:

  • White text over a black background (this is the default setting).
  • Black text over a white background.
  • Yellow text over a black background.

Or select Set custom caption.

Screenshot showing Advanced captions settings with the button highlighted.

To specify the font size, alignment, and font and background colors, select the Set custom caption button.

Legacy Media Player
Or select Edit custom captions.
Screenshot showing Advanced options in the legacy player with the Edit custom captions link highlighted.

To create a custom style, select Edit custom captions.

Edit the captions settings.

Screenshot of captions settings.
  1. Use the menus and sliders available to specify the following for your captions:
    • Size
    • Font alignment
    • Font color
    • Font family
    • Font style
    • Font opacity
    • Background color
    • Background opacity
  2. Select Apply.

Tip: You can scroll down below the Apply button to find a preview of how the captions will display with the selected settings.

Legacy Media Player
Select one of the options to edit.
Screenshot of buttons for options to edit in the legacy player.

Choose one of the following options to customize the captions style:

  • Size
  • Color
  • Font
  • Background
Make the desired change.
Screenshot of options for font size in the legacy player.

Select one of the options to adjust the style. You can see a preview of the changes at the bottom of the player.

Select the back arrow button.
Screenshot pointing out the button.

To change another setting in the captions (e.g., Color if you are currently editing Size), use the back arrow (Go to previous screen) button in the upper-left corner of the player to return to the options screen.

Select the X button.

Screenshot highlighting the Close button.

When you are done making changes, select the X (Close) button in the upper-right corner of the player to return to the video.

Legacy Media Player
Screenshot highlighting the Close button in the legacy player.

When you are done making changes, select the X (Close) button in the upper-right corner of the player to return to the video.

Play the video with captions.

Screenshot of a video with captions in magenta on a black background.

Captions will display in your selected format as you continue playing the video.

Legacy Media Player
Screenshot of the captions options in the legacy player.
  1. Select the Play button.
  2. If you haven't enabled captions yet, select the Closed Captions (CC) button.
  3. Select one of the language options (e.g., English) from the menu that appears.

Note: If you had captions enabled before changing the captions options, you may need to play the video for a few seconds before the changes appear.

View captions.

Screenshot of a video with captions in yellow text.

Captions will display in your selected format.