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. If a captions file is missing, in the incorrect language, or empty, the media file's owner or someone with permission to edit it (co-editor) can add closed captions by following the steps in the relevant help article(s) below:

Go to My Media or Media Gallery.

Screenshot of links in menus.
  1. To go to My Media: Select My Media from your Global Navigation Menu.
  2. To go to Media Gallery: Select Media Gallery (or McIntire Kaltura) from the Course Navigation Menu.

Note: Steps for McIntire School of Commerce instructors to access McIntire My Media can be found in How can I access McIntire My Media? (opens new window).

In Media Gallery, access the Media tab.

Screenshot of tabs in a 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, for example, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Select the X button.

Screenshot highlighting the Close button.

When you are done making changes, select the Close (X) 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.