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The OBS plugin can put translated captions in two places: on the picture (a captions overlay you add to a scene) and inside the stream as closed captions (CC) that viewers can turn on in their player. You can use either one or both.
Who it's for#
Anyone streaming or recording a service with OBS who wants viewers to read the translation.
Before you start#
- OBS is paired and translating. See Set up audio, languages and start/stop in OBS.
- The language you want captions in is one of the device's translation languages (under Translation in the dock).
On-screen captions (overlay)#
- In the dock, go to In OBS.
- Pick a Language.
- Click Add captions overlay to scene. The dock says it added "SermonWave Captions" to the current scene. If an overlay for that language already exists, OBS shows and selects it instead of adding a second one.
- Drag and resize it in the OBS preview like any other source.
You can also add it the usual way: in Sources, click + and choose SermonWave Captions.
Style the overlay#
Double-click the SermonWave Captions source to open its properties:
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Which translation to show | Spanish |
| Text size | Size of the text | 48 |
| Font | Font face and style | Arial (Windows), Helvetica (Mac) |
| Text color | Color of the letters | White |
| Background color (transparency 0 = no background) | Box behind each line | Semi-transparent black |
| Padding (px) | Space around the text inside the box | 12 |
| Alignment | Left, Center or Right | Center |
| Outline | Outline around the letters | Off |
| Lines | How many lines are visible at once | 2 |
| Characters per line | Where lines wrap | 42 |
| Clear after silence (s, 0 = never) | Hides the captions after this many seconds without new text | 12 |
The overlay looks the same on Windows and Mac. It only affects OBS; listeners and the Dashboard don't change.
Stream captions (CEA-608 closed captions)#
These go inside your main livestream as closed captions, not on the picture.
- In the dock, find Stream captions (CEA-608).
- Pick the language.
- Tick Send captions to the stream.
While you stream, the status shows "Receiving translations" and a count of captions sent. When you're not streaming it says "not streaming".
Which platforms show them#
- YouTube and Facebook Live show CEA-608 captions as CC in the player. Viewers turn them on with the CC button.
- Other platforms and players vary. If your platform says it supports "embedded 608 captions", it should work. Test with a private stream first.
Limitations#
- One language per stream. CEA-608 carries one caption language in your main stream. For more languages, use a separate translated stream per language; each one can carry its own captions (Captions on stream).
- Latin-script languages work best (Spanish, French, Portuguese, German and similar). Accents in these languages are kept. Languages that use other alphabets, such as Chinese, Korean, Arabic or Russian, cannot be shown correctly in CEA-608; use the on-screen overlay for those.
- Timing. Captions in the main stream follow the speaker by about 3–6 seconds, like a live interpreter. In a translated stream with Sync to video turned on, captions appear when each sentence is spoken on screen. See Keep translation in sync with video.
- Captions are sent only while OBS is streaming. For subtitles in recordings, see Translated recordings.
Troubleshooting#
The overlay is empty. Check that translation is running (the dock shows "Translating") and that the overlay's Language is one the device translates into. If the properties say "languages not loaded yet", wait until the dock shows Connected.
"The device no longer translates into this language, so no captions will arrive. Choose another language." The language was removed from the device. Pick another, or add it back under Translation.
Viewers don't see CC on YouTube. Captions must be turned on in the player (CC button). Make sure Send captions to the stream is ticked and the dock shows captions being sent.
Odd characters in captions. The language probably isn't Latin-script. Use the overlay instead.
FAQ#
Can I show two languages on screen at once?#
Yes. Add one SermonWave Captions source per language and place them in different spots.
Do captions slow down my stream?#
No. Captions are tiny compared with video and don't need extra encoding.