Convert VTT to ASS
Take web captions into a format built for typesetting, then style them properly.
- Free
- No upload, no signup
- Timings preserved
How to convert VTT to ASS
Choose your .vtt file
Press the box at the top of this page and pick your VTT file, or drop it on. It is read in your browser, so nothing is uploaded and there is no account to make.
Check the ASS preview
The first cues are shown as they will be written in ASS, so you can see the timings and the text before you save anything.
Download the .ass file
Save the ASS file to your device. Your VTT file is left as it was, so you can convert it again to another format.
From a web caption track to a styled one
WebVTT has styling, but it is styling for a web page: CSS applied through cue selectors, which the platform hosting the video has to support and most do not. Advanced SubStation Alpha puts the appearance in the subtitle file itself, so it renders identically in any player that reads it.
That is the reason to make this trip: you have captions that came from a web workflow and you want them to look like something specific in a desktop player, or you want them burned into the picture with a font you chose.
Cue text carries across cleanly, and the timings to the hundredth of a second, which is as fine as an ASS file stores them. Positioning does not: the line, position and align settings are dropped and every cue is written at the bottom centre, so anything you had deliberately placed has to be placed again.
What is in the ASS file
A complete .ass file: a script header set to 1920 by 1080, one style called Default, and one Dialogue line per cue. Default is Arial at size 64, white with a black outline, at the bottom centre. It is a starting point to restyle, not a design.
From the WebVTT file it takes the cue text and the times. Voice tags such as <v Name>, class and italic tags and inline timestamps are removed, & and the other escaped characters become the characters themselves, and a two-line cue keeps its break as \N. The WEBVTT header, NOTE and STYLE blocks and cue names are skipped.
VTT and ASS, side by side
The text carries over as it is, and the timings to the hundredth of a second, which is as fine as an ASS file stores them. The VTT file's own tags and settings are not translated: every cue lands on one plain style, ready to be restyled.
Both samples below hold the same two cues, so the difference you can see is the whole difference between the formats.
WEBVTT
1
00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:03.500
This is the first line.
2
00:00:03.500 --> 00:00:06.000
And this is the second.
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:01.00,0:00:03.50,Default,,0,0,0,,This is the first line.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:03.50,0:00:06.00,Default,,0,0,0,,And this is the second.
VTT to ASS: questions
How do I convert VTT to ASS?
Choose your .vtt file in the box at the top of this page, check the preview and press Download .ass. The file is converted in your browser, so it is not uploaded and there is no account to make.
Why convert VTT to ASS rather than styling the VTT?
Because WebVTT styling lives in CSS on the page, so it only works where you control the page. ASS carries its appearance inside the subtitle file, which survives being handed to a player or burned into the video.
Will my cue positioning survive?
No. The line, position and align settings on a WebVTT cue are dropped, and every cue is written on the ASS Default style at the bottom centre. The two formats describe placement differently, so move the lines that matter in your subtitle editor afterwards.
What style does the ASS file use?
One style, named Default: Arial at size 64 on a 1920 by 1080 script, white with a black outline, at the bottom centre. Every cue uses it, so changing that one style restyles the whole file.
Is ASS better than VTT?
Neither is better; they are for different places. WebVTT is the only caption format a browser will load, and ASS is the only one of these that can carry a real look. Convert towards wherever the file has to end up.
Will the file still work in a browser?
No, and that is expected. Browsers load WebVTT through the track element and nothing else, so an ASS file is for a desktop player or an editor. Keep the .vtt if the video is also going on a web page.
Other caption conversions
Everything else you can do here.
Convert the video too
Convert VTT to ASS now
Free, in your browser. The file is converted on your device and is not uploaded.