Step 3 · Layout· 6 min read

How to add your animated captions to the Premiere Pro timeline

In short

In Subkick Caption, generation happens in the bottom bar of step 3 Layout: pick the video track with V − +, choose the scope (This block, In-out or All) and click ⚡ Generate. Your animated captions arrive in Premiere Pro as a sequence named “<your sequence> Subtitles”, placed on the track you chose and tidied into a bin of your project. After any change, ⚡ Update redoes only the missing or changed blocks: your cuts and sounds don't move.

Step by step

Open your editing sequence — Make your editing sequence the active one in Premiere Pro, then go to step 3 Layout in Subkick Caption.
Pick the track — In the bottom bar, set the video track with V − +, or click V to jump to the first free track. Green means free.
Choose the scope — Click This block, In-out or All (All is the default).
Generate — Click ⚡ Generate and follow the progress in the Generating… window.
Find your captions — In Premiere Pro, your captions are in a sequence named “<your sequence> Subtitles”, on the track you chose.
Update after a change — Change what you want in the plugin, then click ⚡ Update: only the missing or changed blocks are redone.

Where is the Generate button?

Generation lives in the bottom bar of step 3 Layout: there is no separate step. Once your words are placed (see Layout and word placement), everything happens in that bar, from left to right: the track, the scope and the ⚡ button. The button always says what it’s about to do, on two lines — for example ⚡ Generate with new sequence · on V2, or ⚡ Update with the whole sequence · on V3.

Why it matters: you never have to rebuild your captions to fix one word. The first generation places everything; after that, ⚡ Update redoes only what changed, without touching the edits you made on the timeline.

How do I choose the track?

The V − n + selector sets the video track where the captions are placed. Its color shows the real state of that track in your sequence:

Color	Meaning	Button
Green	Free track	⚡ Generate
Green with an orange ring	Your generated track (can be updated)	⚡ Update
Red	Track occupied by other clips	⚡ Generate and overwrite

Click V to jump to the first free track (video and audio).
When you arrive, the plugin selects the track of your existing generation, or the first free track.
On a red track, a confirmation appears before anything is replaced: Track V2 already contains other clips. They will be overwritten by the subtitles. Continue? → Generate and overwrite. To keep your clips, pick a free track instead.

How do I choose what gets generated?

Option	Where	What it does	When to use it
This block	Bottom bar	Only the subtitle shown in the preview.	Test a style, or redo one block.
In-out	Bottom bar	Only between the sequence’s In and Out points. One point is enough: the button then says from the In point to the end or from the start to the Out point.	A long video, part by part.
All (default)	Bottom bar	All the subtitles.	The full video.

What happens when I click ⚡ Generate?

If you changed styles, animations, sounds or layout compared with your preset, the window Save the style? offers Save as a new preset, Overwrite “…” or Don’t save — see Save your presets.
The Generating… window shows the progress (Block 3 / 18) and a few tips while you wait. Subkick Caption creates one animated graphic per word, with its style and sound, so a long video takes a moment.
To stop, click ⛔ Stop. The window shows how many blocks were already created, then: Cancel all removes from the timeline what was just created; Keep what’s done keeps it.
At the end, a message sums up what was done, for example 18 subtitle clip(s) created in “Interview Subtitles”, 214 word(s) placed, with the track and the timecodes.

Where do my captions arrive in Premiere Pro?

Subkick Caption creates a sequence named <your sequence> Subtitles, places it on the track you chose in your editing sequence, and tidies it into a bin of your project with the same name. On a free track, your edit itself isn’t touched: the captions sit on top of it, on their own track.

With Cut on each cut on (the default), that clip is split at each caption: every block becomes its own segment on your timeline, which you can move or delete like any clip.

Note: if you open that … Subtitles sequence itself, the button asks you to go back to your editing sequence before generating.

How do I change captions after generating?

You have two ways, and you can mix them:

In the plugin: change the text, a style, a word or the placement, then click ⚡ Update. The update is surgical — only the missing or changed blocks are redone, and your cuts and sounds don’t move. Changing one word redoes only its block; changing a style or a preset redoes every block. If nothing changed, you get Nothing to change: your subtitles are already up to date… No clip was touched.
In Premiere Pro: move or delete a block’s segment directly on the timeline.

To redo a single block, go to it in the preview with ‹ ›, choose This block and click ⚡ Update.

Which generation settings can I change?

In ⚙ › Settings › Generation. These settings are saved per sequence.

Option	Where	What it does	When to use it
Method	Generation	A single subtitles sequence with everything inside (default, lighter and faster), or one sequence per caption.	Keep the default unless you need one sequence per caption.
Cut on each cut	Generation	With a single sequence: splits it on the timeline at each caption, so you can move or delete a block. On by default.	Leave on to edit block by block.
Right-to-left writing (Arabic, Hebrew)	Generation	The plugin joins Arabic letters itself, with a compatible font (Arial, Tahoma, Geeza Pro, Adobe Arabic). Off by default.	Only if your Arabic letters come out detached after generating.
Last word before the block ends	Generation	The last word appears at least Min frames (3 to 10, default 6) before the block ends, so viewers have time to see it. On by default.	Leave on; raise the frames for a slower read.

Generating on the Free plan

On a free license, the bar shows 🎁 Free trial: N / 1,000 generation words used. Only words actually placed on your timeline count; previews and layout work cost nothing. After that, the bar shows Simple mode (unlimited words) and you keep generating in simple mode. Details in Free, Pro and Max.

Generation runs inside Premiere Pro on your computer: your text and your video aren’t uploaded. The panel still needs an Internet connection to check your license, and on the Free plan to count your words.

When the button is greyed out

Button shows	What to do
Open your sequence · in Premiere	Open your editing sequence, or click its window to make it active.
Nothing to generate · add text first (Text step)	Add your text in step 2 Text.
Missing timecodes	Set the start and end of the flagged blocks in the Text step.
No in/out point · set an In OR an Out in Premiere	With the In-out scope, set at least one point, or choose All.

Other messages (locked track, old Premiere Pro version, Premiere busy…) are listed in Troubleshooting.

Frequently asked questions

How do I add animated captions to my Premiere Pro timeline?

In Subkick Caption, go to step 3 Layout, choose the video track with V − + in the bottom bar, pick the scope (This block, In-out or All) and click ⚡ Generate. The captions arrive as a sequence named “<your sequence> Subtitles” on the chosen track.

Can I update my captions in Premiere Pro without redoing everything?

Yes. When your Subkick Caption captions are already on the timeline, the button reads ⚡ Update: only the blocks that are missing or that you changed are redone, and your cuts and sounds don't move. If nothing changed, nothing is touched.

Where do the captions go after generation?

Subkick Caption creates a sequence named “<your sequence> Subtitles”, places it on the video track you chose in your editing sequence, and tidies it into a bin of your project. With Cut on each cut on (default), it is split at each caption, so each block is its own segment.

Can I stop a generation in progress?

Yes. In the Generating… window, click ⛔ Stop, then choose Cancel all (removes from the timeline what was just created) or Keep what's done.

Do I need an Internet connection to generate captions?

Yes, for the license check (and, on the Free plan, to count your words). The generation itself runs inside Premiere Pro on your computer: your text and your video are not uploaded.

How do I generate only one caption?

In the bottom bar of Subkick Caption, click the scope This block: only the subtitle shown in the preview is generated, or updated if your captions are already on the timeline.