This refers to Moodle 4.3 from August 2024 onwards.

How to add (and edit) captions and edit thumbnails of audio and video in Moodle

You can easily upload and share media files in Moodle and your students will be able to play the content back on any device.
You can also ask your students to submit media assignments. If you want to do this, please refer to the alternative documentation How to add a Video or Audio Assignment.
If you want to upload media files outside of Moodle, please refer to the alternative documentation How to use MediaSpace.

To use this Guide you should be familiar with the addition of video and audio to Moodle through Mediaspace.

How to add video and audio in Moodle

Automatically creating captions for a media file in Moodle

To request captions:

1. In Moodle, click on the 'More' tab from the main menu at the top of the screen and select the 'My Media' option from the drop-down menu
   
   
2. Click on the checkbox to the left of the video thumbnail for the video you want to add caption to

       3. On the Actions drop-down menu at the top of the screen, select Caption & Enrich

4. Complete the form and press on the 'Submit' button:

5. You will see a confirmation message:

6. The status will initially be Pending:

7. This status will then update to Processing:

8. When ready, the status will change to Completed:

9. Click on the 'Pencil' if you need to edit the captions to correct any errors in the automated processing.

Editing captions in Moodle

1. Click the 'More' tab at the top of the Moodle page and select 'My media'. 
2. Click on the pencil icon to the right of the video that you wish to edit.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Underneath the video select 'Captions' and then 'edit captions'
   
   
   
   

4. Segments of caption text appear in a table, click a cell to edit and correct any errors.

   Click Save (top right) periodically to save your changes.

Uploading an existing captions file

If you already have a captions file for your media, you can add this.

1. In Moodle, click on the 'More' tab from the main menu at the top of the screen and select the 'My Media' option from the drop-down menu
   
   
   
   
2. Click on the tick box to the right of the video thumbnail for the video you want to add caption to

       3. Click on the pencil icon to edit the video

4. The 'My Media' page opens. Choose the Captions tab.

5. Select 'Upload captions file' and find your captions file (SRT, DFXP formats are supported).

We recommend using the SRT format. These files include the text of what was said in the video and time codes for when the text should display.

Video demonstration

This video will demonstrate how to add and edit captions to a video

How to Edit a Media thumbnail

1. In Moodle, click on the 'More' tab from the main menu at the top of the screen and select the 'My Media' option from the drop-down menu
   
   
   
   

2. Click on the pencil icon to edit the video

      3. The 'My Media' page opens. Choose the Thumbnails tab.

4. You then have three options of how to edit your Thumbnail. You can: 

1. 1. Upload Thumbnail: Select an image from your desktop and use it as the default thumbnail.
   2. Capture: Use the player to select the frame you want to use as your default thumbnail and then click on the Capture button.
   3. Auto-Generate: Select one thumbnail from ten automatically generated choices.
      
      

Upload Thumbnail

1. From the Thumbnail tab, select 'Upload thumbnail'.
2. This will open a file explorer window, find the thumbnail you want to use and select 'Open'.

Capture

1. From the Thumbnail tab, find the frame in your video you want to use as a thumbnail.
2. Once you have found it, click on the 'Capture' button. The captured frame is saved automatically and used for the thumbnail.

Auto-generate thumbnail

• From the Thumbnails tab, click on 'Auto-Generate'.
• This will open a window with ten choices for a thumbnail, click on thumbnail you want to use.

You can also download the selected thumbnail by clicking the download tab.

Similar tutorials

The following other resources are also relevant to this topic:

• How to add video and audio in Moodle
• How to add a Media Assignment Activity      
• How to download captions from videos in Moodle