Dutch subtitle generator

Because a guessed language can wander on a mumbled stretch, Dutch being close to German and Afrikaans, and one cue in the wrong language stands out to viewers who read every line. Fixed to Dutch, every subtitle is spelled in Dutch, Flemish speakers included.

A video in which people switch between Dutch and English for long stretches works better on the main subtitle generator, which identifies each stretch’s language.

No faster than about 17 characters a second, the generator’s own setting. Netflix’s Dutch style guide calls that an upper limit and asks for lower speeds where possible, which in translated subtitles means condensing what was said.

The generator writes down everything that is said, so a fast speaker can outrun the reading speed. Trimming a repeated word or a side remark in the SRT makes those subtitles easier to follow; the times stay as they are.

Yes. In the Netherlands and Flanders, as across north-west Europe, films and series for teenagers and adults are subtitled rather than dubbed; usually only children’s programmes get a Dutch soundtrack.

House style follows that habit. Netflix’s Dutch guide drops exclamation marks and semicolons (our test had none of either), uses single quotation marks for quotes, and marks a second speaker with a hyphen and no space. The generator adds no speaker hyphens.

NoteOwl understands Dutch on your Mac: it transcribes Dutch recordings there with unlimited transcription, works out who said what and saves SRT subtitles with every speaker’s name. To get a readable Dutch transcript instead, use Dutch audio to text.