There are several ways to get animated captions in DaVinci Resolve, and they solve different parts of the job. Some transcribe speech, some animate a caption track with a template, and ROKLIM lays out and animates every word as its own clip and adds sound and effects. This page explains the difference so you can pick — or combine — the right tools.
At a glance
| What it does | What lands on the timeline | Speech recognition | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ROKLIM | Subtitles from audio, layout, animation, sound effects and VFX for captions | One Text+ clip per word, laid out in groups and rows | Yes — subtitles from audio on your computer, or any subtitle track or SRT |
| Resolve animated subtitles (built in, Resolve 20+) | Animates the subtitle track with a preset | The subtitle track, styled with one of five presets | Yes — Create Subtitles from Audio (Studio) |
| Snap Captions 2 (plugin, Studio 19.1+) | Word-by-word animated captions from templates | Captions built from its templates | Uses Resolve Studio's transcription |
| MagicSubtitles PRO (Studio 20+) | Animated subtitles for social video | A single Text+ title driven by keyframes | Uses Resolve Studio's transcription |
| AutoSubs (free, open source) | Local speech-to-text, styled captions | Styled captions from its caption macro | Yes, on your computer |
The real difference: templates vs. one clip per word
Template tools — Resolve's built-in animated subtitles, caption plugins — are the fastest way to get moving captions: pick a style, apply it, done. The trade-off is control: the look comes from the template, so going beyond what it offers — one particular word much bigger, a row moved off a face, the punchline with its own animation — usually means fighting it.
ROKLIM takes the opposite approach: every word becomes a separate Text+ clip on the Edit page.
- Words are laid out, not just animated: groups of words that fit a zone you choose, rows that fill the width, the biggest size that fits, a key row per group.
- Animation is chosen per word — by clip colour, by the word itself, or by hand — from any Fusion
.settingmacro, including your own. - Every word stays editable: fix a typo or a timing and the rest of the layout stays; change the font, resize, re-space or re-centre a whole range and the words re-flow.
- Sound effects and VFX come from the same timeline: pops under key words, effects at markers.
- ROKLIM installs no Fusion templates into Resolve; it runs as a separate app and drives Resolve through its scripting API.
Speech recognition: built in, or use Resolve’s own
ROKLIM makes word-by-word subtitles from the timeline audio itself, on your computer — this is how it works in the free DaVinci Resolve, which has no Create Subtitles from Audio. In Resolve Studio you can also use Resolve’s own transcription. The usual workflow is:
- Transcribe with ROKLIM (Layout → Create subtitles), with Resolve Studio's Create Subtitles from Audio, or import an SRT from any tool, including AutoSubs.
- Fix the text.
- ROKLIM for layout, animation, sound and effects.
So a separate transcription tool is optional: use ROKLIM’s own or the one you already have.
Side by side, tool by tool
When another tool is the better fit
- You want one standard style on simple captions and never adjust single words → Resolve's built-in animated subtitles may be all you need.
When ROKLIM is the better fit
- Talking-head and short-form content where captions are part of the design: key words big, rows placed around the face, different motion per row.
- You deliver many videos and want the same look every time — Premade layouts and profiles keep it.
- You want sound and effects timed to the words without placing them by hand.
Price
ROKLIM: $100 lifetime or $40 per month, plus a 7-day free trial without a card; one key, up to 2 computers. See pricing.
Try it on your own timeline: animated word-by-word captions in DaVinci Resolve, step by step.