Run three independent checks
Toggle captions, inspect the player’s track list, and compare a frame in a second player. A listed language track that can be disabled is soft.
If no active track exists and the words remain, they are burned in. Project files can provide the strongest evidence when the text layer is still editable.
Choose the least destructive workflow
Remove or disable a soft track without touching the image. For hardcoded text, prefer a clean master or project export, then consider localized reconstruction.
Preserve subtitle files, transcripts, speaker labels, and accessibility cues before any change.
Avoid common misdiagnoses
Player controls, platform captions, and browser overlays are not part of the downloaded video. A bitmap subtitle track may look like image text but can still be selectable.
Test the actual file that will be edited; a streamed version and a downloaded version may use different caption methods.
Recommended workflow
- Open the actual file in a capable player.
- Disable all subtitle tracks.
- Inspect the track list and test a second player.
- Use the source project when the result is ambiguous.
- Choose track removal for soft subs and pixel cleanup only for hard subs.
Sources and further reading
Document the finished edit
Keep the untouched source, the mask or decision notes, and the approved export together. Record why the edit was authorized, which time ranges changed, and which source-first options were checked. For this page, the intended task is: Informational diagnostic: determine whether subtitles require track removal or pixel reconstruction.
Before delivery, verify duration, aspect ratio, audio sync, and every repaired boundary in the actual viewing environment. Note that Wipe AI accepts MP4, MOV, WebM, AVI, and MKV, then exports H.264 MP4 up to 1080p. It processes one video at a time, results depend on motion and background complexity, and the output may be re-encoded.