2 July 2026

Subtitle translation

New translate option translates subtitles from one language to another.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<query>
    <userid>[UserID]</userid> <!-- required -->
    <userkey>[UserKey]</userkey> <!-- required -->
    <action>[Action]</action> <!-- required -->
    <source>[SourceFile]</source> <!-- required -->
    <format>
        <output>closed_captions</output> <!-- required-->
        <translate>
            <source_language>[LanguageCode]</source_language>
            <target_language>[LanguageCode]</target_language>
        </translate>
    </format>
</query>

{
  "query": {
    "userid": "[UserID]", // required
    "userkey": "[UserKey]", // required
    "action": "[Action]", // required
    "source": "[SourceFile]", // required
    "format": {
      "output": "closed_captions",
      "translate": {
        "source_language": "[LanguageCode]",
        "target_language": "[LanguageCode]"
      }
    }
  }
}

Parameter	Description	Allowed Values	Default Value
source_language	Source language	2 or 3 characters language code	none
target_language	Target language	2 or 3 characters language code	none

STT non-verbal and music cue normalization

The stt option group now controls how non-verbal and music cues are formatted in the generated captions.

normalize_non_verbal changed from a yes/no toggle to an enum: Default, Remove, Parentheses, SquareBrackets (default Default).
normalize_music changed from a yes/no toggle to a free-text value — the text/symbol used to denote music cues (case-preserved).

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<query>
    <userid>[UserID]</userid> <!-- required -->
    <userkey>[UserKey]</userkey> <!-- required -->
    <action>[Action]</action> <!-- required -->
    <source>[SourceFile]</source> <!-- required -->
    <format>
        <output>closed_captions</output> <!-- required-->
        <stt>
            <model>[base|tiny|small|medium|largev2|largev3]</model>
            <language>[LanguageCode]</language>
            <prompt></prompt>
            <refine_timing>[yes|no]</refine_timing>
            <normalize_non_verbal>[Default|Remove|Parentheses|SquareBrackets]</normalize_non_verbal>
            <normalize_music>[MusicCueText]</normalize_music>
            <audio_stream>
                [AudioStreamDefinition]
            </audio_stream>
        </stt>
    </format>
</query>

{
  "query": {
    "userid": "[UserID]", // required
    "userkey": "[UserKey]", // required
    "action": "[Action]", // required
    "source": "[SourceFile]", // required
    "format": {
      "output": "closed_captions",
      "stt": {
        "model": "[base|tiny|small|medium|largev2|largev3]",
        "language": "[LanguageCode]",
        "prompt": "",
        "refine_timing": "[yes|no]",
        "normalize_non_verbal": "[Default|Remove|Parentheses|SquareBrackets]",
        "normalize_music": "[MusicCueText]",
        "audio_stream": {
          [AudioStreamDefinition]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Parameter	Description	Allowed Values	Default Value
normalize_non_verbal	How non-verbal cues (e.g. sound effects) are formatted. `Default`: keep as produced by the model; `Remove`: strip them; `Parentheses`: wrap in `( )`; `SquareBrackets`: wrap in `[ ]`	Default, Remove, Parentheses, SquareBrackets	Default
normalize_music	Text/symbol used to denote music cues (case-preserved)	Text	none

New Preset Options

preset_mode controls how an output_preset is applied in AddMedia request. The default behavior (default, or when the parameter is omitted) is unchanged: the preset only fills in top-level <format> fields that the request did not specify. With recursive, the preset and the request are merged recursively, so the request can override any preset value at any nesting level (individual streams, audio streams, codec parameters, etc.). Array elements such as <stream> are matched by position.
include_defaults in SavePreset API request controls whether system/encoding defaults are baked into a preset. The default (yes, or when omitted) is unchanged. Set it to no to store a preset that contains only the values that were explicitly specified.

Applying a preset with recursive merge

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<query>
    <userid>[UserID]</userid> <!-- required -->
    <userkey>[UserKey]</userkey> <!-- required -->
    <action>AddMedia</action> <!-- required -->
    <source>[SourceFile]</source> <!-- required -->
    <format>
        <output_preset>[PresetName]</output_preset> <!-- required -->
        <preset_mode>recursive</preset_mode>
        <destination>[Destination]</destination>
        <stream>
            <bitrate>6000k</bitrate> <!-- overrides only this value of the preset's first stream -->
        </stream>
    </format>
</query>

{
  "query": {
    "userid": "[UserID]",
    "userkey": "[UserKey]",
    "action": "AddMedia",
    "source": "[SourceFile]",
    "format": {
      "output_preset": "[PresetName]",
      "preset_mode": "recursive",
      "destination": "[Destination]",
      "stream": [
        {
          "bitrate": "6000k"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Saving a lean preset (without defaults)

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<query>
    <userid>[UserID]</userid> <!-- required -->
    <userkey>[UserKey]</userkey> <!-- required -->
    <action>SavePreset</action> <!-- required -->
    <name>[PresetName]</name>
    <include_defaults>no</include_defaults>
    <format>
        <output>[output]</output> <!-- required -->
        [FormatParams]
    </format>
</query>

{
  "query": {
    "userid": "[UserID]",
    "userkey": "[UserKey]",
    "action": "SavePreset",
    "name": "[PresetName]",
    "include_defaults": "no",
    "format": {
      "output": "[output]"
    }
  }
}

Parameter	Description	Allowed Values	Default Value
preset_mode	For `AddMedia` action: how an `output_preset` is merged into the request. `default` fills only missing top-level `<format>` fields; `recursive` merges preset and request recursively, with request values overriding the preset at any level.	`default`, `recursive`	`default`
include_defaults	For `SavePreset` action: whether system/encoding defaults are baked into the saved preset. `no` stores only the explicitly specified values.	`yes`, `no`	`yes`