By default, reap automatically generates captions and aligns them with your video. But sometimes you’ll want more precision especially for fast speakers, dialogue-heavy clips, or when you’re polishing captions for intros/outros. The Timing Sidebar lets you manually adjust when captions appear and disappear, down to the frame.
Step 1: Open the Timing Sidebar
Select a clip with captions and the edit button below the clip.
On the right with the transcription box, click Timing Sidebar.
The sidebar will open, showing each caption segment as a timeline bar.
Step 2: Review Caption Segments
Each caption line has a start and end handle with manual options.
The highlighted bars correspond to the exact time a caption is visible.
Step 3: Adjust Caption Timing
Drag the handles left or right to shift start/end times.
Use frame-level precision by holding Shift (or using arrow keys).
Step 4: Preview & Test
Press Play in the preview window.
Watch for captions appearing too early, too late, or cutting off mid-sentence.
Adjust again if needed until the flow feels natural.
Step 5: Reset or Undo
To undo a timing change, press Ctrl+Z / Cmd+Z or you can use the undo/redo button in the editor.
To reset a caption back to reap’s AI default timing, refresh the editor.
Troubleshooting
My changes don’t save: Make sure you click Apply before leaving the editor.
Captions are out of sync after export: Re-open the project, reset timing, and try exporting again.
Sidebar not visible: Refresh the editor and ensure captions are generated before opening.