How to Write Subtitles with Mistral

Mistral is a French artificial intelligence model that can assist you in writing subtitles for your videos, podcasts, or multimedia content. Whether you are a content creator, videographer, or communications officer, writing quality subtitles is essential for accessibility and SEO of your content. With Mistral, you can generate accurate, well-synchronized subtitles tailored to your audience in minutes. This tutorial guides you step by step to leverage Mistral to produce professional subtitles, whether transcribing dialogue, adapting tone, or properly formatting your SRT or VTT files. Follow these steps to save time while ensuring optimal quality.

Prerequisites

1.Have an account on the Mistral platform (Le Chat or API)
2.Have the script, raw transcription, or audio/video content to subtitle
3.Know the desired subtitle format (SRT, VTT, or plain text)

Steps

Prepare the Raw Transcription of the Content

Before asking Mistral to write your subtitles, gather the source text. It can be an automatic transcription generated by a tool like Whisper, an existing script, or handwritten notes. Copy this raw text and identify key passages, speaker changes, and important moments. The more complete your raw material, the more Mistral can produce accurate and consistent subtitles.

Here is the raw transcription of a [DURATION]-minute video about [TOPIC]. Clean up this transcription by correcting errors, adding punctuation, and splitting the text into segments of maximum 2 lines suitable for subtitle format:

[PASTE YOUR TRANSCRIPTION HERE]

Tip: If your transcription is long, split it into 5-minute segments to avoid exceeding Mistral's context limit.

Define the Style and Tone of Subtitles

Subtitles must be tailored to your audience and content type. A technical tutorial requires a neutral and precise tone, while a humorous video may include emotional cues. Specify to Mistral the desired language register, maximum line length, and whether you want to include sound cues (music, laughter, noises).

Rephrase these subtitles with the following constraints:

Tone: [PROFESSIONAL / CASUAL / EDUCATIONAL]
Maximum 42 characters per line, 2 lines per subtitle
Include sound cues in brackets [soft music]
Language: standard French, no slang

[PASTE YOUR RAW SUBTITLES HERE]

Tip: The broadcast standard recommends a maximum of 37 to 42 characters per line to ensure readability on all screens.

Generate Subtitles in SRT or VTT Format

Ask Mistral to format your subtitles in the required technical format. The SRT format is the most common and compatible with YouTube, Vimeo, and most video players. The VTT format is used for the web and supports CSS styling. Mistral can structure your texts with timecodes if you provide them, or generate a logical split based on sentence length.

Convert the following text into an SRT file with estimated timecodes. Each subtitle should last between 2 and 5 seconds, with a maximum of 2 lines of 42 characters. Start at 00:00:01,000 and space subtitles naturally:

[PASTE YOUR CLEANED TEXT HERE]

Tip: If you have the actual timecodes of your video, provide them to Mistral for a perfectly synchronized result instead of using estimates.

Check and Correct the Generated Subtitles

Carefully read the subtitles produced by Mistral. Check spelling, grammar, timecode consistency, and compliance with length constraints. You can also ask Mistral to review its own work by submitting the subtitles for cross-checking. Pay special attention to proper nouns, technical terms, and numbers, which are often incorrectly transcribed.

Review these SRT subtitles and correct:

Spelling and grammar mistakes
Subtitles exceeding 42 characters per line
Sentences broken unnaturally
Timecode inconsistencies (overlaps or too long gaps)

Report each correction made:

[PASTE YOUR SRT SUBTITLES HERE]

Tip: Ask Mistral to list corrections in a table to easily spot the modifications made.

Adapt Subtitles for Different Platforms

Each distribution platform has its own requirements for subtitles. YouTube accepts SRT and VTT files, Instagram limits subtitles to short formats, and LinkedIn favors embedded subtitles. Ask Mistral to adapt your subtitles based on the target platform, adjusting length, format, and style.

Adapt these subtitles for [YOUTUBE / INSTAGRAM REELS / LINKEDIN / TIKTOK] while respecting the following constraints:

YouTube: SRT format, 2 lines max, 42 characters per line
Instagram Reels: short and punchy phrases, 1 line, 30 characters max
LinkedIn: professional tone, descriptive subtitles
TikTok: dynamic style, emojis allowed if relevant

[PASTE YOUR SUBTITLES HERE]

Tip: For Instagram and TikTok, prefer shorter and more dynamic subtitles that grab attention in the first few seconds.

Common mistakes to avoid

✗Not specifying the maximum line length, which produces subtitles that are too long and illegible on screen
✗Forgetting to provide context of the content (topic, tone, audience), resulting in generic and unsuitable subtitles
✗Blindly trusting Mistral's estimated timecodes without checking against the actual video
✗Submitting an overly long transcription at once, which degrades the quality of results
✗Neglecting sound cues and speaker changes, making subtitles difficult to follow for hearing-impaired people

FAQ

Can Mistral generate subtitles directly from an audio or video file?

No, Mistral is a textual language model and cannot directly process audio or video files. You must first transcribe your content using a tool like Whisper, then provide the transcription to Mistral for subtitle formatting.

Which subtitle format should I choose between SRT and VTT?

The SRT format is the most universal and works on most platforms (YouTube, Vimeo, local players). The VTT format is recommended for the web as it supports CSS styling and positioning. For maximum compatibility, generate your subtitles in SRT.

How to get subtitles in multiple languages with Mistral?

You can ask Mistral to translate your existing subtitles into another language while keeping the SRT format and timecodes. Specify the target language and request a natural rather than literal translation for a fluid and idiomatic result.

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