# Captions (https://getreely.co/docs/directing/captions)

> Add self-narrating captions to an app video: how the copy is written, where captions sit, and how to set the typeface.

Captions narrate the video: a short line per key beat, timed to the action. Your agent writes the copy — it already knows what the feature does — so you steer the intent, not the wording.

**Prompt:** `Add captions that explain each step.`

## Steering the copy

Captions are short by design — under six words, so the bar never wraps into a paragraph — and they narrate only what is on screen. Tell the agent the register you want.

| You want | Say |
| --- | --- |
| Marketing punch | “Benefit-led captions, like a product launch.” |
| Plain and factual | “Neutral captions — describe what happens, no hype.” |
| Fewer of them | “Only caption the three most important beats.” |
| Your own words | “Use exactly these lines: … , … , …” |

> Captions appear automatically when the video is authored with caption copy. Say “no captions” to suppress them, or “add captions” to force them on.

## The typeface

Captions can be set in your app’s own font, a font file from your repo, or one of ten built-in faces.

| Choice | Ask for it like |
| --- | --- |
| Your app’s embedded font | “Set the captions in our app’s font.” |
| A font file in your repo | “Use Sources/DS/Fonts/Inter-Medium.ttf for captions.” |
| A built-in face | “Use Avenir Next for the captions.” |
| The system font | “Use the system font for captions.” |

- Helvetica Neue
- Avenir Next
- Futura
- Gill Sans
- Optima
- Georgia
- Palatino
- Baskerville
- American Typewriter
- Menlo

## Where captions sit

By default they sit as a lower third under the phone. On a 16:9 canvas they move **beside** the phone instead: it parks to one side and the copy takes the freed margin, alternating sides between groups of captions. That is what makes a landscape video read like a product page rather than a phone with a stripe under it.

**Prompt:** `Make it 16:9 with captions beside the phone.`

Colors follow your brand when the video is [branded from your app](https://getreely.co/docs/directing/branding), or you can name them outright.