SRT to SBV (YouTube)
Convert SRT to SBV subtitles. Cue timings are re-parsed and re-formatted exactly, not merely re-punctuated. ASS/SSA override tags ({\i1}, {\an8}, ...) are carried through as literal text, not re-rendered or stripped. Use Strip subtitle formatting for that. VTT cue settings (align, position, line, size, ...) are dropped, not preserved. This converter carries dialogue and timing, not layout. Runs on your device.
Runs on your device. The file is never uploaded.
SRT to SBV (YouTube) gives each cue a timing line of two timestamps split by a comma, its text underneath, and a blank line before the next. Millisecond precision holds: the hour loses its padding and the fraction takes a dot. SBV has no numbering, so cue numbers go and tags stay as literal text.
Questions
What is SBV for?
It is the caption format YouTube's own tools use. A cue is a single line holding the start time, a comma, and the end time, followed by the caption text, with a blank line between cues. There are no cue numbers and no formatting tags.
How do the timestamps change?
They keep full millisecond precision but change shape. SBV writes the hour without padding it to two digits and uses a dot before the milliseconds, where SRT pads the hour and uses a comma. The value itself is unchanged, so nothing drifts.
Are cue numbers and formatting kept?
Cue numbers are dropped, because SBV has none. Text is copied exactly as it stands, so tags that were in the SRT text stay in the SBV text as literal characters. Run Strip subtitle formatting first if you want clean caption text for upload.
What is the file called?
Your file name with the .sbv extension, so lecture.srt becomes lecture.sbv. The text is shown on the page too, with a copy button that copies the whole file even if the preview is shortened. YouTube takes the file as it stands, and since the conversion is plain parsing and formatting inside this tab, the captions never pass through anyone else on the way.
How do I convert SBV back to SRT?
Use SBV (YouTube) to SRT, which numbers the cues again and puts the timestamps back into SRT shape. Both tools parse and re-format every timestamp rather than editing punctuation, so a round trip returns the same times you started with.