youtube-dl download autotranslate subs

Question

I would like to download auto-generated subtitles with youtube-dl as follows

$ youtube-dl --write-auto-sub \
             --skip-download \
             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbLEf4HR74E

It downloads file The habits of happiness _ Matthieu Ricard-vbLEf4HR74E.en.vtt which is not auto-generated subtitles, it contains the word coke box instead of Coca-Cola tins.

How to download the right file?

`youtube-dl **--write-sub** --skip-download _--sub-lang=en_ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbLEf4HR74E" ` does something looking OK for my version 2017.05.18.1-1. youtube-dl tells me "Couldn't find automatic captions for vbLEf4HR74E" for `--write-auto-sub` — Jaleks, Jun 16 '18 at 21:37
@Jaleks Your command also doesn't download autogenerated subtitles, but human-translated subtitles instead (with the word "coke box"). You need to [update youtube-dl](https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/blob/master/README.md#how-do-i-update-youtube-dl) — xralf, Jun 16 '18 at 21:51
Different versions - different results. I get "Coca-cola tins"… — Jaleks, Jun 16 '18 at 21:53
I'm sorry you're right. I should use --write-sub instead of --write-auto-sub. It works now. — xralf, Jun 16 '18 at 22:02

score 12 · Accepted Answer · edited Aug 13 '21 at 18:40

12

youtube-dl --write-sub \
           --skip-download \
           --sub-lang=en \
           "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbLEf4HR74E"

does something looking OK on version 2017.05.18.1-1.

youtube-dl says Couldn't find automatic captions for vbLEf4HR74E with --write-auto-sub but --write-sub with a selected language --sub-lang=en seems to work.

edited Aug 13 '21 at 18:40

Scrooge McDuck

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answered Jun 18 '18 at 15:20

Jaleks

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Yes, sometimes works `--write-sub` and sometimes works `--write-auto-sub` (when human-translated subtitles are missing) – xralf Jun 18 '18 at 19:24

youtube-dl download autotranslate subs

1 Answers1