How to make a lyric video in Premiere Pro: and DaVinci Resolve, from an SRT
The slow part of a lyric video in Premiere Pro isn't the design: it's typing every line and moving it to the exact moment it's sung. Premiere and DaVinci Resolve both import an SRT subtitle file, so if you start from a timed SRT of your song, the lines land on the timeline already in sync. Here is how to get that file, the steps in each editor (checked 23 October 2026) and what changes in After Effects.
Why start from an SRT
A lyric video is mostly timing: every line has to appear when it's sung and leave before the next one. Typing the lines into text layers and nudging each one into place takes hours for a single song. An SRT subtitle file already holds each line with its start and end time:
``` 12 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:15,900 I kept the light on ```
Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve import that file as a caption or subtitle track, so the timing arrives done and your time goes into the look.
| Premiere Pro | DaVinci Resolve | After Effects | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imports an SRT | Yes, as a caption track | Yes, as a subtitle track (free version too) | No caption import in its help |
| Makes captions from the audio | Speech to Text | Studio version | — |
| Best for | Lines in sync, styled, fast | Same, free | Custom text animation |
Get the timed lyrics of your song
- Open Video Lyrics in TONTRIA Clips and upload the audio (MP3, WAV, M4A or FLAC) or paste a Spotify or YouTube link.
- Clips uses the published synced lyrics when they exist, syncs the lyrics you paste, or transcribes the singing.
- Check the lyrics in the editor: fix any word and any line that comes in early or late.
- Download the SRT. Downloading uses no credits; processing is about 1 credit per minute of song, and you start with 30 free credits.
Use the same audio file you'll put in the editor. If the master you edit with has a different intro or a longer fade, the timings shift. More on SRT and LRC files in how to get synced lyrics.
Premiere Pro, step by step
From Adobe's help (checked 23 October 2026):
- Create the sequence at the size you'll publish (16:9 for YouTube, 9:16 for TikTok and Reels) and put the song on an audio track, starting at 00:00.
- Import the SRT into the project like any piece of media.
- Drag it from the Project panel into the sequence. Premiere creates a new caption track with every line on it.
- Switch to Window › Workspaces › Captions and Graphics. Edit any text in the Text panel and set font, size, color and position in the caption style; save it as a style to reuse on the next song.
- Play it through with the audio and trim any caption that overlaps the next one.
- Export with the captions burned in for social media, or as a separate .srt for YouTube.
No SRT? Speech to Text transcribes the sequence and Captions › Create captions from transcript builds the track; the Single Word layout shows one word at a time. Adobe describes it for dialogue, so over a full mix check every line.
DaVinci Resolve, step by step
- Put the song on the timeline at the start.
- File › Import › Subtitle (or right-click in the Media Pool › Import Subtitle) and pick the SRT.
- Drag it onto the timeline. It goes onto a subtitle track, one line per subtitle.
- Select the track to set font, size, color, outline and position for every line at once.
- On the Deliver page, export with the subtitles burned into the video for social media, or as a separate file.
Importing works in the free version. Making subtitles automatically from the audio is part of DaVinci Resolve Studio.
After Effects
After Effects is where lyrics get custom motion: words that scale on the beat, tracked text, 3D type. Its help doesn't list caption or SRT import (checked 23 October 2026), so every line is a text layer you place and time by hand. To save hours, fix the timing first in Premiere from the SRT, then animate only the lines that need it in After Effects, and keep the rest as styled captions.
Before you export
- Every line on time: play it with the sound on, not just by looking at the timeline.
- Readable on a phone: big type, an outline or shadow, and nothing in the bottom fifth of a vertical video, where the app's caption and buttons go.
- The right size: video sizes for each platform.
- The right file: export with the final master, the same one the SRT was made from.
Would rather skip the editor? Video Lyrics renders the whole lyric video from the link, with 8 animated templates. The same steps in a free app are in how to make a lyric video in CapCut and on your phone.