CaptionPipe for n8n: Burn Captions from URL or File

Burn captions into your videos in n8n—no FFmpeg, no self-hosted rendering

With CaptionPipe for n8n: Burn Captions from URL or File, you can send a video URL (or a binary file) and get back the same video with captions burned in, plus downloadable caption files (SRT, VTT, ASS) and word timings. One workflow run, clean polling, and no “spin forever” behavior.

What this workflow does

• Triggers with a manual run or webhook: Start the process, then set videoUrl, the preset look, sendTheFile, and the maxPolls budget in the Settings node.
• Chooses the correct path:
  • sendTheFile OFF: CaptionPipe receives a single POST to /v1/caption_video with your video URL. CaptionPipe fetches the video itself—n8n never moves the bytes.
  • sendTheFile ON: n8n claims an upload slot via /v1/create_upload, uploads the raw bytes to a presigned URL, then requests captioning via /v1/caption_video. CaptionPipe still doesn’t need access to your storage.
• Polls for completion safely: Every 5 seconds it GETs /v1/jobs/{id} up to maxPolls, then gives up cleanly if needed.
• Returns outputs on completion: You receive five links plus the seconds charged. Any API refusal or failed job routes to the same error handling branch—sorted into “out of minutes” (retryable) and “nothing to retry”.

Use cases

• For SaaS operators: auto-caption user-submitted videos from a public URL or controlled upload source.
• For automation engineers: consistent caption rendering for marketing, training, or accessibility workflows.
• For n8n teams: hands-free caption generation with predictable polling and clear failure routing.

Technical details

• CaptionPipe API key from app.captionpipe.com (includes 5 free minutes for end-to-end testing).
• Authentication: Header Auth credential using Authorization.
• n8n nodes: if, set, wait, switch, webhook, sticky note.