Watch the captioned version of your short all the way through before sending it to a screening. Use the actual delivery file or playback package, rather than relying on the editor’s timeline. A spelling correction can be present in the project and still be missing from the version a venue receives.
If this is your first edit, the walkthrough for getting started with DaVinci Resolve covers importing footage, assembling a sequence, balancing sound and exporting it. Finish that basic pass before a detailed caption review. Moving a scene after the captions have been checked creates another timing pass, even when none of the dialogue changes.
Give each review version an unambiguous name and keep a short correction list with timecodes. Include the matching caption file when captions are supplied separately. “The latest one” becomes a problem as soon as a collaborator downloads a copy and a second export follows.
Keep the information the audience needs
Check every line against the soundtrack. Names, place names and quiet speech deserve particular attention. Confirm unfamiliar spellings with the filmmaker or contributor instead of accepting a transcription tool’s guess. A missing negative can reverse a sentence; an incorrect name can make an otherwise careful film difficult to follow.
Caption the sound that carries meaning as well as the dialogue. The W3C guidance on captions includes the non-speech audio information needed to understand the content. In a short film, an off-screen knock, a sudden silence after music or a change of speaker may matter. Choose concise descriptions that preserve what is known at that moment, without revealing an identity or event before the film does.
Run a pass with the sound off. Can you follow who is speaking and why someone reacts? Then replay with sound to check timing and wording. Keep names and pronouns consistent with the film and its contributors. When a line feels rushed, review its timing and line break before shortening away something the scene needs.
Test the version the venue will play
Ask the screening team which caption arrangement they can use: text permanently visible in the picture, a separate file, or another agreed delivery package. Check their current specification before the final export. Captions that work in a web player are not proof that a different screening system will show them correctly.
Play the exported result, including the opening, credits and final seconds. Look for cropped text, a caption covering an important gesture, missing symbols and lines left on screen after speech ends. If captions are separate, open the matching picture and caption files together in a supported player. Confirm that the language and track you intend to send are selected.
When the picture or sound export needs attention, DaVinciResolveClub has independent guides organised around editing and delivery problems. Keep the venue’s specification beside the settings: a general export preset cannot tell you what a particular screening accepts. Resolve an uncertain requirement with the screening team before replacing the delivery file.
After any last-minute edit, revisit the affected captions and watch the complete new export. Send one clearly identified approved version with the files the venue requested. Keep the correction list and editable caption source so that the next screening does not start from an older, uncorrected copy.