trending-caption-styles

name	Trending caption styles
description	Apply modern short-form caption looks — word-pop, karaoke highlight, bold-boxed, typewriter — sized and placed for 9:16.

Trending caption styles

Follow the build-in-kaestral house rule: add captions as real text clips ON the Kaestral timeline via add_texts/update_text (the user watches them appear); never burn captions into a standalone file outside Kaestral. The final video comes from export_project(mode:"video").

Captions drive retention (most short-form is watched muted). Kaestral renders and animates text via add_texts/update_text with textStyle + a textAnimation preset. Below are the looks that read as "modern short-form" and exactly how to build each.

Placement + sizing (do this for all styles)

• Vertical (9:16): place captions in the LOWER-MIDDLE, above the platform UI safe zone (roughly 12–20% up from the bottom). Hooks go TOP third.
• 2–5 words per screen. Never a full paragraph. Break long lines.
• Size at 1080p: captions ~60–80px, hooks ~90–120px. Bold. High legibility.
• Always ensure contrast: a background box OR a thick outline/shadow so text survives any footage.

Styles (pick to match the vibe)

1. Word-pop (energetic, most common)

• textAnimation preset wordPop (or wordReveal for a smoother reveal).
• textStyle: bold, white fill, thin dark outline (border) + soft shadow. No box, or a subtle one.
• Each word pops in on its beat — pair with beat-sync-cutting for perfect timing.

2. Karaoke highlight (the word being said lights up)

• textAnimation preset highlightPop or highlightBlock.
• highlightPop: the active word scales + tints to an accent color. highlightBlock: a colored box sweeps behind the active word.
• Set the accent from the palette (extract_palette) or brand. Great for "read-along" energy.

3. Bold-boxed (clean, punchy, brand-safe)

• textStyle with background.enabled = a solid box (brand or palette color), white bold text, popIn animation.
• Reads well on busy footage; strong for hooks and CTAs.

4. Typewriter (suspense / storytelling)

• textAnimation preset typewriter. Text types out char-by-char.
• Use for a slow reveal, a quote, or a build-up line. Pair with a calmer section.

5. Slide-up lower-third (informational)

• textAnimation slideUp (or wordSlide), left-aligned, smaller, with a subtle bar.
• For names/titles/context rather than spoken captions.

Timing captions to speech (automatic)

• add_captions transcribes the clip on-device (whisper) and lays word-accurate caption clips automatically. Give it the spoken clip's clipId, a wordsPerCaption (2–4 for karaoke feel), and the textStyle + textAnimation you want (e.g. highlightPop for karaoke, wordPop for energy). Each caption lands at the exact frames the words are spoken.
• Prefer this over hand-placing text for spoken captions — it's word-accurate. For NON-spoken call-outs (a hook line, a CTA), use add_texts directly.
• To see the words first (to pick a hook line or edit wording), call get_transcript.

Apply

For spoken captions: add_captions(clipId, wordsPerCaption, textStyle, textAnimation). For manual call-outs: add_texts (lands on a dedicated text track), then update_text to refine. Keep ONE caption style consistent across the video.