RealText to SRT Converter
FileFlip converts RealText to SRT entirely inside your browser, using FFmpeg compiled to WebAssembly. The file is never uploaded to a server: it is read off your disk, converted on your own machine, and saved back by the browser. That means no file-size limit, no queue and no account.
How do I convert an RealText file to SRT?#
- Drop your RealText file onto the converter at the top of this page, or click it to pick one from your computer. You can add as many as you like.
- Leave the target set to SRT and the conversion starts on its own. FileFlip downloads 30.8 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, then runs FFmpeg on your own machine.
- Save the SRT file. Your browser writes it straight to your downloads folder, because there was never a server holding it.
Does converting RealText to SRT lose quality?#
No. Subtitle cues are text, and converting RealText to SRT rewrites the same timings and the same lines in the target's syntax. Anything SRT has no syntax for, such as positioning or styling, is dropped rather than degraded.
Is it safe to convert RealText files online?#
Yes, because nothing is uploaded. FileFlip converts RealText files inside the browser tab you already have open, using WebAssembly builds of the same engines a desktop converter would install. Your file is read from your own disk into the page's memory, and no request carrying it is ever made.
You do not have to take that on trust. Open your browser's network panel, run a conversion, and you will see the engine come down and your file go nowhere. There is no upload, no server-side copy, no retention window, and no account tied to what you converted.
How FileFlip works lists every engine, its version and its download size, and shows how to check for yourself that nothing leaves your machine.
What RealText to SRT actually does to the file#
Converting RealText to SRT runs on FFmpeg, downloads 30.8 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, rewrites the cues as text in the target's syntax, keeps cue durations.
| Engine | FFmpeg |
|---|---|
| Conversion path | One step: RealText → SRT |
| Downloaded to your browser | 30.8 MB, once, then cached by your browser |
| Quality | Text preserved, unsupported styling dropped |
| You get back | One file |
| Where it runs | In a background worker, so the page stays responsive |
What survives the conversion
| What is in the file | This conversion | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cue durations | Kept | Carried through into the converted file. |
What is an RealText file?#
An RT file is a RealText caption script, a tagged markup text track that RealNetworks built for the RealPlayer streaming stack, using <br/> tags for line breaks and reference by a SMIL presentation to time captions against RealMedia audio or video.
Recognize RealText as a legacy RealPlayer caption file if it turns up alongside old RealMedia content; there's little reason to author new captions in it.
Convert RealText to SRT or VTT to caption the content on any current player, since RealText support has effectively disappeared outside archived RealPlayer installs.
What is an SRT file?#
An SRT file numbers each caption in order and gives it a start and end timecode measured in hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds, with the line or lines of dialogue printed underneath and a blank line separating one caption from the next.
Use SRT when the file needs to open in the widest possible range of players and sites and doesn't need positioning or styling.
Convert away from SRT when the destination needs something SRT cannot hold, such as WebVTT's on-screen cue positioning or ASS's karaoke timing and typesetting.
RealText to SRT questions people ask#
Can I still play RealText files today?
Rarely without the original RealPlayer software, since RealText was built for the RealMedia streaming stack and current browsers and video players don't support it natively. Converting the file to SRT or VTT is the practical way to use those captions with a modern player.
What is an RT (RealText) file?
An RT file is a RealText caption script, a tagged text format RealNetworks built to caption RealMedia audio and video played through RealPlayer. It's referenced by a SMIL presentation, which supplies the timing that syncs the captions to the media.
Is RealText the same thing as SMIL?
No. SMIL is the markup language that lays out and times a RealMedia presentation, and RealText is one of the pieces it can reference, a captions file the SMIL presentation calls in and synchronizes with the audio or video.
What program opens an SRT file?
An SRT file opens in essentially any video player, including VLC, and in dedicated subtitle editors like Subtitle Edit and Aegisub. Because it's plain text, it also opens in Notepad or TextEdit, though it will display raw timecodes rather than a preview.