RealText to SSA Converter
FileFlip converts RealText to SSA 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 SSA?#
- 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 SSA 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 SSA file. Your browser writes it straight to your downloads folder, because there was never a server holding it.
Does converting RealText to SSA lose quality?#
No. Subtitle cues are text, and converting RealText to SSA rewrites the same timings and the same lines in the target's syntax. Anything SSA 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 SSA actually does to the file#
Converting RealText to SSA 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 → SSA |
| 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 SSA file?#
An SSA file is a SubStation Alpha v4 script split into a Script Info section, a Styles section defining named formatting templates, and an Events section holding every line of dialogue with its timing, style reference and positioning, the same three-section layout ASS later extended.
Use SSA only when working with an existing v4 script or a tool that hasn't moved to ASS; a new styled subtitle is better authored directly in ASS.
Convert SSA to ASS to pick up transparency and the fuller set of override tags, or convert to SRT when the destination can't render styled subtitles at all and losing the styling is acceptable.
RealText to SSA questions people ask#
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.
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.
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.
Is SSA the same as ASS?
No, but they're the same lineage. SSA is SubStation Alpha version 4, and ASS (Advanced SubStation Alpha) is version 4+, an extension of the same three-section format that added an alpha channel for transparent colors, a numpad alignment system and karaoke tags SSA doesn't have.