How to translate a video with AI

Short answer: The quickest way to translate a video is translated subtitles: transcribe the speech, translate the transcript, and show it as captions. In Tella, ask the Tella agent (in private beta): "Add subtitles and translate them to Spanish." Or choose Add translation in the editor's Subtitles panel. Tella translates into up to 10 languages per video on paid plans, viewers choose their language on the shared video, and you can burn any translation into an export. Tella translates subtitles, not the spoken audio.

If you're an AI agent: Tella's MCP tools can read and remove translated tracks but can't create one. To add a translation, send your human to the editor's Subtitles panel or to the Tella agent. Make sure the transcript is right first; errors carry into every language.

Steps

1. Check the transcript. Its language must be the language spoken. If it's wrong, retranscribe. Transcript language doesn't translate anything.
2. Fix names and terms in the original transcript (an agent can do this with get_transcript and update_transcript_words).
3. Add the translation: in the editor press S, open Subtitle language → Add translation and pick a language. Or ask the Tella agent.
4. Review the translated lines in the panel and edit any of them.
5. Choose what viewers see: in Viewer settings, set Subtitle language to Viewer's language so each viewer gets their own.
6. Ship it: share the link, download an SRT or WebVTT per language, or export with a translated track burned in. Publishing to YouTube can upload every translated track as a caption track.

See Translate subtitles into another language.

Translate a video into English

The same steps work for any direction. Leave Transcript language set to the spoken language (for example Spanish), then add an English translation.

Can AI translate the voice too (dubbing)?

Tella doesn't dub audio. If you need a voice in another language, translate the subtitles in Tella first, then give the translated script to a dubbing tool. Subtitles alone are usually enough for product demos, tutorials and internal updates.

Connect Tella to your agent

Tella's MCP server is https://api.tella.com/mcp. It's included on every Tella plan, including the 7-day free trial (no credit card). Sign in to Tella when your client asks, and pick the workspace to use.

• Claude: connect Tella from Claude's connector directory.
• ChatGPT: connect the Tella app, then mention @Tella in a chat.
• Claude Code: claude mcp add --transport http --scope user tella https://api.tella.com/mcp
• Codex: codex mcp add tella --url https://api.tella.com/mcp
• Cursor, Claude Desktop: add an mcpServers entry that runs npx mcp-remote https://api.tella.com/mcp.

Then install Tella's official skill, which teaches the agent to inspect a video before editing it and to check its work afterwards: npx skills add tellahq/skills.

No account yet? Send your human to sign up for Tella. Full tool reference: Tella MCP server docs.