How to Enable or Disable Video Subtitles on the DJI Neo 2
Peter Leslie
21 May 2026
If you are flying the DJI Neo 2 for paid work and want a flight log baked into every clip, the toggle you are looking for is Video Subtitles inside DJI Fly. You might switch it on so each MP4 exports with a matching SRT carrying GPS, altitude, ISO and shutter, or leave it off when the footage is recreational and the metadata file is just extra clutter on the SD card.
The toggle is one tap deep inside the Camera settings, and the SRT it writes sits beside the video file with the same name. Most drone pilots who shoot for clients leave it on for the full session and rely on the sidecar file as a per-clip flight record next to the exposure value they actually flew with.
Quick guide
To enable or disable Video Subtitles on the DJI Neo 2, switch the camera to video mode, then go to DJI Fly → Settings → Camera → Video Subtitles. On writes an SRT sidecar file alongside every MP4 with GPS, altitude, ISO, shutter and exposure data; off ships the MP4 on its own with no metadata file.
Step-by-step: How to Enable or Disable Video Subtitles on the DJI Neo 2
Follow these top to bottom the first time, and you will know the path off by heart the second time.
Switch the DJI Neo 2 into video shooting mode
Tap the shooting-mode button on the remote controller, or open the mode menu on the camera view and select video. The Video Subtitles row is only exposed once the camera is in a video mode, so this is the precondition for the rest of the procedure.
Open the DJI Fly Settings menu from the camera view
With the DJI Neo 2 powered on and the remote controller connected, tap the Settings icon in the top right of the camera view. The settings panel slides in from the right with the category tabs running down the left edge.
Tap the Camera category in the Settings panel
Camera is the third tab down the left of the Settings panel, sitting below Control and Safety. Tap it and the right-hand pane swaps to the camera options for the DJI Neo 2.
Scroll down to the Video Subtitles row inside the Camera menu
Scroll past the video format rows at the top of the Camera page, then past the colour and grid options. The Video Subtitles row sits in the lower half of the page on its own line, with a small text icon next to the label.
Tap the Video Subtitles toggle to switch it on or off
A single tap flips the state. Green is on — a sidecar SRT file is written next to every MP4 the DJI Neo 2 records. Grey is off — the MP4 is the only file that lands on the SD card and no metadata file is exported.
Close the Settings panel and confirm the toggle state on the camera view
Tap outside the Settings panel to return to the live camera view. The toggle state is now locked in for every clip recorded this session, and DJI Fly remembers the choice through the next power cycle so the SRT either always lands on the card or never does, depending on the position you left the switch in.
Peter's tip
I leave Video Subtitles on for every paid flight without fail. The single time it has earned its place was a roof-inspection job where the client came back six weeks later asking which clip showed the south-east corner — pulling the SRT, sorting by GPS, and pointing them at the right file took two minutes instead of the half hour it would have cost me to scrub the timeline.
Video Subtitles on vs off on the DJI Neo 2
Two states, one decision. Pick from this table when you are deciding whether the sidecar file earns its place on the SD card for a specific flight.
| State | What lands on the SD card | When it earns the storage |
|---|---|---|
| On | An MP4 plus a matching SRT sidecar with the same filename, carrying per-second GPS coordinates, altitude, distance to home, ISO, shutter speed, f-number and exposure value. | Paid work, commercial surveying, evidence flights, or any session where the camera settings or the GPS trail might need to be checked weeks later. The MP4 image is identical with the toggle on. |
| Off (default) | The MP4 on its own, with no sidecar file and no embedded telemetry text. | Quick recreational flights, social-media clips, or any flight where the footage is going straight to a phone edit and the metadata file would only clutter the import. |
Frequently asked questions
Are Video Subtitles on by default on the DJI Neo 2?
No. The toggle ships in the off position out of the box, so a new DJI Neo 2 owner who imports a clip from the SD card will only see an MP4 file with no sidecar text file alongside it. DJI Fly remembers the choice across power cycles, so once you switch it on it stays on for the next flight.
What does the Video Subtitles toggle on the DJI Neo 2 actually record?
A standard SRT subtitle file written alongside the MP4 with the same filename. The file contains per-second telemetry samples for the flight — GPS coordinates, altitude above the take-off point, distance to home, the ISO value, the shutter speed, the f-number and the exposure value. Most editing software can read the SRT as overlay captions, and the raw text is plain enough to scrape for a flight log if you want a record of where each clip was shot.
When should I turn Video Subtitles on on the DJI Neo 2?
Any flight where you might need a paper trail for the shot or a quick reference for the camera settings. Commercial surveying jobs, evidence flights, and any session where the metadata could matter weeks later all benefit from the SRT sitting next to the MP4. For quick recreational flights where the footage is going straight to social, the file is just extra noise on the SD card.
Does the Video Subtitles toggle burn captions onto the recorded footage?
No. The toggle only writes a separate SRT sidecar file — it never paints text onto the MP4 itself. The video file is identical with the toggle on or off, so switching it on costs nothing in terms of the recorded image. If you want the telemetry baked into the picture you have to import the clip into editing software and burn the SRT in on export.
What if I cannot find the Video Subtitles toggle in DJI Fly?
Switch the DJI Neo 2 into a video shooting mode first. The Video Subtitles row only appears under Settings then Camera when the camera is set to video — flip out of photo or QuickShots and the row drops in. If the row is still missing after that, check you are on the Camera tab of the Settings panel and not on Control, Safety or Transmission, and update DJI Fly if it has been a while since the last release.
Can I read the SRT file the DJI Neo 2 produces?
Yes. The SRT is a plain-text file you can open in any text editor, and the timestamps line up to the second with the MP4. Drone pilots who need a flight log will often pull the SRT, strip the camera settings, and keep the GPS and altitude rows as a per-clip record. Editing software like Premiere, DaVinci Resolve and Final Cut will also import the SRT as a subtitle track so the telemetry can be toggled on or off in the timeline.
Does Video Subtitles work the same way on the DJI Avata 2 or DJI Mini 4 Pro?
Yes, the layout matches across DJI Fly. The Video Subtitles toggle lives under Settings then Camera on the DJI Avata 2 and the DJI Mini 4 Pro as well, and the SRT file it writes carries the same kind of telemetry — GPS, altitude, ISO, shutter, f-number and exposure value. The only thing that changes is the sensor and the airframe the metadata is describing.
Video Subtitles is one of those DJI Neo 2 toggles that costs nothing to leave on and saves a half-hour scrub through the timeline the first time a client comes back asking where a specific clip was shot. Flip it on for paid work, trust the SRT to land alongside every MP4, and treat the sidecar as the per-clip flight log it really is.
If the toggle is doing something you do not expect — the SRT refusing to appear on the card, the row missing from Camera settings, or the file showing up empty when you open it — drop me a note at peter@hiredronepilot.uk with what DJI Fly is showing and I will come back to you directly. The video version of the walkthrough is on YouTube if you prefer to watch the menu path in real time.
References
Primary source material for this article is the official DJI Neo 2 documentation and DJI Fly. External links open in a new tab.
- DJI Neo 2 — Downloads (User Manual, Quick Start Guide, firmware notes) · Camera settings reference and the recommendation to confirm camera options before each flight.
- DJI Neo 2 — Product page (UK) · Sensor and camera specification underpinning the per-second telemetry the SRT file records.
- DJI Fly — App download and release notes · The app version under verification (v1.21.2). Release notes track any change to the Camera settings layout between versions.
Peter Leslie
Founder & GVC Drone Pilot
Peter is the founder of HireDronePilot. With thousands of logged commercial flight hours, he writes about drone technology, commercial surveying tactics, and UK aviation compliance.
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