Transcription
Transcribe a video to text
A transcript makes a video readable, quotable, searchable, and translatable. It is also the foundation every subtitle sits on, which is why it is worth getting right before anything else.
Getting the transcript
Upload the video
MP4, MOV, AVI, or MKV up to 500 MB, or a link from a supported source.
Pick the language you want the text in
Choose the original spoken language for a straight transcript, or another of the 30 languages for a translated one.
Download TXT and SRT
TXT is the readable transcript. SRT is the same words with timings, which is what you need if the text has to line up with the video.
TXT or SRT?
| Plain TXT | Continuous text with no timings. Right for show notes, articles, quotes, translation, and anything a person reads. |
|---|---|
| Timed SRT | The same words broken into timed blocks. Right for subtitles, for jumping to a moment in the video, and for anything a player consumes. |
What a transcript is worth having for
- Search. A video is opaque to a search engine; its transcript is not. Publishing the text alongside the video is how the content becomes findable at all.
- Repurposing. Show notes, blog posts, newsletters, and quote cards all start from the words, and the transcript is the words.
- Review. Reading a forty-minute interview takes a fraction of the time watching it does.
- Translation. Every language you eventually publish in starts from this file, so an error here multiplies.
Getting a cleaner transcript
- Record speech clearly above any music. Level, not model quality, is what usually decides transcript accuracy.
- Avoid overlapping speakers where you can. Crosstalk is ambiguous even to a human listener.
- Say unusual names clearly the first time. That first instance is the one worth checking afterwards.
- Trim silence and dead air before uploading. You are charged by length, so it is money as well as noise.
Transcribe your first video with 50 free credits, about ten minutes of footage.
Continue with Google50 free credits. No credit card needed.Frequently asked questions
Do I get a plain text transcript or just subtitles?
Both. Every job returns TXT and SRT files in the original language and in the language you selected.
Can I transcribe a video into a different language than it was spoken in?
Yes. The speech is transcribed as spoken, then translated into whichever of the 30 languages you choose, and you get both versions.
Does the transcript include timestamps?
The SRT does, down to milliseconds. The TXT is continuous text without timings, for reading and reuse.
How long can the video be?
Uploads are limited to 500 MB per file. Credits are consumed by length, so trimming dead air before uploading is worth doing.