FLV to text: what was said in a Flash Video
Upload an FLV and read its speech as a transcript you can correct, with each speaker named and every line timed. Meant for the Flash Video files people still keep: old downloads from the web, webcam and screen recordings, and live streams saved to disk.
Transcribe an FLV
Free: 30 min a month, no card. Your file stays in this browser until you sign up. Compare plans
- About an hour of video in about two minutes
- Word, TXT and PDF come with Free too
An FLV's speech, written out
Below is a short real recording, NASA's Apollo 11 landing, as PrismaScribe transcribed it and as its Word download sets it down: who is speaking above their words, and a [m:ss] time leading each line. The talk in your FLV returns in this form; the TXT download holds the same lines with no formatting.
Apollo 11 landing
Neil Armstrong
[0:00] Houston, uh, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.
CAPCOM, Charlie Duke
[0:06] Roger, Twang... Tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot. [beeping]
Apollo 11 landing.srt
- 100:00:00,500 to 00:00:05,980Neil Armstrong: Houston, uh, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.
- 200:00:06,640 to 00:00:08,478CAPCOM, Charlie Duke: Roger, Twang...
- 300:00:08,478 to 00:00:12,494Tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue.
- 400:00:12,494 to 00:00:14,720We're breathing again. Thanks a lot. [beeping]
Apollo 11 landing.vtt
WEBVTT
- 100:00:00.500 to 00:00:05.980Neil Armstrong: Houston, uh, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.
- 200:00:06.640 to 00:00:11.301CAPCOM, Charlie Duke: Roger, Twang... Tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys
- 300:00:11.301 to 00:00:14.720CAPCOM, Charlie Duke: about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot. [beeping]
What to do with an FLV's transcript
Uses people find for the text of a Flash-era video.
- Save a talk before the file goes. An old FLV download may be the only copy you have of a lecture or an interview. Keep its words as text that any computer can read.
- Notes from a recorded stream. Read back what was said in a stream you recorded, find the part that mattered and pull it into notes, a summary or a quiz.
- Write up a webcam recording. Turn a video diary, a call or a message recorded on an old webcam into text you can quote and keep.
- Find one moment in hours of stream. Search the transcript for a word and click the line to hear that point, rather than scrubbing a long recording.
- Subtitles for a re-upload. Download SRT or VTT to caption the video when you put it back online in a format today's sites play.
- Show highlights as text. Share the lines that count from a stream or a screen recording with people who won't watch the whole thing.
How to convert FLV to text
Find the FLV on your drive, upload it, and the transcript follows.
1 Locate the FLV
Look in your downloads, an old backup, or the folder your streaming or recording software saves to. OBS Studio, for one, can record to FLV.
2 Upload and start it
Drop in the FLV, or a batch of them. Set the language or leave it to detect, and say how many people talk if you know.
3 Correct, then download
Click a word to hear it and fix it, rename Speaker 1 once for the whole transcript, then save Word (DOCX), TXT or PDF, or copy the text.
30 min of transcription free each month, no card.
An old video, read in another language
Translate
Was the stream or the talk in a language you don't read? Translate the FLV's transcript into any of 99+ languages, then download it as TXT, or as SRT or VTT subtitles timed to the recording.
- Each translated subtitle line keeps its own start and end.
- There are 20,000 characters of translation a month on Free.
More
Copy all
Export
- TXT
- SRT, selected
- VTT
Apollo 11 landing_es.srt
- 100:00:00,500 to 00:00:05,980Houston, eh, aquí Base Tranquilidad. El Águila ha aterrizado.
- 200:00:06,640 to 00:00:14,720Recibido, Tranq... Tranquilidad. Los copiamos en tierra. Tenían a un montón de tipos a punto de ponerse azules. Volvemos a respirar. Muchas gracias. [pitidos]
FLV in, text out
Where Flash Video came from, why you still meet it, and what you download.
FLV, the video you upload
FLV is Flash Video, the container Adobe Flash Player played. Before HTML5 video took over, a great deal of web video was delivered as FLV. Adobe ended support for Flash Player on 31 December 2020, so the FLV files around now are mostly old downloads, old webcam or screen recordings, and recordings of live streams, since streaming over RTMP carries FLV. Only the speech in the sound is transcribed.
- Played by
- Adobe Flash Player
- Flash Player support ended
- 31 December 2020
- Still made by
- Live stream recordings; OBS Studio can record to FLV
- Not taken
- F4V; export it as MP4
Adobe's Flash Player end-of-life notice, the OBS Studio documentation, and the uploader's list of accepted files, which has FLV and not F4V.
Word and TXT, what you download
Word (DOCX) is a document that puts each speaker's name in bold and a time before every line, ready for editing or printing. TXT is the plain version, readable in any editor, opening with a header that gives the file, its language, length and date.
- Choose
- Speaker names and timestamps, on or off
- Other downloads
- PDF, Markdown, SRT, VTT
- Speech in
- Any of 99+
- Words you fix
- Fixed in every download
As listed in the web app's export window.
What it doesn't do
Worth a look before you upload a long stream.
- No F4V files. F4V, a related Flash format, isn't one we take. Export the video as MP4 and upload that.
- No link import on this page. This page takes uploaded files. If the video is still online, Video to text takes a link from the sites it lists.
- No reading of on-screen text. Chat overlays, slides and titles in the picture stay out; the transcript is the speech.
- No picture in the player. Next to the transcript, your dashboard plays the FLV's sound, not its video.
- No automatic downsizing. An FLV over your plan's size is refused, not compressed. Cut or export a smaller copy, then upload.
- PDF in Latin, Greek and Cyrillic letters only. Speech in other scripts downloads as Word, TXT, Markdown, SRT or VTT.
Good to know
- Background noise removal and custom vocabulary are on a paid plan. Noise removal takes 2× the minutes, custom vocabulary 1.25×.
- Free covers 30 min a month, 15 min a day at most, one FLV transcribing at a time.
- An FLV over 15 min uploaded on the website with Free is transcribed for its first 15 min. The iPhone app won't accept it.
- Top-up hours take away Free's daily and per-file time limits. The 500 MB limit on file size remains.
Plans
What each plan costs by the month and by the year; the pricing page compares them in full.
30 min a month, files up to 15 min
- Monthly
- $0
- Yearly
- $0
5 hr a month, files up to 5 hr
- Monthly
- $7 a month
- Yearly
- $52 a year, Save 38%$4.33 a month, billed once a year
20 hr a month, files up to 5 hr
- Monthly
- $20 a month
- Yearly
- $150 a year, Save 38%$12.50 a month, billed once a year
40 hr a month, files up to 8 hr 20 min
- Monthly
- $40 a month
- Yearly
- $300 a year, Save 38%$25 a month, billed once a year
Your recordings stay private
- Encrypted in transit and at rest, and open only to you and anyone you share with.
- Never used to train AI models.
- Held for you until you delete them.
FLV to text FAQ
Not covered here? Email hello@prismascribe.ai.
What is an FLV file?
Flash Video, the container Adobe Flash Player played. Much of the web's video went out as FLV before HTML5 video replaced Flash, and Adobe ended Flash Player support on 31 December 2020. FLV still turns up in old downloads, webcam and screen recordings, and recorded live streams.
How do I convert an FLV to text?
Sign up free and upload the FLV in your browser. Pick the language or let it be detected, then start. An email lets you know when the transcript is done, so you needn't keep the tab open. Click any word to check and correct it, then download Word, TXT or PDF, or copy the text.
Do I need Flash Player to transcribe it?
No. You upload the file as it is and nothing has to play it on your computer. The uploader takes FLV directly, so there is no conversion step.
I recorded a stream to FLV. Will it upload?
Yes. Live streaming over RTMP carries FLV, and OBS Studio can record to it, so a saved stream is often an FLV. Long streams make big files: check the size against your plan, or upload the stretch you need.
What about F4V files?
F4V isn't one of the formats we take. Export the video as MP4, then upload the MP4.
The video is still online. Do I need the FLV?
Not if it's on a site our link import covers. Today's video sites play video without Flash, and Video to text takes a link to a public page. This page works from the file you upload.
Can I save the transcript as a Word document?
Yes. Word (DOCX) is one of six downloads, with TXT, PDF, Markdown, SRT and VTT, and each has speaker names and timestamps you can switch on or off. PDF handles Latin, Greek and Cyrillic letters; use Word or TXT for other scripts.
Will it separate the people talking?
Yes, on every plan, up to 32 speakers: a stream with guests or a recorded call comes back as Speaker 1, Speaker 2 and so on. Rename each once and the whole transcript follows. The speech can be in any of 99+. How speaker identification works.
Is converting FLV to text free?
Yes, on Free, with no card: 30 min a month, up to 15 min a day, for files up to 15 min and 500 MB, one at a time, all downloads included. The website works in a phone's browser too; the iPhone app can't pick an FLV. For longer recordings, compare the plans or add top-up hours that never expire.
More recordings, more downloads
Transcripts of other files, and the whole list of formats.
Get the talk out of your old Flash videos.
30 min of transcription free each month, no card.
One recording in.
Everything you need out.