MP4 to transcript: transcribe an MP4 video to text

Upload an MP4, or paste the link of a public video, and read everything said in it as an editable transcript, each line under its speaker's name with the time it starts. Copy it, or download TXT, Word, PDF or subtitles.

Transcribe an MP4

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
  • The transcript as TXT or Word on Free too

See a real transcript

A creator packs his camera bag after filming on his phone, with the video ready to become text.

What an MP4 transcript looks like

The speech of a real recording, NASA's Apollo 11 landing, as PrismaScribe transcribed it and the Word download lays it out: the speaker's name above their words, the minute and second each line begins. The sound of your MP4 comes back the same way, and the TXT download keeps the same lines as plain text.

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

  1. 100:00:00,500 to 00:00:05,980Neil Armstrong: Houston, uh, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.
  2. 200:00:06,640 to 00:00:08,478CAPCOM, Charlie Duke: Roger, Twang...
  3. 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.
  4. 400:00:12,494 to 00:00:14,720We're breathing again. Thanks a lot. [beeping]

Apollo 11 landing.vtt

WEBVTT

  1. 100:00:00.500 to 00:00:05.980Neil Armstrong: Houston, uh, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.
  2. 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
  3. 300:00:11.301 to 00:00:14.720CAPCOM, Charlie Duke: about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot. [beeping]
Real output · Apollo 11 landing, NASA public-domain audio, 15 seconds. Speaker 1 and Speaker 2 renamed; names and timestamps on in the export window.

What an MP4 transcript is good for

Once the video's words are text, you can search, quote and reuse them.

  • Find the moment without scrubbing. Search the transcript for a word, then click the line to hear that part of the video's sound.
  • Quote a talk or a webinar. Copy a speaker's exact sentence with the minute it was said, for an article, a report or a thread.
  • Write up a recorded call. Turn a screen recording of a meeting into notes, a summary or a list of action items.
  • Make a post from a video. Start a blog post, a newsletter or show notes from what was said instead of typing it out while you watch.
  • Subtitles for the same MP4. The transcript also downloads as an SRT or VTT file to add to the video on YouTube, Vimeo or in your editor.
  • Keep a library of your videos' words. Every MP4 stays in your dashboard under its name, in folders if you like, with its text beside it.

How to transcribe an MP4

Upload the video or paste its link, then read and download.

  1. 1 Add the MP4

    Drop the video file in, a few at once if you like, or paste the link of a public video on YouTube, Vimeo, Loom or another site we import from. Choose the language or leave it on detect.

  2. 2 Check the transcript

    Click a word to hear the video's sound at that point and correct it. Give Speaker 1 and Speaker 2 their real names once and every line updates.

  3. 3 Download it

    Copy the text, or download TXT, Word (DOCX), PDF or Markdown, with speaker names and timestamps on or off. Your corrections are in every file.

Transcribe an MP4 free

30 min of free transcription a month, no card.

A video in a language you don't speak

Translate

Translate the MP4's transcript into any of 99+ languages. Read it in your dashboard, or download the translation as TXT, or as SRT or VTT subtitles to add to the video.

  • Every translated line keeps its own start and end time in the subtitle downloads.
  • Free comes with 20,000 characters of translation a month.

Translate video 

In a sunny Madrid flat with the balcony door open, two friends on a sofa watch a recorded talk on a laptop, each able to follow it in their own language.
Example

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Export

  • TXT
  • SRT, selected
  • VTT

Apollo 11 landing_es.srt

  1. 100:00:00,500 to 00:00:05,980Houston, eh, aquí Base Tranquilidad. El Águila ha aterrizado.
  2. 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]

MP4 in, transcript out

What an MP4 holds, why a phone video is big, and the files you get back.

MP4, the video you upload

MP4 (MPEG-4 Part 14) is a container: one file holding a video track, a sound track and details about them. It's the format most video editors export and many phones and screen recorders save. PrismaScribe transcribes the speech in the sound track; the picture isn't read. A phone video in HD is large for its length, so it often meets a plan's size limit before its length limit.

A minute of phone video
About 60 MB in 1080p HD at 30 fps
A 15 min HD clip
About 900 MB, more than Free's 500 MB
HD video a file holds
About 30 min in 2 GB on Starter and Premium, 1 hr 25 min in 5 GB on Pro
Other video
MOV, AVI, MKV, WEBM, WMV, FLV, 3GP and MPEG are transcribed the same way

The size a minute is the estimate iPhone's Settings › Camera › Record Video gives for 1080p HD at 30 fps; 4K takes nearly three times as much. Other phones and cameras differ.

The transcript, as TXT or Word

TXT is plain text for any app: a short header with the file's name, language, length and date, then the transcript, a speaker's name and a [m:ss] time on each line if you keep them. Word (DOCX) is the same transcript as a document to edit, comment on or print.

On or off
Speaker names and timestamps, separately
Other downloads
PDF, Markdown, SRT and VTT
Languages
Any of 99+, each in its own script
Corrections
In every file you download

From the web app's export window, which offers the same options for every text format.

What it doesn't do

Before you upload a video.

  • No reading what's on screen. Slides, titles and captions burned into the picture aren't transcribed, only what is said.
  • No video in the transcript view. The dashboard plays the MP4's sound beside its text, not the picture.
  • No private links. Videos that need a sign-in, members-only or private ones, can't be imported by link. Upload the file.
  • No captions burned in. PrismaScribe writes SRT and VTT files; your player or editor puts them on the video.
  • PDF in Latin, Greek and Cyrillic letters only. A video in another script downloads as TXT, Word, Markdown, SRT or VTT.

Good to know

Compare plans

  • Background noise removal and custom vocabulary need a paid plan. Noise removal counts as 2× the minutes, custom vocabulary as 1.25×.
  • Free gives you 30 min a month, up to 15 min a day, one video at a time.
  • On Free, an uploaded video longer than 15 min is transcribed up to its first 15 min; a link has to be trimmed to 15 min with a start and end time.
  • Top-up hours lift Free's daily and per-file time limits, not its 500 MB file size.

Plans

Monthly and yearly prices for every plan. The full comparison is on the pricing page.

  • Free on the pricing page

    30 min a month, files up to 15 min

    Monthly
    $0
    Yearly
    $0

  • Starter on the pricing page

    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

  • Premium on the pricing page

    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

  • Pro on the pricing page

    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

Compare every plan 

Your videos stay private

Read our privacy policy

  • Encrypted in transit and at rest, seen only by you and the people you share with.
  • Never used to train AI models.
  • Kept until you delete them.

MP4 to text FAQ

Still wondering about something? Write to hello@prismascribe.ai.

How do I transcribe an MP4 file?

Sign up free, then upload the MP4 or paste the link of the video if it's public online. Choose its language or leave it on detect and start. When the transcript is ready, check it, click any word to correct it, then copy the text or download it. You can close the tab meanwhile; the transcript waits in your dashboard and an email says when it's done.

Is there a free MP4 to text converter here?

Yes: the Free plan, no card. It gives you 30 min of transcription a month, up to 15 min a day, for files up to 15 min and 500 MB, one at a time, and every download, Word and subtitles included. For longer videos, compare the plans or buy top-up hours that never expire.

My MP4 is too big for the free plan. What can I do?

A phone video in HD takes about 60 MB a minute, so a 15 min clip is around 900 MB, over Free's 500 MB. If the video is on YouTube, Vimeo or another site we import from, paste its link: only its sound is fetched, so the file size doesn't matter. Or save a smaller copy, at 720p or as audio only, in your editor. Starter and Premium take files up to 2 GB, Pro up to 5 GB.

How long can the video be?

Up to 15 min on Free, 5 hr on Starter and Premium, and 8 hr 20 min on Pro, as long as the file also fits the plan's size: 500 MB, 2 GB and 5 GB. On Free, a longer upload is transcribed up to its first 15 min.

Can I paste a YouTube link instead of uploading the MP4?

Yes, from YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok, X, Instagram, SoundCloud, Facebook, Twitch, Reddit, Loom and Dailymotion, one video per link, on the website. The video has to be public; private, members-only and sign-in videos can't be fetched. Set a start and an end to transcribe only part of it.

Does it read text on the screen or subtitles burned into the video?

No. Only the speech in the MP4's sound is transcribed. Slides, titles and on-screen captions are left out, and so is a video with no one talking.

Will the transcript show who is speaking?

Yes, on every plan. A video with several people, a panel, an interview or a recorded call, comes back as Speaker 1, Speaker 2 and so on, up to 32 speakers. Rename them once and every line follows. How speaker identification works.

Can I download the MP4 transcript as a Word document?

Yes. Download it as Word (DOCX) to edit and print, or as TXT, PDF or Markdown, with speaker names and timestamps on or off. A PDF carries Latin, Greek and Cyrillic letters; for a video in another script, take Word or TXT.

Can I make subtitles from the MP4 too?

Yes. The same transcript downloads as SRT or VTT subtitles, timed to the video, to add on YouTube, Vimeo or in your editor. PrismaScribe makes the file; it doesn't burn captions into the picture.

Which languages can the video be in?

Any of 99+, and speakers may switch languages within one video. Leave it on detect or choose the language first. To read it in another language, translate the transcript into any of 99+ languages. Translate video.

Other videos, other recordings

Text from other files, and every format PrismaScribe takes.

Other files from an MP4

Text from other files

Every format

Read your next video instead of rewatching it.

Transcribe an MP4 free

30 min of free transcription a month, no card.

One recording in.
Everything you need out.