WMV to text: transcripts of old Windows videos
Upload a Windows Media Video and get back what was said in it, line by line, with who spoke and when. For the films Windows Movie Maker saved, the training videos and presentations exported from Windows software, and the WMV files sitting in a video archive.
Transcribe a WMV
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
- Free downloads include Word, TXT and PDF
What a WMV's speech looks like as text
This is a real short recording, the Apollo 11 landing from NASA, transcribed by PrismaScribe and shown as its Word download lays it out: each speaker's name above their words, a [m:ss] time ahead of each line. The speech in your WMV comes back in the same shape, and the TXT download carries 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
- 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]
After the WMV becomes text
What people tend to do with the transcript of an older Windows video.
- Keep the words of a family film. A wedding speech or a birthday cut together in Movie Maker years ago, saved as text you can read, print and pass round.
- Refresh an old training video. Take the spoken script of a course or a how-to recorded in Windows, then edit it into an updated guide or a new recording.
- Turn a recorded presentation into notes. Read what the presenter said, copy the parts you need, and make a summary or a quiz from the transcript.
- Search an archive by what was said. Transcribe the WMV files in a collection, then look for a name or a phrase in the text and click the line to hear it.
- Subtitles for a video you still use. Download SRT or VTT and add the captions in your editor, or when you put the video up again in a newer format.
- Quote someone from an old interview. Copy a speaker's exact words with the time they said them, without scrubbing through the whole clip.
How to convert WMV to text
Find the file on the old computer or drive, then upload it from any browser.
1 Find the WMV
Look on the Windows PC that made it, often in its Videos folder, or on the disc, USB stick or drive where the archive lives. Copy it to the computer you're using.
2 Upload it and begin
Drop in one WMV or several. Pick the language or let it be detected, and give the number of speakers if you know it.
3 Check, fix, download
Click any word to hear that moment and correct it, give Speaker 1 a real name, then take Word (DOCX), TXT or PDF, or copy the text out.
30 min free every month, no card asked for.
The WMV's words in another language
Translate
Is the narration in a language some viewers don't follow? Translate the transcript into any of 99+ languages and save it as TXT, or as SRT or VTT subtitles that keep to the video's timing.
- Translated subtitles keep the start and end of every line.
- Free includes 20,000 characters of translation each month.
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]
WMV in, text out
What a WMV is, where yours likely came from, and what you take away.
WMV, the video you upload
WMV stands for Windows Media Video, Microsoft's family of video codecs. The file is an ASF container, the same container a WMA sound file uses, holding the picture and the sound together. Windows Movie Maker saved its films as WMV, and plenty of Windows software exported presentations and training videos the same way. Only the speech in the sound is transcribed.
- Made by
- Microsoft, as part of Windows Media
- Container
- ASF, shared with WMA
- Common source
- Windows Movie Maker, which Microsoft stopped offering in 2017
- Copy-protected files
- A WMV with DRM may not open
Microsoft's Windows Media and ASF documentation, Microsoft's end-of-support notice for Windows Essentials (Movie Maker), and the uploader's list of accepted files.
Word and TXT, what you take away
Word (DOCX) is a document with each speaker's name in bold and a time at the start of every line, ready to edit, print or file. TXT is the same transcript as plain text that any computer opens, headed by the file's name, language, length and date.
- On or off
- Speaker names, timestamps
- Also offered
- PDF, Markdown, SRT, VTT
- Spoken languages
- Any of 99+
- Your corrections
- Kept in every download
The export window in the web app.
What it doesn't do
Good to check before you upload an old file.
- No copy-protected video. Some WMV files carry DRM copy protection, and a protected one may not open here. A copy saved without protection uploads as usual.
- No words read off the screen. Slide text, titles and captions burned into the picture are left out; the transcript holds the speech.
- No video in the dashboard player. You hear the WMV's sound beside the transcript; the picture isn't shown.
- No shrinking of big files. A WMV larger than your plan allows is turned away, not made smaller. Save a smaller copy and upload that.
- PDF for Latin, Greek and Cyrillic letters only. Speech in another script downloads as Word, TXT, Markdown, SRT or VTT. Sound-only Windows files have their own page: WMA to text.
Good to know
- Background noise removal and custom vocabulary are on a paid plan. Noise removal counts 2× the minutes, custom vocabulary 1.25×.
- Free gives 30 min a month, no more than 15 min a day, and works on one WMV at a time.
- Upload a WMV longer than 15 min on Free through the website and its first 15 min is transcribed. The iPhone app turns such a file down.
- Top-up hours lift Free's daily and per-file time limits. The 500 MB file size limit stays in place.
Plans
Every plan's monthly and yearly price, with the complete comparison on the pricing page.
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 WMV files stay yours
- Encrypted on the way up and in storage, seen only by you and the people you share with.
- Never used to train AI models.
- Kept until you choose to delete them.
WMV to text FAQ
Another question? Write to hello@prismascribe.ai.
What is a WMV file?
A Windows Media Video file. WMV is Microsoft's family of video codecs, and the file itself is an ASF container holding the picture and the sound. Windows Movie Maker saved its films this way, and a lot of Windows software exported recordings as WMV, which is why so many sit on older PCs and in video archives.
How do I turn a WMV into text?
Make a free account and upload the WMV from a web browser. Choose the language or keep it on detect, then start. You get an email when the transcript is ready, so the tab can be closed. Correct any word by clicking it, then download Word, TXT or PDF, or copy the text.
Will a film I made in Windows Movie Maker upload?
Yes. Movie Maker saved its films as WMV, and the uploader takes WMV as it is, so there is nothing to convert first. Microsoft stopped offering Movie Maker in 2017, but the files it made still upload and transcribe like any other video.
Why won't my WMV open?
Some WMV files carry DRM, Microsoft's copy protection for Windows Media, and a protected file may not open here. If yours won't upload, check whether it came with protection, and try a copy saved without it.
Can I transcribe a WMV from my phone?
Use the website in your phone's browser, or upload from a computer. The PrismaScribe iPhone app can't pick a WMV from Files, so the website is the way in for this format.
How long and how big can a WMV be?
Length: 15 min on Free, 5 hr on Starter and Premium, 8 hr 20 min on Pro. Size: 500 MB on Free, 2 GB on Starter and Premium, 5 GB on Pro. On Free a longer web upload has its first 15 min transcribed.
Can I download the WMV's transcript in Word?
Yes. Word (DOCX) is one of six downloads, along with TXT, PDF, Markdown, SRT and VTT, and each lets you turn speaker names and timestamps on or off. The PDF covers Latin, Greek and Cyrillic letters; for other scripts use Word or TXT.
Does it tell the speakers apart, in any language?
Yes, on every plan, up to 32 speakers, shown as Speaker 1, Speaker 2 and so on until you name them; one rename changes every line. The video can be in any of 99+. How speaker identification works.
Is WMV to text free?
On Free, yes, and no card is asked for: 30 min a month, up to 15 min a day, files up to 15 min and 500 MB, one at a time, with every download. For larger or longer videos, see the plans or buy top-up hours, which don't expire.
Other files, other formats
Text from different recordings, and every format we take.
Read what your old Windows videos say.
30 min free every month, no card asked for.
One recording in.
Everything you need out.