Video transcription
What is video transcription?
Video transcription is a process that involves listening to the audio content of a video and converting its dialogue and speech into written text. Transcribing requires precision and attention to detail, but having a video transcript can be a big help to viewers. Video transcription can be done manually by a human transcriber or automatically using transcription software.
Manual transcription is often more accurate, as a person can more easily understand the context, accents, and dialects of recorded speech compared to an algorithm. However, manual transcription is more time-consuming and can be expensive. While automatic transcription is faster and more cost-effective, it may not be as accurate, especially when dealing with complex language or poor audio quality.
Why video transcription is important
Video transcription is an essential tool in various sectors because it improves accessibility. By providing a text alternative to audio content, individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing can read and understand the video dialogue. Similarly, non-native speakers can benefit from transcriptions, as they can read the content at their own pace.
Transcriptions are also favorable for a video’s search engine optimization (SEO). Search engines cannot watch or listen to videos, but they can crawl and index text. By transcribing your videos, you provide search engines with more content to index, improving your website's visibility and ranking on search results pages.
How to transcribe a video
Transcribing a video is a straightforward process, especially if you’re doing it yourself. For manual transcription, make sure you have a good pair of headphones, a quiet environment, and decent typing skills. All you have to do is play your video and type out all the audible dialogue during its runtime, adding line breaks where you see fit. It’s a good practice to pause the video often to catch every word, and to review the transcription for any errors when you’re finished.
For automatic transcription, there are many different applications available , each with their unique features. Some programs have automatic punctuation, speaker identification, and time-stamping, for example. To transcribe automatically, you upload the video to the software, and it generates a transcript in a few minutes or hours, depending on the length of the video.
It is important to note that automatic transcription will not always be 100% accurate. If you’re using transcription software, you should thoroughly review the finished transcript and correct any errors to ensure it accurately represents the video content.
Restream's free transcription feature allows you to easily turn your audio or video files into text. Our AI-powered tool can fully transcribe your podcast in minutes.
Improving video transcripts
While transcribing a video is the primary step, enhancing the transcription can make it more useful and effective. One way to improve a transcription is to add time stamps, which indicate when a particular word or phrase was spoken in the video. Time stamps make it easier for a reader to follow along with the video, especially for lengthy videos or those with multiple speakers.
Another good addition to your transcript is speaker labels. If the video features multiple speakers, identifying each speaker in the transcription can make it easier to read and understand. Labeling speakers is a good practice for interviews, webinars, and panel discussions.