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AVI to text

AVI to text

Upload an AVI file and read what is said in it. AVI is the old Windows video container from early camcorders, older digital cameras, screen recorders and downloaded clips. It is accepted as it is, and only the sound is transcribed.

Free preview: one file up to 15 minutes and 25 MB, 3 tries a day, no account needed.

Want to keep your transcripts? Create a free account

What an AVI file is

AVI (Audio Video Interleave) is a container Microsoft introduced in 1992. It says nothing about what is inside: the picture can be almost any codec and the sound can be uncompressed PCM, MP3 or something else. That is why two AVI files can differ wildly in size and quality. Transcription only reads the audio track, so the video codec does not matter.

Where AVI files still come from

  • Tape-to-computer transfers from DV camcorders, which are often saved as AVI.
  • Short clips from older compact digital cameras, which recorded movies as AVI.
  • Screen and webcam recorders from the Windows era, and old downloads or archives.
  • Family and heritage footage that is only now being digitised and transcribed.

Steps

  1. Copy the .avi file to the computer or phone you are using.
  2. Choose it in the box above. No conversion is needed.
  3. Wait for the transcript, listen to a few passages against the text and correct names and places.
  4. Export text, SRT or VTT.

Large AVIs and the size limit

DV video in an AVI is close to a gigabyte for every five minutes, far above the no-account size limit of 25 MB, so a camcorder transfer will not fit the no-account preview whatever its length. Two ways round it: make an account, which allows much larger files, or pull the sound out first with a desktop tool such as VLC or ffmpeg and upload that, which is a small fraction of the size. Without an account one file can be up to 15 minutes and 25 MB. A free account lifts those per-file limits and keeps your transcripts in a library, so for a longer recording create one instead of cutting the file up.

Old recordings are hard recordings

Footage from the tape era tends to be quiet, with room echo and a microphone on the camera rather than on the speaker. That limits any transcript, and no format fixes it. Raising the volume in an editor before uploading can help a little, and a human pass on names and places is worth it for anything you will keep.

How it works

  1. Add a recording

    Drop in a video or audio file, choose one from your device, or record from the microphone. Nothing to install.

  2. It transcribes

    Speech becomes timestamped text, with speaker labels when more than one person talks.

  3. Read, fix, export

    Click any line to correct it, then download TXT, subtitles, Markdown, JSON or CSV.

Questions

Do I have to convert AVI to MP4 first?
No. The file is read as it is. Converting would only be to make it smaller.
Does it transcribe the video or the audio?
The audio. The picture, subtitles and chapters inside the file are not read.
My AVI has no sound that I can hear. Will it work?
If there is no audio track there is nothing to transcribe. Play the file first to check there is sound.
Is it free?
Yes — one recording up to 15 minutes and 25 MB with no account, up to 3 tries a day. A free account keeps your transcripts in a library and lifts the guest limits; the current limits and paid plans are on the pricing page.
What can I export?
Plain text, timestamped text, SRT, VTT, Markdown, JSON with word timings and CSV, all from the same edited transcript.

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