Video Transcription
Video transcription writes your recording out as timestamped text you can read, search and export as SRT or VTT.
- Word-level timestamps
- Detected language
- Speaker labelling
What does video transcription actually give you?
Video transcription is the step that turns a recording into a document. You hand over a file, and what comes back is not a caption track burned onto a picture but the words themselves, laid out in order with a timecode against each line, ready to be read, searched, quoted and edited like any other text.
Pixazo runs this inside the Pixazo, and the transcription engine ships in production today. It returns a transcript with word-level timestamps, notes the detected language, applies speaker labelling to the lines, and exports to SRT or VTT alongside plain text. That is the whole of it — a faithful video to text record of what was said.
Think of it as a ledger rather than a summary. Every line has a time against it, so a claim in paragraph nine can be traced back to the second it was spoken. That traceability is what makes a transcript useful for minutes, for quoting an interview, or for going back through an hour of recording to find the ninety seconds that matter.
Where the ledger stops: it records, it does not interpret. Transcribing a recording writes down what was said — it does not summarise the meeting, pull out action items, or check whether a speaker got their facts right. Those are your jobs, or another tool's.
The ledger, at a glance
CARD 01| Input | A video or audio recording you upload |
| Output | Timestamped transcript text |
| Timing | Word-level timestamps |
| Language | Detected automatically |
| Speakers | Speaker labelling on lines |
| Export | Plain text, SRT, VTT |
| Runs in | Browser, desktop & mobile |
| Price | Free to start · scales with your plan |
Word-level timestamps, speaker labelling, SRT and VTT out.
Transcribe a Video freeHow do you transcribe video in four ruled steps?
Four moves open the ledger. Nothing installs; the whole flow is an upload, a wait, and a download. If you have ever used a video transcriber before, none of this will surprise you.
Upload the video to transcribe
Go to Pixazo in your browser on desktop or a phone. There is no plugin to install and no desktop app to keep updated.
Upload the recording
Drag in the video, or pick it from your device. A screen recording, a conference call export, a webinar file or a phone clip all go in the same way.
Let the transcription run
The engine listens through the file, writes each line with its word-level timestamps, notes the language it detected and applies speaker labelling as the lines change voice.
Read, correct, export
Read the ledger against the audio, fix any names or jargon by hand, then export it as plain text to work with or as SRT or VTT if you also want a timed file.
What does the video transcription ledger write down?
Word-level timestamps
Timing is recorded per word, not just per paragraph, so a line in the transcript points back at an exact position in the recording. That is what lets you jump to a moment, trim a clip around a sentence, or cite a quote with a timecode beside it.
Detected language
The language of the recording is detected rather than declared, so you do not have to tell the tool what you are handing it. The detected language travels with the transcript, which matters when the text is going on to a translator or a subtitle workflow.
Speaker labelling
Lines carry speaker labels in the margin, so a two-sided conversation does not arrive as one undivided block of prose. Treat the labels as a first pass to check rather than a finished attribution — on a busy recording you will want to read them against the audio and correct where needed.
SRT and VTT export
The same timed record exports as SRT or VTT, the two subtitle formats every editor and video platform understands. Plain text is there too, which is the format you want when the transcript is going into a document, a CMS or a translation tool.
Get the words back as text you can search and quote.
Transcribe a VideoFive jobs the ledger is opened for
Minutes from a recorded call
A recorded call becomes minutes far faster when you are editing a transcript down rather than typing from scratch. You keep the timecodes beside the decisions, so anyone who disputes a point can be sent to the exact minute instead of arguing about who remembers what.
Quotes from an interview
Journalists and researchers need the sentence as it was actually said. Working from a timestamped transcript, you can lift a quote, check it against the audio at that timecode in seconds, and keep a defensible record of the wording.
A searchable webinar archive
A year of webinars is unsearchable as video and completely searchable as text. Transcribe each session once and the archive answers questions: which episode covered pricing, when a product was first mentioned, which speaker made a given promise.
An article drafted from a talk
A conference talk already contains an article. With the spoken text in front of you, the work becomes cutting, reordering and tightening — a much shorter job than writing a blog post from a blank page and a memory of the session.
Accessibility and comprehension
A transcript is a genuine accessibility artefact: it lets someone read a recording they cannot hear, skim before committing forty minutes, or follow along in a second language. Publish it beside the video and the content works for more people.
Transcript, or captions? Two pages, one engine
Pixazo has a second page driven by the same transcription engine, and the difference between them is what you want at the end — a document, or a caption track.
You want the text itself
Stay on this page when the deliverable is words: a document to read, a file to search, a quote to check, a blog post to draft from a talk, or a transcript to hand to a translator. The timecodes are there for reference, but the text is the point.
That is what this tool is built around — the transcript as the finished object.
You want captions on the video
If the goal is subtitles timed onto the picture — burned in or as a sidecar file for social, YouTube or an editor — the auto subtitle generator is the page you want. Same engine underneath, framed around caption timing and styling rather than a readable document.
Plenty of people need both: captions to publish, and a transcript to work from.
Where does video transcription need a human?
No transcription tool is a clean pass-through from sound to page. These are the conditions that degrade a transcript, said plainly, so you can plan the read-through instead of discovering it late.
Difficult audio degrades the result
Heavy accents, crosstalk where two people speak over each other, a poor microphone or a phone across a room, and loud background music all reduce quality. The transcript will still come back, but it will need more correcting.
Names, jargon and acronyms drift
Specialist terminology, product names, unusual surnames and acronyms often need fixing by hand. A domain glossary open beside the transcript while you read is the fastest fix.
It records, it does not think
It transcribes what was said. It does not summarise, does not condense to action items, and does not fact-check a single claim. If a speaker is wrong, the transcript will faithfully record them being wrong.
Publication needs a human read
Any transcript heading for publication — a quote in an article, minutes of record, a page on your site — should be read against the audio by a person first. Treat the output as a strong draft, not a finished document.
Speaker labels are unverified
Speaker labelling is applied to the lines, but we make no accuracy claim about it and we have not published a figure for it. On overlapping or similar-sounding voices, check the labels yourself before you attribute anything.
No accuracy number, on purpose
You will not find a percentage on this page. Accuracy depends so heavily on your recording, accents and subject matter that a single headline number would tell you nothing useful about your own file.
Where does the transcript go next?
Auto subtitle generator
When the same words need to sit on the picture as timed subtitles rather than live in a document.
Another languageAI voice dubbing
A transcript is the starting point for a translated voice track, so this is the natural next stop after the text exists.
Everything elseThe full AI tools directory
Every Pixazo tool in one place, including the image, video and audio generators, if the transcript is only step one.
Video transcription, answered
Is video transcription free on Pixazo?
You can start free with no credit card. Video transcription runs inside Pixazo, and heavier or longer usage follows whatever Pixazo plan you are on.
What do I actually get back?
A timestamped transcript with word-level timestamps, the detected language of the recording, speaker labelling on the lines, and the option to export as plain text, SRT or VTT.
Does it identify who is speaking?
It applies speaker labelling, so lines are separated by voice rather than arriving as one block. We make no accuracy claim for it, so read the labels against the audio before you attribute a quote to a named person.
How accurate is the transcript?
We do not publish an accuracy percentage, because the honest answer depends on your recording. Clear speech on a decent microphone reads very well; crosstalk, heavy accents and background music all need more correcting.
Which languages work?
The language is detected from the audio rather than set by you, and the detected language is reported with the transcript. If you are working towards a translation, that field is the one your translator will want.
Can I use it to make subtitles?
You can, because SRT and VTT are both export options. If captions timed onto the video are your actual goal, the auto subtitle generator page is built around that job instead.
Will it summarise the meeting for me?
No. It writes down what was said and nothing more. Summarising, pulling action items and fact-checking are separate steps you or another tool take after the transcript exists.
Can I transcribe from my phone?
Yes. The Pixazo runs in a mobile browser, so you can upload a recording and read the ledger on an iPhone or Android device with nothing to install.
Can I edit the transcript afterwards?
Yes, and you should. Export the plain text and correct names, acronyms and any misheard jargon in your own editor before the transcript goes anywhere public.
Open the ledger on your own recording.
Timestamped lines, detected language, speaker labelling and SRT or VTT export — free to start, straight in your browser.
Transcribe a Video free- Free to start
- No install
- Text, SRT and VTT
