How to turn a lecture recording into study notes with chapters and timestamps
You have the recording: lecture capture from the course page, or a file from your phone in the third row. It is 90 minutes of audio, and nobody re-watches 90 minutes the week before an exam. What you want is notes: the structure, the definitions, the worked example, and a way to hear the hard part again without hunting for it. Here is the workflow for lectures one to three hours long.
Have a recording like this? Packs from $4, credits never expire → timestamps, overview. Summary free to read.
Step 1: get the lecture as a file
- Lecture capture. Most course platforms that post recordings let you download them as MP4. Check it is the full session, not a highlight clip.
- Your own recording. A phone voice memo (M4A), a handheld recorder (MP3 or WAV) or a laptop recording all work. Copy it to your laptop first.
- Name it now. ECON2010_wk06_2026-10-02.m4a takes five seconds and saves you opening six files called New Recording 14 in December.
Step 2: upload the whole lecture
Go to the home page, drop the file in, and enter your email so the transcript can be saved to you. Do not split a long lecture into parts. One file keeps one continuous set of timestamps, which matters later when your notes say "see 1:14:30" and you want that to mean something.
Files up to 10 hours and 5 GB are accepted, in MP3, M4A, WAV, FLAC, OGG, WEBM, MP4 or MOV, and a video file does not need converting to audio first. Turnaround is about two minutes per hour of audio, so a three-hour seminar is usually ready in around six minutes. Lectures in any of 99+ languages work.
Step 3: use the chapters as the skeleton of your notes
Open the Intelligence tab before you read a single line of transcript. It gives you three things:
- A summary of what the lecture covered and the main takeaways, which is the paragraph you would write at the top of your notes if you had time.
- Chapters with timestamps. A 90-minute lecture usually comes back as six to ten chapters. Copy the chapter titles into your notes document as headings, with the start time next to each.
- Key quotes, plus the names, numbers and dates that were said. In a lecture these are often the definitions and the figures your lecturer expects you to remember.
Step 4: fill each chapter from the transcript
Work through the chapters one at a time. Click a chapter to jump to that part of the transcript and read it. Reading is faster than listening, and you can skim what you already know.
When you reach something you did not follow, click the line. The audio plays from that exact second, so you hear the emphasis, the "this is important" that never makes it into slides.
For the parts you want in your notes word for word, such as a definition, a derivation step, or a worked example, drag across the lines and copy them. They come with their timestamps, so every quote in your notes points back to the second it was said. If you need to find one word later, press ⌘K (Ctrl+K on Windows) on the transcript and search for it. More in how to find any moment in a long recording.
Step 5: ask the lecture questions, then make the study files
Open AI Chat and ask in plain language. The answers come from the lecture you uploaded, with timestamps you can click to hear the original explanation. Questions that work well for revision:
- "List every term she defined, with the definition as she said it."
- "What did he say would be on the exam or the problem set?"
- "Explain the worked example at 51:02 step by step."
Then ask for files. "Make a Word study guide with the chapter headings, the definitions and the exam hints" produces a document in Resources. "Make an Excel sheet with term, definition and timestamp" gives you flashcard material. You can also download the full transcript as DOCX, TXT, SRT or VTT.
Got last week's lecture on your laptop? Upload the file and get chapters, a summary and a clickable transcript Packs from $4 for 500 minutes, about five 90-minute lectures. Credits never expire. Upload your lecture →A worked example: one module, one semester
Second-year economics, two 75-minute lectures a week
A student records each lecture on a phone placed on the front desk, copies the files to a laptop each Friday and uploads the week's two lectures together. Twelve weeks is about 1,800 minutes, so the $12 pack of 2,000 minutes covers the whole module with some left over. Each Friday takes around 30 minutes: chapters into the notes file, gaps filled from the transcript, one AI Chat question, "what was flagged for the exam?". In revision week the student asks each lecture for a term list, merges them into one Excel sheet, and uses the timestamps to re-hear only the four explanations that still do not make sense.
Recording tips that make the transcript better
What you end up with
| Part | What it does for revision |
|---|---|
| Transcript with timestamps | Read at your own speed; click any line to hear it from that second. |
| Summary | What the lecture was for, in one paragraph, before you start. |
| Chapters | Ready-made headings with start times for your notes. |
| Key quotes | Definitions and lines worth remembering, each with its timestamp. |
| AI Chat | Answers about the lecture with playable timestamps; makes Word, PDF or Excel files in Resources. |
| Exports | TXT, DOCX, SRT and VTT downloads. |
Pricing is per minute of audio, in packs: $4 for 500 minutes, $8 for 1,000, $12 for 2,000 and $24 for 5,000. Payment is by card, and credits never expire, so October minutes still work for the August resit. More ways students use this are on the students use-case page, and the lecture transcription page covers the basics.
Frequently asked
Can I upload a two or three hour lecture in one file?
Yes. Upload the whole file without cutting it. Files up to 10 hours and 5 GB are accepted, and the timestamps run continuously from 0:00 to the end, so a point made at 2:41:10 is still one click away.
Which file types work for lecture recordings?
MP3, M4A, WAV, FLAC, OGG, WEBM, MP4 and MOV all work, which covers phone voice memos, handheld recorders and the MP4 video that most lecture-capture systems let you download. You do not need to convert a video to audio first.
Do I get chapters automatically?
Yes. The Intelligence tab gives a summary, chapters with timestamps and key quotes for every recording. Clicking a chapter takes you to that point in the transcript, and clicking any transcript line plays the audio from that second.
Can I ask questions about the lecture?
Yes. AI Chat answers from the lecture itself, for example what the lecturer said about a topic or which points were flagged for the exam, and its answers include timestamps you can click to hear the original explanation.
How much does it cost for a full semester?
Packs start at $4 for 500 minutes, which is about five 90-minute lectures. A course with two 75-minute lectures a week for 12 weeks is about 1,800 minutes, which fits the $12 pack of 2,000 minutes. Credits never expire, so minutes left over carry into the next term.
Can I export the notes to Word or my notes app?
Download the transcript as DOCX, TXT, SRT or VTT. You can also ask AI Chat to make a Word or PDF study guide or an Excel sheet of terms, and the file appears in Resources ready to download.
Upload the lecture file and get a transcript where every line plays the audio, plus chapters, a summary and key quotes. Ask it questions, then turn it into a study guide. From $4 for 500 minutes; credits never expire.
Upload your lecture recording →