Extract the audio from a long video and upload a fraction of the file.
Yes, extract it: a 3-hour 1080p MP4 is usually 10 to 20 GB, while its audio track is only 150 to 300 MB, and the audio is all that gets transcribed. One ffmpeg line or VLC's Convert menu does it in minutes, and the 3 hours then transcribe in about 6 minutes with the first 20 minutes free.
Video to audio, worked out
The picture is most of the file and none of the transcript.
Where the gigabytes go
A 1080p MP4 at 8 Mbps is 8,000,000 ÷ 8 × 3,600, about 3.6 GB an hour, so 3 hours is about 10.8 GB; at 15 Mbps, about 20 GB. Its AAC audio at 128 kbps is about 58 MB an hour, 170 MB for 3 hours; at 256 kbps, about 345 MB.
With ffmpeg
If the audio is AAC, copy it out without re-encoding: ffmpeg -i lecture.mp4 -vn -c:a copy lecture.m4a takes seconds. To get an MP3 instead: ffmpeg -i lecture.mp4 -vn -c:a libmp3lame -b:a 128k lecture.mp3. Then upload the result on the upload page.
With VLC or Audacity
In VLC, Media then Convert / Save, add the video, choose an audio profile such as MP3, and save. Audacity opens the sound track of most videos once its FFmpeg import library is installed, then File, Export as MP3. Both are free.
Nothing lost for the transcript
Extraction does not move the audio in time, so every timestamp in the transcript points to the same moment in the video. SRT and VTT exports can go straight back onto the original file as subtitles.
Why long videos fail to upload
A 20 GB file for a job that needs 300 MB of it.
✗ Uploading the whole video
A 3-hour 1080p video can be 800 times the OpenAI Whisper API's documented 25 MB upload limit, and four times WhipScribe's 5 GB line.
- A 10 to 20 GB file over the limit
- Hours of upload on a home line
- Chopping the video into parts
- Re-encoding the picture to shrink it
- Subtitles that drift between parts
- No single summary of the event
✓ The audio track, uploaded once
A few hundred megabytes go up and the full transcript comes back on the video's own timeline.
- 150 to 300 MB for 3 hours
- Audio files up to 10 hours or 5 GB each
- 3 hours transcribed in about 6 minutes
- SRT and VTT for the original video
- $6 for 500 minutes
- Chapters across the full session
Sample
A conference session's audio, pulled from a 3-hour video.
This sample is illustrative, written for this page and not lifted from any real conference. Timestamps match the source video.
Export
One transcript. Five clean formats.
Every pack exports all five — no format is held back for a higher tier.
Plain text
De-ummed paragraphs. Ready to paste.
SRT captions
Timed to the speech. Every video editor reads this.
WebVTT
HTML5 player + YouTube uploads.
Show notes
Formatted with chapters and pull-quotes.
Machine-readable
Timestamped text for your own tools.
Pricing
Honest pricing, no surprises.
A pack from $6 (500 minutes) opens the full transcript. After that, no subscription and no auto-renew — every tier is a one-time minute pack, and credits never expire. Buy once, use the minutes whenever you need them.
Casual pack
$6/500 min
8 hours of audio — $0.72 an hour. One-time — credits never expire.
- 500 minutes of audio
- All export formats
- Unlimited AI chat per transcript
- Executive summary & key quote
Best value
$12/2,000 min
33 hours of audio — $0.36 an hour. Credits never expire.
- 2,000 minutes of audio
- Priority queue
- All export formats
- Unlimited AI chat per transcript
Bulk pack
$24/5,000 min
83 hours of audio — $0.29 an hour. Credits never expire.
- 5,000 minutes of audio
- Priority queue
- API access for batch pipelines
- All export formats
FAQ
Extracting audio from long video, answered.
Is the transcript as good from the audio alone?
Yes. Transcription only ever reads the sound track, so the extracted audio and the original video give the same words. Copying the AAC track with -c:a copy keeps it bit for bit.
How long does a 3-hour video take after extracting?
Extraction with stream copy takes seconds to a few minutes; the transcript is ready about 6 minutes after the audio uploads. For scale, the proof page lists a 4.94-hour recording done in 372 seconds.
What does a 3-hour video cost to transcribe?
180 minutes. With the first 20 minutes free, the $6 pack (500 minutes) does the rest and keeps 320 minutes for later. A term of 15 three-hour sessions, 2,700 minutes, needs the $24 pack of 5,000 minutes.
Could I upload the video if it is under 5 GB?
Yes. A video under 5 GB uploads as it is; files over 2 GB start once a pack is on the account. Extracting is about saving upload time, and getting under the line when the video is over it.
What if the audio is over 10 hours?
Split the audio into two files, for example with ffmpeg -t 05:00:00 for the first half and -ss 05:00:00 for the second. Each part's timestamps start at zero; add the offset when you match them to the video.
Which languages and exports, and is the video kept?
Whichever of 99 languages the talk is in, it is detected automatically. From the extracted track you get TXT, DOCX, SRT, VTT and JSON. Audio you upload is transcribed on our own servers and is never used for training.
Related
Related pages
Upload the audio track. You pay nothing for the first 20 minutes.
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