Transcribe a long F4V file an MP4 in disguise.
A long F4V file is H.264 video with AAC audio at about 1 to 3 Mbps, roughly 450 MB to 1.35 GB per hour, so a 4-hour webcast is around 3.6 GB at 2 Mbps: inside the 5 GB ceiling once a pack is on the account. If the upload refuses .f4v, remux it to MP4 or pull the audio with ffmpeg or VLC; it transcribes at about 2 minutes per audio hour, the opening minutes are a free preview, and that webcast fits the $4 pack of 300 minutes.
F4V, worked out
F4V was Flash's turn to MP4. Under the name, the file is nearly an MP4 already.
Where F4V came from
Adobe introduced F4V in the late 2000s when Flash moved to H.264 video, and Flash Media Server and live encoders recorded webcasts, town halls, lectures and conference sessions straight to it. When Flash ended in 2020 the players went, but recorded F4V archives stayed on servers and in exported folders.
The size per hour
At 1 Mbps an hour is about 450 MB; at 2 Mbps about 900 MB; at 3 Mbps about 1.35 GB. A 4-hour session at 2 Mbps is about 3.6 GB, below the 5 GB one file can be, so a pack is not needed to upload it. The AAC audio by itself, at 128 kbps, is about 58 MB an hour.
The quick fix
Because F4V is built on the same base format as MP4, a remux usually works without re-encoding: ffmpeg -i webcast.f4v -c copy webcast.mp4. Or keep only the voice with ffmpeg -i webcast.f4v -vn -c:a copy webcast.m4a. If the upload refuses the original, upload one of those; a file over 500 MB continues on the upload page.
A webcast you can search
Each session comes back with a brief, chapters at every speaker or agenda item, the names, figures and dates presented, the questions from the audience, and a chat over the text. Presenters and questioners are identified and named in the summary, key quotes and chapters.
Why F4V archives sit idle
Exported once for a Flash player that no longer exists, then left on a drive.
✗ Video stuck in the Flash years
F4V opens in a few desktop players, and hours of it exceed what quick tools accept.
- Browsers that will not play .f4v
- Upload forms that list MP4 but not F4V
- Files over a gigabyte for one session
- Twenty sessions with no index
- Slides you cannot search for
- Questions from the floor never written down
✓ Sessions you can read
Remux or extract the audio, upload, and read.
- Up to 10 hours or 5 GB per file
- About 2 minutes per audio hour
- Free preview of the opening minutes
- $18 for 3,000 minutes, a conference
- Chapters at each agenda item
- SRT and VTT for the archived video
Sample
An archived company town hall, recorded to F4V by a media server.
Illustrative only, written for this page and not drawn from any real organisation; the timestamps mark where lines fall in a long F4V file.
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 $4 (300 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
$4/300 min
5 hours of audio — $0.80 an hour. One-time — credits never expire.
- 300 minutes of audio
- All export formats
- AI chat over the whole transcript
- Executive summary & key quote
Best value
$18/3,000 min
50 hours of audio — $0.36 an hour. Credits never expire.
- 3,000 minutes of audio
- Summary, chapters and key quotes
- All export formats
- AI chat over the whole transcript
Bulk pack
$32/6,000 min
100 hours of audio — $0.32 an hour. Credits never expire.
- 6,000 minutes of audio
- Summary, chapters and key quotes
- API access for batch pipelines
- All export formats
FAQ
Long F4V files, common questions.
Can I upload an F4V directly?
Try it. If the upload refuses the file, remux it to MP4 with ffmpeg -c copy, which takes seconds and changes nothing in the picture or sound, or convert it with VLC. You can also upload just the audio as M4A or MP3.
How long does a 4-hour F4V take?
About 8 minutes of processing, at roughly 2 minutes per audio hour. Uploading 3.6 GB takes longer on most connections, which is why sending only the audio, about 230 MB for four hours, is quicker.
What does a conference archive cost?
Eighteen sessions of 50 minutes are 900 minutes, which fits the $18 pack of 3,000. A single 4-hour webcast is 240 minutes on the $4 pack of 300.
Why is my F4V over 2 GB?
At 2 Mbps a recording passes 2 GB after about 2 hours 15 minutes. Files up to 5 GB are accepted, with or without a pack on the account. Or extract the audio and the size problem disappears.
The session ran past 10 hours.
Split it at a break into two files of 10 hours or less and upload both. If the recording is also on Vimeo or YouTube, paste the link instead of uploading.
Languages, exports, privacy?
Any of 99 languages, detected automatically. Downloads come as TXT, DOCX, SRT, VTT and JSON. Recordings are transcribed on our own servers and are never used for training.
Related
Related video formats
Upload the F4V. A free preview of the opening minutes to check it.
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