Transcribe a BigBlueButton class recording once you have it as a file.
A BigBlueButton class of one to three hours is transcribed in about 2 to 6 minutes once you have the recording as a file and upload it here, up to 10 hours or 5 GB per file. The playback page is not a file, so download the recording where your institution allows it; a 90-minute class then uses 90 minutes of a $6 pack of 500, after the first 20 minutes free.
Getting a class out of BigBlueButton
BigBlueButton replays a class in the browser. A transcript needs the class as one file.
The playback page is not a file
BigBlueButton plays a recording back in the browser by putting the slides, webcams, chat and audio together on one page. There is often no single video to save. Some institutions switch on a video download for recordings, or offer one through the course platform; if that option is not there, the administrator decides whether it can be.
Download only what you are allowed to
A student transcribes what the lecturer or the institution lets them download. If a class can only be watched, ask the lecturer for the file, or for a copy on Google Drive, which can be pasted as a link. Screen-recording the playback is not a way around a course's rules.
A term of online classes
One 2-hour class a week for thirteen weeks is 1,560 minutes, which fits the $12 pack of 2,000 minutes at $0.36 an audio hour. A single 3-hour seminar uses 180 minutes of a $6 pack, and the 320 minutes left cover a few more.
Revision from the text
Each class comes back with chapters at topic changes, the terms, names and dates said, and the questions the class answers, so revision starts from a list instead of a replay. A chat over the transcript finds where a topic was explained. Large downloads continue on the upload page.
Why online classes are hard to revise from
The class was recorded. Finding one explanation in it still takes an hour.
✗ Replay only
The class can be watched again, from the start, at the speed it was taught.
- A playback page with no file to keep
- Replays that vanish when the course closes
- Scrubbing three hours for one derivation
- Chat questions answered aloud and lost
- Notes taken while trying to follow the slides
- A 25 MB file cap on API tools
✓ A class you can search
The downloaded class comes back as text with the lecturer's points in order.
- A 3-hour seminar returned in about 6 minutes
- A chapter wherever the topic changes
- Terms and dates gathered in one list
- The questions the class answered
- SRT or VTT captions for the class video
- Revision notes as DOCX
Sample
A 2-hour BigBlueButton seminar.
This sample is illustrative and written for this page, not taken from a real class. Timestamps count from the start of the downloaded recording.
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
BigBlueButton recordings, answered.
How long does a recorded online class take?
About 2 minutes per hour of audio, so a 90-minute class takes about 3 minutes and a 3-hour seminar about 6. Uploading the file is usually the slower part.
What does a semester of classes cost?
A first visit includes 20 free minutes. A 90-minute class is 90 minutes of the $6 pack's 500, so five such classes fit one pack. Thirteen weekly 2-hour classes use 1,560 minutes, on the $12 pack of 2,000.
There is no download button. What can I do?
Ask the lecturer or the course administrator. Whether a BigBlueButton recording can be downloaded is set by the institution, and some only allow watching. If they share the file on Google Drive or post it on YouTube, paste that link.
How large can a class recording be?
A class file can run up to 10 hours or 5 GB. Without a pack, uploads go up to 2 GB, and a larger file starts after a pack is bought. A day-long recorded workshop that ran past 10 hours goes in as two files.
The class is taught in another language. Does it work?
99 languages are detected automatically, including Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Afrikaans. A lecturer who moves between two languages is detected on the main one, and the switches are handled.
Which exports, and who sees the class?
Classes export to TXT, DOCX, SRT, VTT and JSON. A class you upload is transcribed on our own servers, stays in your account and is never used to train a model.
Related
More for classes
Download the class, then send it. Read 20 minutes before you pay.
Transcribe my BigBlueButton classOperated by Neugence Technology Pvt. Ltd. · contact@whipscribe.com · Security · Privacy · Terms