Transcribe a long Panasonic Lumix S5 II recording MP4 or MOV, or just the sound.
A 3.5-hour interview shot on a Panasonic Lumix S5 II comes back as text in about 7 minutes, from the MP4 or MOV if it is 5 GB or less, or from an audio export if it is bigger. The first 20 minutes are free, and the 210 minutes fit the $6 pack of 500 minutes.
From the S5 II to the text
Whether you shot MP4 or MOV, the transcript reads the same voices.
MP4 or MOV
The S5 II lets you choose MP4 or MOV as the recording file format, and the clips land on the SD card, usually inside DCIM. Both upload here when they are small enough. Should the upload turn a file away, convert it to MP3 first.
Work out the size first
Bitrate times running time tells you if a file fits. At 72 Mbps, one hour is about 32 GB; at 150 Mbps, about 67.5 GB. A 3.5-hour interview at either setting is far over 5 GB, while its audio as a 192 kbps MP3 is about 302 MB.
Export the audio
In your editor, export only the sound of the interview as MP3 or WAV. A 24-bit, 48 kHz stereo WAV is about 1 GB an hour, so 3.5 hours is near 3.6 GB, over the 2 GB before a pack but within 5 GB; the MP3 avoids the question.
What the interview becomes
A long interview comes back with a brief, chapters with timestamps, key quotes and the names, numbers and dates mentioned. The subject is named in the summary, quotes and chapters, and the chat finds the moment a topic first came up.
Hybrid camera files elsewhere
A sharp 3.5-hour interview is a file most transcription tools never see.
✗ Common problems
Too long for free tiers, too large for upload boxes.
- A 25 MB limit on the OpenAI Whisper API
- Free plans capped at an hour or less
- MOV files some tools refuse
- Interviews chopped to fit a quota
- Selects found by rewatching hours
- Transcripts typed overnight
✓ This way
The audio of the interview, read whole.
- MP4, MOV or an audio export
- About 7 minutes for 3.5 hours
- One transcript for the whole interview
- Timestamped key quotes
- First visit: 20 minutes free
- 210 minutes on the $6 pack
Sample
A long oral-history interview shot on a hybrid camera, as it comes back.
This sample is illustrative and it was written for this page and is not from a real oral history. Roles stand in for names, and the timestamps show a 3.5-hour session.
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
Panasonic Lumix S5 II recordings, the common questions.
How long does a 3.5-hour S5 II interview take?
About 7 minutes, since processing takes about 2 minutes per hour of audio. On the proof page, a 4.94-hour file finished in 372 seconds.
What does a twelve-interview project cost?
One 210-minute interview fits the $6 pack of 500 minutes, after the first 20 minutes free on a first visit. Twelve interviews of 3.5 hours are 2,520 minutes, more than the $12 pack holds, so the $24 pack of 5,000 minutes is the one to buy.
Does MOV upload as well as MP4?
Yes, within the size limit: 5 GB per file, and 2 GB before a pack. If the upload refuses a particular file, convert it to MP3 first.
Should I split a very long interview?
Only when it runs past 10 hours. Otherwise upload it whole so the chapters and timestamps follow the original session.
Can the narrator speak another language?
99 languages, detected automatically, including Portuguese, Hebrew, Afrikaans and Zulu. An interview that switches language is transcribed on its main one.
What comes back from an S5 II interview, and who can hear it?
Plain text, Word, two caption formats and JSON. Interviews are transcribed on our own servers and never used to train models, and deleting one removes its transcript.
Related
More cameras for long sit-downs
Send the interview. Twenty opening minutes, free.
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