Transcribe a long RMVB file from the RealMedia years.
A long RMVB file usually runs 400 to 800 kbps, about 180 to 360 MB per hour, so even a 10-hour lecture series fits one file of up to 10 hours or 5 GB; if the upload refuses the format, convert it to MP3 or MP4 with ffmpeg or VLC first. Transcription takes about 2 minutes per audio hour, the first 20 minutes are free, and a 2.5-hour recorded talk sits comfortably on the $6 pack of 500 minutes.
RMVB, worked out
RealMedia squeezed a whole film onto a CD. The talks saved that way are still worth reading.
What made RMVB files
RealNetworks added variable bitrate to RealMedia in the early 2000s, and for several years it was the favourite way to pass around compact copies of TV episodes, films and recorded courses, especially across East Asia. Many university lecture downloads, sermon archives and conference talks from that period still sit on old drives as .rmvb.
Megabytes per hour
Variable bitrate means the size swings with the picture, but most RMVB files average 400 to 800 kbps. At 400 kbps an hour is about 180 MB; at 800 kbps about 360 MB. Ten hours at the high end is 3.6 GB, which is past the 2 GB allowed before a pack and still under the 5 GB ceiling.
Upload as is, or convert
Try the file first. Browsers do not play RealMedia, so the upload may refuse it; if it does, convert to MP3 or MP4 with ffmpeg or VLC. The command ffmpeg -i talk.rmvb -vn -b:a 96k talk.mp3 keeps only the voice at about 43 MB an hour. The box here takes files up to 500 MB, and anything larger continues on the upload page.
What you get back
Each recording returns a brief with its thesis and takeaways, chapters stamped to the minute, the names, numbers and dates spoken, the questions it answers, and a chat over the full text. Speakers are identified and named in the summary, key quotes and chapters.
Why RMVB archives stay unopened
The player went quiet years ago, and the hours inside never got written down.
✗ A format modern tools skip
RealMedia needs a desktop player, and long files hit short-clip limits.
- Browsers that cannot open .rmvb
- Phones with no RealPlayer
- Converters that stop at an hour
- Lecture series split across dozens of files
- No search inside the video
- Notes taken once, then lost
✓ Every talk as text
Convert if you must, upload, and read the series through.
- One file up to 10 hours or 5 GB
- Near 2 minutes of work per audio hour
- The first 20 minutes free on a first visit
- $12 for 2,000 minutes covers a course
- Timestamped chapters for each topic
- SRT and VTT to subtitle the old video
Sample
A recorded seminar on the history of printing, saved as RMVB.
Illustrative only: these lines were written for this page and do not come from any real course. The timestamps show where each passage falls in a long RMVB 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 $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
- AI chat over the whole 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
- Summary, chapters and key quotes
- All export formats
- AI chat over the whole transcript
Bulk pack
$24/5,000 min
83 hours of audio — $0.29 an hour. Credits never expire.
- 5,000 minutes of audio
- Summary, chapters and key quotes
- API access for batch pipelines
- All export formats
FAQ
Long RMVB files, the questions people ask.
Does WhipScribe take RMVB directly?
Try it: some RMVB files go through, but because browsers do not play RealMedia the upload may refuse it. If it does, convert to MP3 or MP4 with ffmpeg or VLC and upload that. An audio-only MP3 is the smallest and the quickest to send.
How long does a long RMVB take?
About 2 minutes per hour of audio once it is uploaded, so a 2.5-hour talk is ready in about 5 minutes and a 10-hour series in about 20. Converting the file on your own computer usually takes longer than the transcription.
What does a recorded course cost?
Thirteen sessions of 90 minutes come to 1,170 minutes, which goes on the $12 pack of 2,000 with 830 minutes left for the next course. One 2.5-hour talk is 150 minutes on the $6 pack of 500.
How big is an RMVB file per hour?
Roughly 180 MB at 400 kbps and 360 MB at 800 kbps; a player such as VLC shows the bitrate in its media information. The MP3 you make from it at 96 kbps is about 43 MB an hour, so ten hours is around 432 MB.
The file is over 10 hours. What then?
Split it into two files of 10 hours or less, for example with ffmpeg's -ss and -t options, and upload both. Before your first pack, a single file can be up to 2 GB; with a pack on the account, up to 5 GB.
Which languages, and where is it processed?
Any of 99 languages, detected automatically, including Mandarin, Korean and Japanese. Recordings are transcribed on our own servers and are never used for training. Downloads are TXT, DOCX, SRT, VTT and JSON.
Related
Other old video formats
Upload the RMVB, or its MP3. Twenty minutes free to start.
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