"From Sound to Words  A FREE Guide to YouTube Transcribing Mastery for 2024"

"From Sound to Words A FREE Guide to YouTube Transcribing Mastery for 2024"

Joseph Lv13

From Sound to Words: A FREE Guide to YouTube Transcribing Mastery

How to Transcribe a YouTube Video for FREE

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you want to transcribe your videos to make the dialogs and speeches available in text format, you can use YouTube Transcribe feature that the streaming site offers for free. In this article, I’ll share with you a couple of methods to transcribe a YouTube video for free.

Part 1: How to Transcribe YouTube Video Automatically for Free [2 Ways]

Besides the basic video editing features on the YouTube platform, you can now quickly transcribe YouTube videos to the text as well. The good thing is, you can either use the automatic transcription feature that YouTube offers, or upload it manually while adjusting the timing as you go further.

Below are the two methods to transcribe your YouTube videos for free:

Method 1: Use the Automated Transcription Service on YouTube

As the name suggests, YouTube automatic transcription service works automatically. This means you don’t even have to click the ‘Transcribe’ button anymore to transcribe a YouTube video, and the website takes care of it on its own. All you need to do is, choose English as the language of the video when setting up subtitles. You can follow the instructions given below to do so:

Step 1 Upload a Video

Sign in to your YouTube account, click your profile picture from the top-right corner, and click YouTube Studio from the menu. Next, click CREATE from the upper-right corner, click Upload videos from the menu, and drag and drop a video from your computer to the Upload videos box that appears next.

Upload YouTube videos

Step 2 Select Transcription Language

On the Details page of the next box that appears, scroll down and click MORE OPTIONS, and select English in the Video language drop-down list under the Language, subtitles, and closed captions (CC) section.

Select Language on YouTube

Step 3 Publish the Video

Follow the on-screen instructions from this point to publish the video, and wait while YouTube automatically transcribes and adds the close captions to it.

Note: Depending on the duration of the clip, the time YouTube would take to transcribe may vary.

After YouTube has transcribed the video, you can download the transcription file in your preferred format. The instructions are given below explain how you can do so:

  1. Get to the Subtitles Window

While on the YouTube Studio page, click Subtitles from the left pane to go to the Channel subtitles page. And then click the video you want to modify.

  1. Get to Classic Studio

In the video subtitle page of the target video, hover mouse on the Published Automatic status under the Subtitles column, click the Options icon (with three vertical dots) that appears, and click Edit on Classic Studio.

YouTube Classic Studio

  1. Download Transcription File

Click and open the Actions drop-down list from the top-left corner of the left pane, click your preferred transcription format including .vtt, .srt and .sbv from the list, and save the file on your local hard disk.

YouTube videos transcription

Method 2: Get YouTube Transcription when Watching

In addition, if you are watching any other video, you can make YouTube transcribe that for you as well. You can follow the instructions given below to get the YouTube video to text transcription:

Step 1: Play the Video

Go to the video on YouTube and start playing it. Make sure NOT to get to full-screen mode as doing so would hide the option to transcribe the clip.

Step 2: Enable Transcription

Click the More icon (with three horizontal dots) from under the bottom-right corner of the video player, and click Open transcript to see the video transcription in the Transcript pane that appears in the right.

Step 3: Manage Timestamps

Click the Options icon (with three vertical dots) from the top-right corner of the Transcript pane, and click Toggle timestamp to enable or disable the timestamps in the video transcription.

Limitations of Using YouTube Transcribe

Although YouTube’s automatic transcription is a decent feature that saves you a lot of time, since Google uses machine learning algorithms to convert the speech to text, the level of accuracy may vary depending on the accent of the speaker, and the clarity of the audio the video has. Also, even sometime you may not be satisfied with the end-results.

Alternatively, you can use Kapwing to transcribe a YouTube video and download the transcription file with the below step-by-step instructions:

Step 1: Add YouTube Video

Copy the URL of YouTube video you want to transcribe, go to https://www.kapwing.com/subtitles , paste the URL in the Paste a URL field, wait while Kapwing fetches the content of the video, and opens the Add subtitles to Video page.

Step 2: Transcribe the Video

Click Auto-generate from the right window, and follow the on-screen instructions to transcribe YouTube video to text.

Kapwing Auto Generate Subtitles

Step 3: Download the Transcription File

Click Download SRT from the left pane, and follow the instructions from there to download the transcription file in *.srt format.

Kapwing Auto Generate Subtitles

Pros

  • Kapwing is free to use
  • The auto-transcription process is quick and less tedious
  • Kapwing also allows manual transcription and uploading of an existing *.srt file

Cons

  • The auto-transcribed text might lack accuracy as the task is done by the speech-to-text tools that work in the background

You can follow the step-by-step instructions to transcribe a YouTube video and download the transcription file using Kapwing:

Step 1: Add YouTube Video

Copy the URL of YouTube video you want to transcribe, go to https://www.kapwing.com/subtitles , paste the URL in the Paste a URL field, wait while Kapwing fetches the content of the video, and opens the Add subtitles to Video page.

Step 2: Transcribe the Video

Click Auto-generate from the right window, and follow the on-screen instructions to transcribe YouTube video to text.

Kapwing Auto Generate Subtitles

Step 3: Download the Transcription File

Click Download SRT from the left pane, and follow the instructions from there to download the transcription file in *.srt format.

Kapwing Auto Generate Subtitles

Pros

  • Kapwing is free to use
  • The auto-transcription process is quick and less tedious
  • Kapwing also allows manual transcription and uploading of an existing *.srt file

Cons

  • The auto-transcribed text might lack accuracy as the task is done by the speech-to-text tools that work in the background

Part 3: Benefits of Transcribing YouTube Videos

You may need video transcriptions for several reasons, such as analyzing the summary of the entire speech in the video, extracting a single phrase or quote that was spoken in the clip, or making the video helpful even for those suffering from hearing impairment. When you transcribe a YouTube video, the transcript can be useful in many ways. Some of the most common benefits of transcribing a video include:

  • Search Engine Optimization

When you add subtitles, the text can appear in Google search results when someone types a similar phrase in the search box. This helps get more views to your videos, thus giving your channel popularity, and you, monetary gains in the long run.

  • Accent

If the speaker in the video is from a different region and is using an accent that you are not much comfortable with, you can turn on the subtitles and read the dialogs along with the video.

  • Repurposing on Blogs

If you own a blog that you have embedded your video to, the transcription could be used to add text to it so the target audience can get a fair idea of what the video is all about. This is useful because many people prefer reading over watching.

YouTube Video Transcription FAQs

1. How to Transcribe YouTube Video to Text

Usually the transcription files have *.srt extension that are globally accepted and supported by almost all media players. However, there might be instances when you want to have the subtitles in plain text.

That said, to convert an SRT file to TXT, you can:

  • Right-click the SRT file
  • Go to Rename
  • Replace srt with txt and press Enter
  • Click OK on the confirmation box that appears next to convert SRT to TXT

After this, you can simply double-click the file, and read and modify the transcribed content as needed.

2. How to Edit and Upload Edited Transcript to YouTube

If you made any modifications to the transcript that was automatically generated by YouTube or any other third-party transcription tool, you can follow the steps given below to upload the new file to the YouTube video:

  • Go to YouTube Studio and then to the Channel subtitles page as explained earlier
  • Expand the Languages column of the target video
  • Click the Options icon that appears under the Subtitles column when you hover mouse on to it
  • Click Edit on Classic Studio
  • On the next page, click Edit from the top-right corner

Edit YouTube subtitles

  • Click to open the Actions drop-down list from the upper-left corner
  • Click Upload a file
    • Follow the on-screen instructions from there to upload the modified transcription file
    • Click Save Changes from the top-right corner of the page when done

Conclusion

If you are looking for a quick and easy way of adding subtitles to your videos, letting YouTube transcribe for you could be a good approach. However, because these auto-generated transcriptions are created by machine learning algorithms, their accuracy cannot be counted on. Therefore, the best way to get the job done accurately is, let YouTube auto-transcribe your video, download the transcription file, make the necessary changes to it, and then upload the file back to the video.

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you want to transcribe your videos to make the dialogs and speeches available in text format, you can use YouTube Transcribe feature that the streaming site offers for free. In this article, I’ll share with you a couple of methods to transcribe a YouTube video for free.

Part 1: How to Transcribe YouTube Video Automatically for Free [2 Ways]

Besides the basic video editing features on the YouTube platform, you can now quickly transcribe YouTube videos to the text as well. The good thing is, you can either use the automatic transcription feature that YouTube offers, or upload it manually while adjusting the timing as you go further.

Below are the two methods to transcribe your YouTube videos for free:

Method 1: Use the Automated Transcription Service on YouTube

As the name suggests, YouTube automatic transcription service works automatically. This means you don’t even have to click the ‘Transcribe’ button anymore to transcribe a YouTube video, and the website takes care of it on its own. All you need to do is, choose English as the language of the video when setting up subtitles. You can follow the instructions given below to do so:

Step 1 Upload a Video

Sign in to your YouTube account, click your profile picture from the top-right corner, and click YouTube Studio from the menu. Next, click CREATE from the upper-right corner, click Upload videos from the menu, and drag and drop a video from your computer to the Upload videos box that appears next.

Upload YouTube videos

Step 2 Select Transcription Language

On the Details page of the next box that appears, scroll down and click MORE OPTIONS, and select English in the Video language drop-down list under the Language, subtitles, and closed captions (CC) section.

Select Language on YouTube

Step 3 Publish the Video

Follow the on-screen instructions from this point to publish the video, and wait while YouTube automatically transcribes and adds the close captions to it.

Note: Depending on the duration of the clip, the time YouTube would take to transcribe may vary.

After YouTube has transcribed the video, you can download the transcription file in your preferred format. The instructions are given below explain how you can do so:

  1. Get to the Subtitles Window

While on the YouTube Studio page, click Subtitles from the left pane to go to the Channel subtitles page. And then click the video you want to modify.

  1. Get to Classic Studio

In the video subtitle page of the target video, hover mouse on the Published Automatic status under the Subtitles column, click the Options icon (with three vertical dots) that appears, and click Edit on Classic Studio.

YouTube Classic Studio

  1. Download Transcription File

Click and open the Actions drop-down list from the top-left corner of the left pane, click your preferred transcription format including .vtt, .srt and .sbv from the list, and save the file on your local hard disk.

YouTube videos transcription

Method 2: Get YouTube Transcription when Watching

In addition, if you are watching any other video, you can make YouTube transcribe that for you as well. You can follow the instructions given below to get the YouTube video to text transcription:

Step 1: Play the Video

Go to the video on YouTube and start playing it. Make sure NOT to get to full-screen mode as doing so would hide the option to transcribe the clip.

Step 2: Enable Transcription

Click the More icon (with three horizontal dots) from under the bottom-right corner of the video player, and click Open transcript to see the video transcription in the Transcript pane that appears in the right.

Step 3: Manage Timestamps

Click the Options icon (with three vertical dots) from the top-right corner of the Transcript pane, and click Toggle timestamp to enable or disable the timestamps in the video transcription.

Limitations of Using YouTube Transcribe

Although YouTube’s automatic transcription is a decent feature that saves you a lot of time, since Google uses machine learning algorithms to convert the speech to text, the level of accuracy may vary depending on the accent of the speaker, and the clarity of the audio the video has. Also, even sometime you may not be satisfied with the end-results.

Alternatively, you can use Kapwing to transcribe a YouTube video and download the transcription file with the below step-by-step instructions:

Step 1: Add YouTube Video

Copy the URL of YouTube video you want to transcribe, go to https://www.kapwing.com/subtitles , paste the URL in the Paste a URL field, wait while Kapwing fetches the content of the video, and opens the Add subtitles to Video page.

Step 2: Transcribe the Video

Click Auto-generate from the right window, and follow the on-screen instructions to transcribe YouTube video to text.

Kapwing Auto Generate Subtitles

Step 3: Download the Transcription File

Click Download SRT from the left pane, and follow the instructions from there to download the transcription file in *.srt format.

Kapwing Auto Generate Subtitles

Pros

  • Kapwing is free to use
  • The auto-transcription process is quick and less tedious
  • Kapwing also allows manual transcription and uploading of an existing *.srt file

Cons

  • The auto-transcribed text might lack accuracy as the task is done by the speech-to-text tools that work in the background

You can follow the step-by-step instructions to transcribe a YouTube video and download the transcription file using Kapwing:

Step 1: Add YouTube Video

Copy the URL of YouTube video you want to transcribe, go to https://www.kapwing.com/subtitles , paste the URL in the Paste a URL field, wait while Kapwing fetches the content of the video, and opens the Add subtitles to Video page.

Step 2: Transcribe the Video

Click Auto-generate from the right window, and follow the on-screen instructions to transcribe YouTube video to text.

Kapwing Auto Generate Subtitles

Step 3: Download the Transcription File

Click Download SRT from the left pane, and follow the instructions from there to download the transcription file in *.srt format.

Kapwing Auto Generate Subtitles

Pros

  • Kapwing is free to use
  • The auto-transcription process is quick and less tedious
  • Kapwing also allows manual transcription and uploading of an existing *.srt file

Cons

  • The auto-transcribed text might lack accuracy as the task is done by the speech-to-text tools that work in the background

Part 3: Benefits of Transcribing YouTube Videos

You may need video transcriptions for several reasons, such as analyzing the summary of the entire speech in the video, extracting a single phrase or quote that was spoken in the clip, or making the video helpful even for those suffering from hearing impairment. When you transcribe a YouTube video, the transcript can be useful in many ways. Some of the most common benefits of transcribing a video include:

  • Search Engine Optimization

When you add subtitles, the text can appear in Google search results when someone types a similar phrase in the search box. This helps get more views to your videos, thus giving your channel popularity, and you, monetary gains in the long run.

  • Accent

If the speaker in the video is from a different region and is using an accent that you are not much comfortable with, you can turn on the subtitles and read the dialogs along with the video.

  • Repurposing on Blogs

If you own a blog that you have embedded your video to, the transcription could be used to add text to it so the target audience can get a fair idea of what the video is all about. This is useful because many people prefer reading over watching.

YouTube Video Transcription FAQs

1. How to Transcribe YouTube Video to Text

Usually the transcription files have *.srt extension that are globally accepted and supported by almost all media players. However, there might be instances when you want to have the subtitles in plain text.

That said, to convert an SRT file to TXT, you can:

  • Right-click the SRT file
  • Go to Rename
  • Replace srt with txt and press Enter
  • Click OK on the confirmation box that appears next to convert SRT to TXT

After this, you can simply double-click the file, and read and modify the transcribed content as needed.

2. How to Edit and Upload Edited Transcript to YouTube

If you made any modifications to the transcript that was automatically generated by YouTube or any other third-party transcription tool, you can follow the steps given below to upload the new file to the YouTube video:

  • Go to YouTube Studio and then to the Channel subtitles page as explained earlier
  • Expand the Languages column of the target video
  • Click the Options icon that appears under the Subtitles column when you hover mouse on to it
  • Click Edit on Classic Studio
  • On the next page, click Edit from the top-right corner

Edit YouTube subtitles

  • Click to open the Actions drop-down list from the upper-left corner
  • Click Upload a file
    • Follow the on-screen instructions from there to upload the modified transcription file
    • Click Save Changes from the top-right corner of the page when done

Conclusion

If you are looking for a quick and easy way of adding subtitles to your videos, letting YouTube transcribe for you could be a good approach. However, because these auto-generated transcriptions are created by machine learning algorithms, their accuracy cannot be counted on. Therefore, the best way to get the job done accurately is, let YouTube auto-transcribe your video, download the transcription file, make the necessary changes to it, and then upload the file back to the video.

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you want to transcribe your videos to make the dialogs and speeches available in text format, you can use YouTube Transcribe feature that the streaming site offers for free. In this article, I’ll share with you a couple of methods to transcribe a YouTube video for free.

Part 1: How to Transcribe YouTube Video Automatically for Free [2 Ways]

Besides the basic video editing features on the YouTube platform, you can now quickly transcribe YouTube videos to the text as well. The good thing is, you can either use the automatic transcription feature that YouTube offers, or upload it manually while adjusting the timing as you go further.

Below are the two methods to transcribe your YouTube videos for free:

Method 1: Use the Automated Transcription Service on YouTube

As the name suggests, YouTube automatic transcription service works automatically. This means you don’t even have to click the ‘Transcribe’ button anymore to transcribe a YouTube video, and the website takes care of it on its own. All you need to do is, choose English as the language of the video when setting up subtitles. You can follow the instructions given below to do so:

Step 1 Upload a Video

Sign in to your YouTube account, click your profile picture from the top-right corner, and click YouTube Studio from the menu. Next, click CREATE from the upper-right corner, click Upload videos from the menu, and drag and drop a video from your computer to the Upload videos box that appears next.

Upload YouTube videos

Step 2 Select Transcription Language

On the Details page of the next box that appears, scroll down and click MORE OPTIONS, and select English in the Video language drop-down list under the Language, subtitles, and closed captions (CC) section.

Select Language on YouTube

Step 3 Publish the Video

Follow the on-screen instructions from this point to publish the video, and wait while YouTube automatically transcribes and adds the close captions to it.

Note: Depending on the duration of the clip, the time YouTube would take to transcribe may vary.

After YouTube has transcribed the video, you can download the transcription file in your preferred format. The instructions are given below explain how you can do so:

  1. Get to the Subtitles Window

While on the YouTube Studio page, click Subtitles from the left pane to go to the Channel subtitles page. And then click the video you want to modify.

  1. Get to Classic Studio

In the video subtitle page of the target video, hover mouse on the Published Automatic status under the Subtitles column, click the Options icon (with three vertical dots) that appears, and click Edit on Classic Studio.

YouTube Classic Studio

  1. Download Transcription File

Click and open the Actions drop-down list from the top-left corner of the left pane, click your preferred transcription format including .vtt, .srt and .sbv from the list, and save the file on your local hard disk.

YouTube videos transcription

Method 2: Get YouTube Transcription when Watching

In addition, if you are watching any other video, you can make YouTube transcribe that for you as well. You can follow the instructions given below to get the YouTube video to text transcription:

Step 1: Play the Video

Go to the video on YouTube and start playing it. Make sure NOT to get to full-screen mode as doing so would hide the option to transcribe the clip.

Step 2: Enable Transcription

Click the More icon (with three horizontal dots) from under the bottom-right corner of the video player, and click Open transcript to see the video transcription in the Transcript pane that appears in the right.

Step 3: Manage Timestamps

Click the Options icon (with three vertical dots) from the top-right corner of the Transcript pane, and click Toggle timestamp to enable or disable the timestamps in the video transcription.

Limitations of Using YouTube Transcribe

Although YouTube’s automatic transcription is a decent feature that saves you a lot of time, since Google uses machine learning algorithms to convert the speech to text, the level of accuracy may vary depending on the accent of the speaker, and the clarity of the audio the video has. Also, even sometime you may not be satisfied with the end-results.

Alternatively, you can use Kapwing to transcribe a YouTube video and download the transcription file with the below step-by-step instructions:

Step 1: Add YouTube Video

Copy the URL of YouTube video you want to transcribe, go to https://www.kapwing.com/subtitles , paste the URL in the Paste a URL field, wait while Kapwing fetches the content of the video, and opens the Add subtitles to Video page.

Step 2: Transcribe the Video

Click Auto-generate from the right window, and follow the on-screen instructions to transcribe YouTube video to text.

Kapwing Auto Generate Subtitles

Step 3: Download the Transcription File

Click Download SRT from the left pane, and follow the instructions from there to download the transcription file in *.srt format.

Kapwing Auto Generate Subtitles

Pros

  • Kapwing is free to use
  • The auto-transcription process is quick and less tedious
  • Kapwing also allows manual transcription and uploading of an existing *.srt file

Cons

  • The auto-transcribed text might lack accuracy as the task is done by the speech-to-text tools that work in the background

You can follow the step-by-step instructions to transcribe a YouTube video and download the transcription file using Kapwing:

Step 1: Add YouTube Video

Copy the URL of YouTube video you want to transcribe, go to https://www.kapwing.com/subtitles , paste the URL in the Paste a URL field, wait while Kapwing fetches the content of the video, and opens the Add subtitles to Video page.

Step 2: Transcribe the Video

Click Auto-generate from the right window, and follow the on-screen instructions to transcribe YouTube video to text.

Kapwing Auto Generate Subtitles

Step 3: Download the Transcription File

Click Download SRT from the left pane, and follow the instructions from there to download the transcription file in *.srt format.

Kapwing Auto Generate Subtitles

Pros

  • Kapwing is free to use
  • The auto-transcription process is quick and less tedious
  • Kapwing also allows manual transcription and uploading of an existing *.srt file

Cons

  • The auto-transcribed text might lack accuracy as the task is done by the speech-to-text tools that work in the background

Part 3: Benefits of Transcribing YouTube Videos

You may need video transcriptions for several reasons, such as analyzing the summary of the entire speech in the video, extracting a single phrase or quote that was spoken in the clip, or making the video helpful even for those suffering from hearing impairment. When you transcribe a YouTube video, the transcript can be useful in many ways. Some of the most common benefits of transcribing a video include:

  • Search Engine Optimization

When you add subtitles, the text can appear in Google search results when someone types a similar phrase in the search box. This helps get more views to your videos, thus giving your channel popularity, and you, monetary gains in the long run.

  • Accent

If the speaker in the video is from a different region and is using an accent that you are not much comfortable with, you can turn on the subtitles and read the dialogs along with the video.

  • Repurposing on Blogs

If you own a blog that you have embedded your video to, the transcription could be used to add text to it so the target audience can get a fair idea of what the video is all about. This is useful because many people prefer reading over watching.

YouTube Video Transcription FAQs

1. How to Transcribe YouTube Video to Text

Usually the transcription files have *.srt extension that are globally accepted and supported by almost all media players. However, there might be instances when you want to have the subtitles in plain text.

That said, to convert an SRT file to TXT, you can:

  • Right-click the SRT file
  • Go to Rename
  • Replace srt with txt and press Enter
  • Click OK on the confirmation box that appears next to convert SRT to TXT

After this, you can simply double-click the file, and read and modify the transcribed content as needed.

2. How to Edit and Upload Edited Transcript to YouTube

If you made any modifications to the transcript that was automatically generated by YouTube or any other third-party transcription tool, you can follow the steps given below to upload the new file to the YouTube video:

  • Go to YouTube Studio and then to the Channel subtitles page as explained earlier
  • Expand the Languages column of the target video
  • Click the Options icon that appears under the Subtitles column when you hover mouse on to it
  • Click Edit on Classic Studio
  • On the next page, click Edit from the top-right corner

Edit YouTube subtitles

  • Click to open the Actions drop-down list from the upper-left corner
  • Click Upload a file
    • Follow the on-screen instructions from there to upload the modified transcription file
    • Click Save Changes from the top-right corner of the page when done

Conclusion

If you are looking for a quick and easy way of adding subtitles to your videos, letting YouTube transcribe for you could be a good approach. However, because these auto-generated transcriptions are created by machine learning algorithms, their accuracy cannot be counted on. Therefore, the best way to get the job done accurately is, let YouTube auto-transcribe your video, download the transcription file, make the necessary changes to it, and then upload the file back to the video.

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you want to transcribe your videos to make the dialogs and speeches available in text format, you can use YouTube Transcribe feature that the streaming site offers for free. In this article, I’ll share with you a couple of methods to transcribe a YouTube video for free.

Part 1: How to Transcribe YouTube Video Automatically for Free [2 Ways]

Besides the basic video editing features on the YouTube platform, you can now quickly transcribe YouTube videos to the text as well. The good thing is, you can either use the automatic transcription feature that YouTube offers, or upload it manually while adjusting the timing as you go further.

Below are the two methods to transcribe your YouTube videos for free:

Method 1: Use the Automated Transcription Service on YouTube

As the name suggests, YouTube automatic transcription service works automatically. This means you don’t even have to click the ‘Transcribe’ button anymore to transcribe a YouTube video, and the website takes care of it on its own. All you need to do is, choose English as the language of the video when setting up subtitles. You can follow the instructions given below to do so:

Step 1 Upload a Video

Sign in to your YouTube account, click your profile picture from the top-right corner, and click YouTube Studio from the menu. Next, click CREATE from the upper-right corner, click Upload videos from the menu, and drag and drop a video from your computer to the Upload videos box that appears next.

Upload YouTube videos

Step 2 Select Transcription Language

On the Details page of the next box that appears, scroll down and click MORE OPTIONS, and select English in the Video language drop-down list under the Language, subtitles, and closed captions (CC) section.

Select Language on YouTube

Step 3 Publish the Video

Follow the on-screen instructions from this point to publish the video, and wait while YouTube automatically transcribes and adds the close captions to it.

Note: Depending on the duration of the clip, the time YouTube would take to transcribe may vary.

After YouTube has transcribed the video, you can download the transcription file in your preferred format. The instructions are given below explain how you can do so:

  1. Get to the Subtitles Window

While on the YouTube Studio page, click Subtitles from the left pane to go to the Channel subtitles page. And then click the video you want to modify.

  1. Get to Classic Studio

In the video subtitle page of the target video, hover mouse on the Published Automatic status under the Subtitles column, click the Options icon (with three vertical dots) that appears, and click Edit on Classic Studio.

YouTube Classic Studio

  1. Download Transcription File

Click and open the Actions drop-down list from the top-left corner of the left pane, click your preferred transcription format including .vtt, .srt and .sbv from the list, and save the file on your local hard disk.

YouTube videos transcription

Method 2: Get YouTube Transcription when Watching

In addition, if you are watching any other video, you can make YouTube transcribe that for you as well. You can follow the instructions given below to get the YouTube video to text transcription:

Step 1: Play the Video

Go to the video on YouTube and start playing it. Make sure NOT to get to full-screen mode as doing so would hide the option to transcribe the clip.

Step 2: Enable Transcription

Click the More icon (with three horizontal dots) from under the bottom-right corner of the video player, and click Open transcript to see the video transcription in the Transcript pane that appears in the right.

Step 3: Manage Timestamps

Click the Options icon (with three vertical dots) from the top-right corner of the Transcript pane, and click Toggle timestamp to enable or disable the timestamps in the video transcription.

Limitations of Using YouTube Transcribe

Although YouTube’s automatic transcription is a decent feature that saves you a lot of time, since Google uses machine learning algorithms to convert the speech to text, the level of accuracy may vary depending on the accent of the speaker, and the clarity of the audio the video has. Also, even sometime you may not be satisfied with the end-results.

Alternatively, you can use Kapwing to transcribe a YouTube video and download the transcription file with the below step-by-step instructions:

Step 1: Add YouTube Video

Copy the URL of YouTube video you want to transcribe, go to https://www.kapwing.com/subtitles , paste the URL in the Paste a URL field, wait while Kapwing fetches the content of the video, and opens the Add subtitles to Video page.

Step 2: Transcribe the Video

Click Auto-generate from the right window, and follow the on-screen instructions to transcribe YouTube video to text.

Kapwing Auto Generate Subtitles

Step 3: Download the Transcription File

Click Download SRT from the left pane, and follow the instructions from there to download the transcription file in *.srt format.

Kapwing Auto Generate Subtitles

Pros

  • Kapwing is free to use
  • The auto-transcription process is quick and less tedious
  • Kapwing also allows manual transcription and uploading of an existing *.srt file

Cons

  • The auto-transcribed text might lack accuracy as the task is done by the speech-to-text tools that work in the background

You can follow the step-by-step instructions to transcribe a YouTube video and download the transcription file using Kapwing:

Step 1: Add YouTube Video

Copy the URL of YouTube video you want to transcribe, go to https://www.kapwing.com/subtitles , paste the URL in the Paste a URL field, wait while Kapwing fetches the content of the video, and opens the Add subtitles to Video page.

Step 2: Transcribe the Video

Click Auto-generate from the right window, and follow the on-screen instructions to transcribe YouTube video to text.

Kapwing Auto Generate Subtitles

Step 3: Download the Transcription File

Click Download SRT from the left pane, and follow the instructions from there to download the transcription file in *.srt format.

Kapwing Auto Generate Subtitles

Pros

  • Kapwing is free to use
  • The auto-transcription process is quick and less tedious
  • Kapwing also allows manual transcription and uploading of an existing *.srt file

Cons

  • The auto-transcribed text might lack accuracy as the task is done by the speech-to-text tools that work in the background

Part 3: Benefits of Transcribing YouTube Videos

You may need video transcriptions for several reasons, such as analyzing the summary of the entire speech in the video, extracting a single phrase or quote that was spoken in the clip, or making the video helpful even for those suffering from hearing impairment. When you transcribe a YouTube video, the transcript can be useful in many ways. Some of the most common benefits of transcribing a video include:

  • Search Engine Optimization

When you add subtitles, the text can appear in Google search results when someone types a similar phrase in the search box. This helps get more views to your videos, thus giving your channel popularity, and you, monetary gains in the long run.

  • Accent

If the speaker in the video is from a different region and is using an accent that you are not much comfortable with, you can turn on the subtitles and read the dialogs along with the video.

  • Repurposing on Blogs

If you own a blog that you have embedded your video to, the transcription could be used to add text to it so the target audience can get a fair idea of what the video is all about. This is useful because many people prefer reading over watching.

YouTube Video Transcription FAQs

1. How to Transcribe YouTube Video to Text

Usually the transcription files have *.srt extension that are globally accepted and supported by almost all media players. However, there might be instances when you want to have the subtitles in plain text.

That said, to convert an SRT file to TXT, you can:

  • Right-click the SRT file
  • Go to Rename
  • Replace srt with txt and press Enter
  • Click OK on the confirmation box that appears next to convert SRT to TXT

After this, you can simply double-click the file, and read and modify the transcribed content as needed.

2. How to Edit and Upload Edited Transcript to YouTube

If you made any modifications to the transcript that was automatically generated by YouTube or any other third-party transcription tool, you can follow the steps given below to upload the new file to the YouTube video:

  • Go to YouTube Studio and then to the Channel subtitles page as explained earlier
  • Expand the Languages column of the target video
  • Click the Options icon that appears under the Subtitles column when you hover mouse on to it
  • Click Edit on Classic Studio
  • On the next page, click Edit from the top-right corner

Edit YouTube subtitles

  • Click to open the Actions drop-down list from the upper-left corner
  • Click Upload a file
    • Follow the on-screen instructions from there to upload the modified transcription file
    • Click Save Changes from the top-right corner of the page when done

Conclusion

If you are looking for a quick and easy way of adding subtitles to your videos, letting YouTube transcribe for you could be a good approach. However, because these auto-generated transcriptions are created by machine learning algorithms, their accuracy cannot be counted on. Therefore, the best way to get the job done accurately is, let YouTube auto-transcribe your video, download the transcription file, make the necessary changes to it, and then upload the file back to the video.

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

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Unlock the Power of Sony Vegas to Enhance Your YouTube Channel

How to Edit YouTube Videos in Sony Vegas

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Sony Vegas (Vegas Movie Studio) is renowned and particularly popular video editing software which is going to provide you with quite a lot of convenience. It is light, easy to work with and has comprehensive command tools which would provide you with prominent video editing capabilities. You can choose through a variety of exportation presets, including YouTube HD videos. In this article, we’are going to show you how to edit your YouTube Videos with Sony Vegas Pro.


Best Sony Vegas Alternative to Edit YouTube Videos - Even though Sony Vegas is quite comprehensive, it does require knowledge on behalf of the user. Unlike it, Wondershare Filmora is a perfect alternative which would provide you with all the necessary capabilities without presuming any kind of skills on your particular behalf. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the benefits:

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

Amongst these, there are tons of other benefits that you can take advantage of.

  • It has over 200 unique styles you can take your pick from
  • It has animated captions that you can add conveniently
  • It has a wide range of different templates and credits that you can use

How to Edit YouTube Videos in Sony Vegas

Let’s walk through the process of editing.

Step 1: Import Videos

The first thing that you would need to do is import the video clip that you would want to re-shape and edit. In order to do so, you want to click on the File button and then go to Import. You will see a side menu on which you need to click Media and select the file that you want to upload. Keep in mind that you might have to wait for a short period of time while the videos are being uploaded.

 Importing Clips

Note: You can also import videos which have been published on your channel by downloading them and saving them as MP4 files. On the other hand, if you have the intention of editing videos published on other channels, you might want to use Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate in order to download and convert them to your Mac and get them imported on Sony Vegas.

Step 2: Edit the video and audio files on the Timeline

 Timeline

Sony Vegas introduces a Timeline with Video and Audio tracks. They contain the clips you’ve used in the entire editing process. You can edit them by aligning them as you see fit in order to come up with the best sequence. You can also add additional tracks. In order to do so, all you need to do is right click on the space which is empty and then go Add video track.

Step 3: Add special effects

 Effects

Of course, what’s video editing software without powerful special effect capabilities? You will see the special effects tab located on the left side of your screen. You can easily browse throughout all of them in order to get a sense of what you can achieve with your video. There are quite a lot of different special effects that you can incorporate in your YouTube video and make it perfect.

Step 4: Export

 Color Match

This is the thing that you need to do once you are done with the process to edit YouTube videos with Sony Vegas. It’s a very easy task to handle and if you’ve come that far you are already on the finish line. Go to File -> Export and choose the specific extension that you want to use. The clip is going to be saved in the directory that you’ve selected, and it’s ready to watch and upload.

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Sony Vegas (Vegas Movie Studio) is renowned and particularly popular video editing software which is going to provide you with quite a lot of convenience. It is light, easy to work with and has comprehensive command tools which would provide you with prominent video editing capabilities. You can choose through a variety of exportation presets, including YouTube HD videos. In this article, we’are going to show you how to edit your YouTube Videos with Sony Vegas Pro.


Best Sony Vegas Alternative to Edit YouTube Videos - Even though Sony Vegas is quite comprehensive, it does require knowledge on behalf of the user. Unlike it, Wondershare Filmora is a perfect alternative which would provide you with all the necessary capabilities without presuming any kind of skills on your particular behalf. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the benefits:

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

Amongst these, there are tons of other benefits that you can take advantage of.

  • It has over 200 unique styles you can take your pick from
  • It has animated captions that you can add conveniently
  • It has a wide range of different templates and credits that you can use

How to Edit YouTube Videos in Sony Vegas

Let’s walk through the process of editing.

Step 1: Import Videos

The first thing that you would need to do is import the video clip that you would want to re-shape and edit. In order to do so, you want to click on the File button and then go to Import. You will see a side menu on which you need to click Media and select the file that you want to upload. Keep in mind that you might have to wait for a short period of time while the videos are being uploaded.

 Importing Clips

Note: You can also import videos which have been published on your channel by downloading them and saving them as MP4 files. On the other hand, if you have the intention of editing videos published on other channels, you might want to use Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate in order to download and convert them to your Mac and get them imported on Sony Vegas.

Step 2: Edit the video and audio files on the Timeline

 Timeline

Sony Vegas introduces a Timeline with Video and Audio tracks. They contain the clips you’ve used in the entire editing process. You can edit them by aligning them as you see fit in order to come up with the best sequence. You can also add additional tracks. In order to do so, all you need to do is right click on the space which is empty and then go Add video track.

Step 3: Add special effects

 Effects

Of course, what’s video editing software without powerful special effect capabilities? You will see the special effects tab located on the left side of your screen. You can easily browse throughout all of them in order to get a sense of what you can achieve with your video. There are quite a lot of different special effects that you can incorporate in your YouTube video and make it perfect.

Step 4: Export

 Color Match

This is the thing that you need to do once you are done with the process to edit YouTube videos with Sony Vegas. It’s a very easy task to handle and if you’ve come that far you are already on the finish line. Go to File -> Export and choose the specific extension that you want to use. The clip is going to be saved in the directory that you’ve selected, and it’s ready to watch and upload.

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Sony Vegas (Vegas Movie Studio) is renowned and particularly popular video editing software which is going to provide you with quite a lot of convenience. It is light, easy to work with and has comprehensive command tools which would provide you with prominent video editing capabilities. You can choose through a variety of exportation presets, including YouTube HD videos. In this article, we’are going to show you how to edit your YouTube Videos with Sony Vegas Pro.


Best Sony Vegas Alternative to Edit YouTube Videos - Even though Sony Vegas is quite comprehensive, it does require knowledge on behalf of the user. Unlike it, Wondershare Filmora is a perfect alternative which would provide you with all the necessary capabilities without presuming any kind of skills on your particular behalf. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the benefits:

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

Amongst these, there are tons of other benefits that you can take advantage of.

  • It has over 200 unique styles you can take your pick from
  • It has animated captions that you can add conveniently
  • It has a wide range of different templates and credits that you can use

How to Edit YouTube Videos in Sony Vegas

Let’s walk through the process of editing.

Step 1: Import Videos

The first thing that you would need to do is import the video clip that you would want to re-shape and edit. In order to do so, you want to click on the File button and then go to Import. You will see a side menu on which you need to click Media and select the file that you want to upload. Keep in mind that you might have to wait for a short period of time while the videos are being uploaded.

 Importing Clips

Note: You can also import videos which have been published on your channel by downloading them and saving them as MP4 files. On the other hand, if you have the intention of editing videos published on other channels, you might want to use Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate in order to download and convert them to your Mac and get them imported on Sony Vegas.

Step 2: Edit the video and audio files on the Timeline

 Timeline

Sony Vegas introduces a Timeline with Video and Audio tracks. They contain the clips you’ve used in the entire editing process. You can edit them by aligning them as you see fit in order to come up with the best sequence. You can also add additional tracks. In order to do so, all you need to do is right click on the space which is empty and then go Add video track.

Step 3: Add special effects

 Effects

Of course, what’s video editing software without powerful special effect capabilities? You will see the special effects tab located on the left side of your screen. You can easily browse throughout all of them in order to get a sense of what you can achieve with your video. There are quite a lot of different special effects that you can incorporate in your YouTube video and make it perfect.

Step 4: Export

 Color Match

This is the thing that you need to do once you are done with the process to edit YouTube videos with Sony Vegas. It’s a very easy task to handle and if you’ve come that far you are already on the finish line. Go to File -> Export and choose the specific extension that you want to use. The clip is going to be saved in the directory that you’ve selected, and it’s ready to watch and upload.

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Sony Vegas (Vegas Movie Studio) is renowned and particularly popular video editing software which is going to provide you with quite a lot of convenience. It is light, easy to work with and has comprehensive command tools which would provide you with prominent video editing capabilities. You can choose through a variety of exportation presets, including YouTube HD videos. In this article, we’are going to show you how to edit your YouTube Videos with Sony Vegas Pro.


Best Sony Vegas Alternative to Edit YouTube Videos - Even though Sony Vegas is quite comprehensive, it does require knowledge on behalf of the user. Unlike it, Wondershare Filmora is a perfect alternative which would provide you with all the necessary capabilities without presuming any kind of skills on your particular behalf. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the benefits:

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

Amongst these, there are tons of other benefits that you can take advantage of.

  • It has over 200 unique styles you can take your pick from
  • It has animated captions that you can add conveniently
  • It has a wide range of different templates and credits that you can use

How to Edit YouTube Videos in Sony Vegas

Let’s walk through the process of editing.

Step 1: Import Videos

The first thing that you would need to do is import the video clip that you would want to re-shape and edit. In order to do so, you want to click on the File button and then go to Import. You will see a side menu on which you need to click Media and select the file that you want to upload. Keep in mind that you might have to wait for a short period of time while the videos are being uploaded.

 Importing Clips

Note: You can also import videos which have been published on your channel by downloading them and saving them as MP4 files. On the other hand, if you have the intention of editing videos published on other channels, you might want to use Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate in order to download and convert them to your Mac and get them imported on Sony Vegas.

Step 2: Edit the video and audio files on the Timeline

 Timeline

Sony Vegas introduces a Timeline with Video and Audio tracks. They contain the clips you’ve used in the entire editing process. You can edit them by aligning them as you see fit in order to come up with the best sequence. You can also add additional tracks. In order to do so, all you need to do is right click on the space which is empty and then go Add video track.

Step 3: Add special effects

 Effects

Of course, what’s video editing software without powerful special effect capabilities? You will see the special effects tab located on the left side of your screen. You can easily browse throughout all of them in order to get a sense of what you can achieve with your video. There are quite a lot of different special effects that you can incorporate in your YouTube video and make it perfect.

Step 4: Export

 Color Match

This is the thing that you need to do once you are done with the process to edit YouTube videos with Sony Vegas. It’s a very easy task to handle and if you’ve come that far you are already on the finish line. Go to File -> Export and choose the specific extension that you want to use. The clip is going to be saved in the directory that you’ve selected, and it’s ready to watch and upload.

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

  • Title: "From Sound to Words A FREE Guide to YouTube Transcribing Mastery for 2024"
  • Author: Joseph
  • Created at : 2024-05-31 13:50:41
  • Updated at : 2024-06-01 13:50:41
  • Link: https://youtube-stream.techidaily.com/from-sound-to-words-a-free-guide-to-youtube-transcribing-mastery-for-2024/
  • License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.