How to Automatically Transcribe YouTube Videos

To boost your SEO rank or to make your YouTube videos more accessible, you may want to know how to transcribe them.

In this article, we’ll take you through how to automatically transcribe your videos and edit the transcription on YouTube. Plus, we’ll show you how to create accurate video transcripts using a third-party tool.

How to Automatically Transcribe YouTube Videos? ​​

YouTube can automatically transcribe your video using the Auto-sync feature. Once transcribed, they encourage creators to edit the transcript, since the wording generated is not always precise. They do this by highlighting the words it may have got wrong.

To generate a transcript for a video already uploaded to your YouTube account, do the following:

1. Access and log in to your YouTube account.
   
2. At the top-right, click on the profile icon.
   
3. Select “YouTube Studio” > “Subtitles”.
   
4. From the “Channel subtitles” page, go to the video’s row and click on the downward pointing arrow under “Languages”.
   
5. At the “Language (video language)” row select “ADD” under the “Subtitles” column.
   
6. Then select “Auto-sync” > “PUBLISH.”
   

To see the transcript, do the following:

1. Go to the video on the “Channel subtitles” page.
2. At the “Language (Automatic)” row click on “DUPLICATE and EDIT” then “Continue”.
   
   • Now you’ll have the option to see the video play with the captions and timings displayed underneath. Check the accuracy by going through the transcript. If all is well hit “PUBLISH” on the top-right hand corner.
     

If you need to edit the transcript, do the following:

1. Place your cursor on the text to make your edits.
   
2. Once you’ve finished editing, select “PUBLISH” from the top-right hand corner.
   

To download and edit the transcript using a text file, do the following:

1. From the “Channel subtitles” page, go to the “Language (Automatic)” row and click on the three-dotted menu, then select “Download.”
   
2. Select .srt then confirm the download.
   
3. Go to the .srtfile from your Downloads folder and right-click on it.
   
4. Rename the file by changing .srt to .txt, then hit enter.
   
5. To confirm the change, click on “OK”.
   
6. Open the .txt file to make your changes, and once completed, save it to your desktop as a .srt file. Don’t worry if .txt is appended to the name.

Now add your amended transcript to the video in YouTube:

1. Select “YouTube Studio” > “Subtitles”.
   
2. From “Channel subtitles”, click on the video then, “ADD LANGUAGE.”
   
3. Select the language, then under the “Subtitles” column select “ADD.”
   
4. Select “Upload file.”
   
5. Select “With timings” then “Continue.”
   
6. Choose the file to upload then “Publish.”
   

Note: To delete the language entries no longer needed, go to the “Video subtitles” page, click on the three-dotted menu and select “Delete.”

Use a Third-Party Online Tool

Kapwing is a popular online video transcription tool. It supports both automatic and manual video transcription directly from the interface. To automatically transcribe your YouTube video and download the file using Kapwing, do the following:

1. Copy the URL for the video you wish to transcribe.
2. Navigate to https://www.kapwing.com/subtitles.
   
3. In the “Paste a URL” text field paste the URL for your YouTube video.
4. In the “Auto-generate subtitles” box, select the language then click on “Auto-generate”; follow the instructions to transcribe your video to text.
   • To check the accuracy of the transcription, click on “Create” found towards the bottom of the pane on the left-hand side.
   • If you’re happy with the output or to make amendments click on “Edit” on the right-hand side, then select “Download SRT”.

If necessary, to edit the .srt file, do the following:

1. Go to the .srtfile from your Downloads folder and right-click on it.
   
2. Rename the file by changing .srt to .txt then hit enter.
   
3. Click ‘’OK’’ to confirm the change.
   
4. Open the .txt file to make your changes, once complete save it to your desktop as a .srt file.

To add the transcription to the video in YouTube, do the following:

1. Select “YouTube Studio” > “Subtitles”.
   
2. From “Channel subtitles,” click on the video > “ADD LANGUAGE”.
   
3. Select the language, then under the “Subtitles” column select “ADD.”
   
4. Select “Upload file.”
   
5. Select “With timings” then “Continue.”
   
6. Choose the file to upload then “Publish.”
   

The Best Auto-Transcribe Sites

Auto transcribing services continue to increase in popularity. More content creators are getting their videos transcribed, not only to meet accessibility standards but to make them more searchable on the web. There are plenty of automatic transcribe tools and services available. Here are three of the best:

Adobe Premiere Pro

Adobe Premiere Pro is part of the ever-growing Creative Suite. Used by most people, it has fast become an industry-leading video editor.

The interface allows you to do more or less anything you want to your video, catering to new and seasoned Adobe users alike. Here is some of what you can expect when using Adobe Premiere Pro:

• Compatibility with more or less any video file format.
• Tutorials on how to use the functionality.
• Easy import/export amongst other Adobe Products.
• Free trial available to try before you buy.

OTranscribe

OTranscribe is a free web-based open-source tool; designed in 2013 to make transcription easier.

Its simple layout and easy-to-use interface include the following features:

• Allows for control of the audio/video player and text editor in the same window.
• Includes interactive timestamps to help you to go through the transcript.
• It automatically saves your progress as you work.
• Your files and transcripts are not uploaded to the OTranscribe’s servers; they remain on your PC.

Alternatively, to save time whilst someone else takes care of the transcribing, you could consider using a professional transcription service like REV.

REV

Rev is an established transcription company that has been around since 2010 and served customers like Amazon and Microsoft. In 2019, they were ranked the best transcription service, so you know they’ll provide top quality. Here are some of the perks of their service:

• Quick turnaround of your file (less than 12 hours).
• Completed work returned to you via an online editor, to download in your preferred format.
• Like many of the online do-it-yourself options, you simply upload your audio/video or provide the URL and they’ll take care of the rest.

Additional FAQs

Can You Automatically Transcribe Audio to Text?

Yes, you can. This process is the same as transcribing video to text.

Can a YouTube Video Be Transcribed?

Yes, it can. YouTube videos can be automatically transcribed in YouTube; alternatively, there are plenty of other third-party tools that can do this.

How Do You Auto Transcribe Videos?

To generate a transcript for a video already uploaded to your YouTube account, do the following:

1. Access and log in to your YouTube account.

2. At the top-right, click on the profile icon.

3. Select “YouTube Studio” > “Subtitles”.

4. From the “Channel subtitles” page, go to the video’s row and click on the downward pointing arrow under “Languages”.

5. At the “Language (video language)” row select “ADD” under the “Subtitles” column.

6. Then select “Auto-sync” > “PUBLISH”.

To see the transcript, do the following:

1. Go to the video on the “Channel subtitles” page.

2. At the “Language (Automatic)” row click on “DUPLICATE and EDIT” then “Continue.”

Now you’ll have the option to see the video play with the captions and timings displayed underneath. Check the accuracy by going through the transcript. If all good, hit “PUBLISH” from the top-right hand corner.

How Do I See Subtitles on a YouTube Video?

To see the subtitles for a video, do the following:

1. Access YouTube and select the video you want to watch.

2. Towards the bottom right of the video screen click on the “CC” icon.

The subtitles will appear automatically in white.

What Are the Benefits of Converting a YouTube Video to an MP4?

The main advantages of converting your YouTube videos to MP4 format include:

· Having access to watch them whenever you want.

· MP4 files are compatible across almost all devices.

· Smooth glitch-free viewing.

· Viewing does not take up bandwidth since videos are watched offline.

Here are some of the best YouTube video to MP4 converters for 2021 so far:

1. 4K Video Downloader

2. SnapDownloader

3. By Click Downloader

4. MP3 Studio

5. iTubeGo

6. WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe

7. VideoProc

8. YTMp3

9. YMp4

10. Flvto.

Remember, before downloading copyright videos you need to get explicit permission from the original creator. Legally, you can download videos not copyrighted for personal use — always check!

Automating Your YouTube Transcripts

The evolvement of technology just keeps getting better; we now get YouTube and the like to pick up speech and automatically turn it into words for us—how cool is that! The benefits of video transcriptions are plenty, including increasing SEO rank and accessibility.

Now that you know how automatically transcribe your YouTube videos, how did you find the accuracy of the transcript created? Did you have to do much editing? Let us know in the comment section below.

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