Convert MOV to text
Upload a MOV file from an iPhone, a Mac or a camera and get a transcript of what was said, ready to edit.
Turn MOV into text
- Upload the MOV directly. Video is accepted as it is.
- Pick the spoken language and start the transcription.
- Watch the video next to the transcript and correct names and terms.
- Export plain text, or SRT or VTT if you need subtitles.
About MOV files
- What it is
- Apple's QuickTime container. It can hold H.264, HEVC (H.265) or ProRes video with AAC or PCM audio.
- Typical source
- iPhone and iPad video, QuickTime Player screen recordings on a Mac, and some cameras.
- What gets transcribed
- The audio track. Anything written on screen is not read.
- Large files
- Professional codecs such as ProRes produce very large files. If yours exceeds the limit, export a smaller version.
- Maximum file size
- Up to 5 GB per file.
MOV is the quiet default of the Apple world. Hold up an iPhone and record, and you get a MOV; press the record-screen shortcut on a Mac and you get another. People rarely choose the format, they simply have it, and then they need the words out of the video.
The container is flexible, so a MOV can be a few megabytes of phone footage or many gigabytes of professional ProRes. Scribewren only needs the sound, so the video codec makes no difference to the transcript, only to the file size. A modest phone recording uploads quickly; a production master may be worth exporting to a smaller copy first.
Screen recordings
A Mac screen recording has no sound unless a microphone was selected before recording. If your MOV transcribes as empty or very short, open it in a player and listen. Recording a system sound requires extra setup on macOS, so a walkthrough with only your voice is the simplest case to get right.
Questions
Can I upload a screen recording made with QuickTime?
Yes. QuickTime Player saves screen recordings as MOV. If microphone audio was switched on, that audio is what gets transcribed.
My iPhone video is in HEVC. Does that matter?
No. Only the audio track is used, and the video codec does not affect the transcript.
How do I get subtitles from a MOV?
Export SRT or VTT from the transcript and load the file in your editor or player. Check line lengths and timing yourself before publishing.
Free files over 30 minutes: what happens?
Only the first 30 minutes are transcribed. Unlimited takes files up to 10 hours.
Are my videos kept?
Originals are deleted within 24 hours of processing. A playback copy is kept for 7 days on Free or 90 days on Unlimited.
Try it on your own recording
Free includes a few transcriptions a day. No card needed. Compare plans.
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