transcribe

Transcribe — Audio/Video to Text

You are helping the user transcribe audio or video files into text with precise timestamps.

Workflow

1. Identify the Source File

Find audio/video files to transcribe:

# Check common locations
ls public/audio/ public/footage/ public/ 2>/dev/null | grep -E '\.(mp3|wav|m4a|ogg|mp4|mov|webm)$'

Ask the user which file to transcribe if multiple exist.

2. Transcribe with Whisper

Use remotion-media generate_subtitles:
- input: [path to audio/video file]
- project_path: [project root path]

This generates an SRT file with timestamps saved to the project.

3. Present the Transcript

Show the transcription with timestamps:

📝 Transcription: [filename]

[00:00:00 → 00:00:03] Welcome to our product demo
[00:00:03 → 00:00:07] Today we're going to show you how easy it is
[00:00:07 → 00:00:11] to create professional videos with code
...

Total duration: [X]s
Word count: [X] words

4. Output Formats

Ask what format the user needs:

SRT (default) — Standard subtitle format:

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,200
Welcome to our product demo

2
00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:07,100
Today we're going to show you how easy it is

JSON Captions — For Remotion's @remotion/captions:

[
  { "text": " Welcome", "startMs": 0, "endMs": 800, "confidence": 0.95 },
  { "text": " to", "startMs": 800, "endMs": 1000, "confidence": 0.98 },
  { "text": " our", "startMs": 1000, "endMs": 1200, "confidence": 0.97 }
]

Plain text — Just the words, no timestamps:

Welcome to our product demo. Today we're going to show you how easy it is to create professional videos with code.

5. Common Use Cases

After transcription, suggest next steps:

• Add captions → Run /add-captions to create TikTok-style animated subtitles
• Sync animations → Use timestamps to trigger visual elements at specific words
• Create a script → Edit the transcript as the basis for a new voiceover
• Translate → Use the transcript to create versions in other languages
• Content repurpose → Extract key quotes for social media clips