3 Ways to Transcribe a YouTube Video

Transcribing YouTube videos can help researchers extract valuable information and insights from videos.

Among other things, video transcripts can help facilitate analysis, support quotations & citations, and ensure data accuracy by providing a verifiable and standardized text representation of the video’s content.

You can transcribe a YouTube video in 3 ways: 

1. YouTube’s Built-in Transcription Tool.
2. Free Online Tools.
3. Transcription Services.

Method 1: YouTube’s Built-in Transcription Tool

YouTube’s automatic captions feature is a built-in tool that uses speech recognition technology to generate subtitles for videos. While it’s not always entirely accurate, it’s a great way create a first draft that can be edited later. Here’s how to use it: 

• Open the YouTube Video: Go to YouTube’s website and open the video you want to transcribe.
• Enable Captions: Click on the “Subtitles/Captions” button located at the bottom-right corner of the video player or press ‘c’ to enable the automatic captions.
• Generate the Transcript: Scroll down to the video description and click ‘…more’. Scroll further down to the Transcript section and click the ‘Show Transcript’ button.
• Copy the Transcript: You will now see a synchronised, time-stamped transcript to the right of the video. Toggle off the time-stamps if needed and copy the transcript to a text editor like MS Word to edit and use.

Pros

• Free and easily accessible.
• Integrated directly into YouTube’s platform.
• Offers a starting point for transcription.

Cons

• Closed-captioning is not always available. 
• Often contains inaccuracies, especially for non-standard speech or technical terms.
• Requires manual editing for reliable results.

Method 2: Free Online Tools

There are several third-party tools available online that can be used to transcribe simple YouTube videos.

YouTube Transcript is one such tool that provides a simple interface and similar quality of transcription as YouTube’s in-built transcription service.  

Another such tool is the YTScribe Chrome Extension available in the Chrome Web Store.

Pros:

• These are free tools so no transcription costs are involved.
• They provide a simple interface that’s easy to use. 

Cons:

• Accuracy is low for multi-speaker videos. 

Method 3: Third-Party Transcription Services

Third-party transcription services are professional platforms dedicated to accurately transcribing audio and video content. These services often utilize a combination of human transcribers and advanced AI algorithms to achieve high levels of accuracy. 

You can consider using a transcription service to transcribe YouTube videos when the video has multiple speakers, technical terminology, or strong accents.

Pros

1. Professional Quality Transcriptions: Third-party services usually employ trained transcribers with expertise in various subjects and accents, resulting in highly accurate transcriptions.
2. Efficiency and Speed: These services are designed for efficiency, allowing for quick turnaround times, even for lengthy videos.
3. Additional Services: Many third-party services offer extra features like time coding, speaker identification, and customizable formatting to enhance the usability of the transcriptions.

Cons

1. Costs: Using third-party services often involves costs, which can vary based on factors such as video length, complexity, and desired features.
2. Privacy Concerns: Sharing your video content with an external service raises privacy concerns, particularly if the content is sensitive or confidential.

Despite the cons, third-party transcription services remain a popular and effective choice for accurate and timely transcriptions of YouTube videos, particularly for businesses, content creators, and organizations with specific transcription requirements.

Read More: How to Choose a Transcription Service

These are 3 basic ways you can transcribe YouTube videos. Do you know of any others? Leave a comment to help other readers!