Free Transcription Tools - GT #31

Getting transcriptions for free. Replacing short videos with animated GIFs. Enhancing podcast voice recordings. Splitting large audio files.

As AI gets better and better at doing the research and collection work around specific tools that I have been doing for many years, I am pondering how not to become obsolete in the next few months.

AI can already do so much of the research, filtering and organization work, that the most time-consuming part of creating tool collections has been reduced to hours (for proper verification) instead of days.

And so I ask myself: if AI is so good at searching and finding what used to take me days, while being able to update the data it found constantly (while my collections would start to go stale after months if I did not update them periodically), how can I still contribute/create value for others that they can’t get at by asking their own GPT?

I guess the answer may be to:

a) dwell more on sharing my personal tool usage, experimentation and discoveries, instead of trying to periodically map territories that expand so rapidly and are in constant change.

b) jump the fence, now that it is within reach, and alongside the sharing of what tools I discover and use, envision, design and build (with AI assistance) the tools and apps that help, support and facilitate the needs of my own readers (this month I am releasing the fourth mini-app I have created - without knowing how to code - with AI.

What is your thought?

N.B.: In my work I take on very many different hats.

For example I record and edit a weekly podcast for my Italian followers, I create ad-hoc images for a few of my top clients newsletters and guides, I plan and execute social media strategies, I roast websites and channels / while providing feedback and suggestions on how to improve them.

Today I share a few of the tools I use to do these kind of tasks.

In this issue:

• Getting Transcriptions for Free

• Replacing Short Videos with Animated GIFs

• Enhancing Podcast Voice Recordings

• Splitting Large Audio Files

In the Premium section:

• The professional screen recorder with Pro features I am using now. 100% free.

• The most recent social media management app I have adopted for a client, featuring AI assistant for content and images, recycling, auto-scheduling, pre-commenting, signatures. Free version can post up to 10 posts to 3 social media channels each month.

• Access to Robin Good’s new Mini-Apps Catalog

  • WebPage TimeDetector

  • CCPD Video Finder

  • Personal Tab

  • Cape Canaveral

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Getting Transcriptions for Free

Dropbox Transcriptor

Not many people know that you can use Dropbox to get a full text transcription of any audio or video file uploaded to it simply by activating the CC-Transcription feature and then using the “copy transcript” option (accessible in the three-dotted menu) directly through your desktop browser.

Once you have done so, you can create a new Google Doc and paste the full transcript there, and save/export in whichever format I prefer (.docx, .odt, .rtf, .pdf, .txt, .epub, .md).
N.B.: If you do not normally use Dropbox you can use the 2GB free plan to access this feature.

Glasp AI YouTube Summarizer - Browser Extension

YouTube Summary with ChatGPT & Claude is a free browser extension that, creates useful summaries of any Youtube video by leveraging the power of ChatGPT and Claude.

To achieve this result, the Glasp browser extension extracts the existing Youtube transcript and processes it through your favorite AI, leaving as an artefact of this process, the full YT original transcript of the video that you can easily copy and paste elsewhere.

Here’s how to do it:

• Install the Glasp YouTube Summarizer browser extension

• Go the YouTube video for which you need a text transcription

• On the top right side of the YouTube page you will see a new mini-bar with the Glasp logo and the title “Transcript & Summary”

• Click the down pointing arrow appearing at the far right of the mini-bar

• Click the icon showing two paper sheets

• Go to an empty document and now paste your full text transcription

N.B.: You need to be logged in into Glasp to use this browser extension.

Inkr

Superfast video/audio transcription engine can easily transcribe any clip into text.
Its free plan allows for three transcriptions / day each consisting of up to 35 mins of audio each. (If you need to transcribe longer recordings, check below for how to split a large audio file into smaller chunks).

Perplexity

As reported by Jeremy Caplan in his WonderTools newsletter, Perplexity can now fully transcribe any video or audio you throw at it (max file size 25MB). Free: three uploads/day. Paid ($20/mo): unlimited uploads.

Replacing Video with Animated GIF

Raugen

I have recently been using one of the many Raugen utilities to generate animated GIF files from short videos. This is useful in specific situations, where an animated GIF can do things that a standard video cannot. For example, here in Substack, I can upload and display any video I want, but when the reader will encounter it, he will have to play the press button to start it and once the video is over it will automatically stop.

Here’s an example:

But suppose, I want:

• the video to start automatically when the reader sees it

• the clip to auto-loop so that the reader can see multiple times what is shown

then, an animated GIF is a perfect solution.

With the Raugen MP4-to-GIF converter, I can upload the short video, set the parameters and get a good-looking animated GIF that can replace standard video in situations like these. 100% free.

Cleaning Up Imperfect Voice Audio Recordings

Adobe Enhance

When I do not have the ideal conditions to record the audio for my Italian podcast (noisy background, large room where I can hear my voice bouncing back, air conditioning, backup microphone, having to record outside, etc.) I have used Enhance to drastically improve the quality of the recording and the results have always been excellent.

Use is extremely simple and straightforward and it is 100% free (for audio files up to 30 mins).

Just upload your audio file, click Enhance, and let the app do its work. Once it is done, just click the Play button to verify the quality of the enhanced audio and then click on the download button to get your newly optimized recording.

N.B.: To my utmost surprise I accidentally discovered that Adobe Enhance can even fully remove the background music in an existing podcast or radio show, leaving you just with the cleaned up intact voice of the speaker completely cleared of the supporting music.

*In case you have audio files longer than 30 mins, and want to keep on using Adobe Enhance free plan, you could split your original recording in two or more shorter audios by using one of the solutions here below.

Splitting Up Large Audio Files

To split up large audio recordings there are three free solutions I suggest you to check out:

1) Raugen Audio Trimmer

Here is a simple and very straightforward utility. You upload your audio file and then you trim out what you don’t want. So to split a one hour audio file, you just upload and then set the trimming at 30’:00” to get the first 30 minutes. Then you reload the full one hour file and this time you set the trimming from 30’:01” to 60’:00”.

2) Audacity File Splitting

Audacity is a free cross-platform downloadable open-source free audio recorder and editor. In its basic feature set it integrates a specific function to split any audio file into multiple smaller ones.

• Follow this step-by-step video tutorial or execute the steps outlined here below:

Audacity workflow to split a large audio file in multiple smaller ones.

3) NCH WavePad Audio File Splitter

Free audio file splitter splits audio files into a set number or a set duration. Can also detect a specified amount of silence and split the file where that happens. Great for an mp3 containing multiple tracks (for example an entire CD in one file) and splitting it up into individual tracks.
Available for PC, Mac and Linux.
100% free

In the Premium Section

• Professional screen recorder with uniquely useful features including:
  4K recording, pause recording, remove background noise, auto-chapters, pre-set layouts, branding and auto-editing. 100% free.

• Social media post scheduler, featuring AI for content and images, recycling, auto-scheduling, pre-commenting, signatures. Has a free version which allows you to post up to 10 posts to 3 social media channels each month. I use the Business version.

• Access to Robin Good’s Mini-Apps Catalog

  • WebPage TimeDetector

    Determines the original publication date of any web page. Chrome extension

  • CCPD Video Finder
    Search engine finds Public Domain and CC-licensed videos on any topic

  • PersonalTab
    Productivity canvas to save notes, links, lists and to monitor specific websites and newsletters - Chrome extension

  • Cape Canaveral (upcoming)
    Launchpad for documents and apps you frequently use. Chrome extension