Ways to generate transcripts for videos over 4GB

[AlyssaAshleyTsang]

Hi MS Community;

Streams for sharepoint won't generate transcripts for videos over 4 gigs. We're required to have transcripts for all videos for accessibility since we're a school. Is there an alternative to generate transcripts that the team can use? We don't have the time or resources to manually generate a transcript. I used teams to capture the text for one video, but I've got to manually create the markers etc. 

[#2]

I'm not aware of a video size limitation for creating a transcript. Did you turn off transcript creation when you created the recording? Or are you talking about a video that you have uploaded and is over 4GB? Are you looking for more than just a transcript? You mention having to create the markers, etc. . . . so am wondering if you are looking for more than a transcript - like the custom features that are available with Teams Premium that will auto-create chapters also for video recordings of meetings where PowerPoint Live is used. Or were you only referencing the time markers?

[#3]

More specifics:

So this isn't a recording, it's an uploaded video to a SharePoint site that is over 4 gigs. I'm not looking for extra features, just for it to generate a transcript for the video.

I did end up coming up with a temp solution: re-save the file as low res, upload it to a dev sharepoint site, have it generate the transcript then download that transcript and apply it to the origional video.

I'm assuming this restriction is a hangover from something else? It would be cool to know if this restriction is going to be removed or if there is a setting somewhere I'm missing.

@karen_dredske 

[#4]

@AlyssaAshleyTsang first off let me thank you for your question and feedback.  Unfortunately, what you're experiencing is an actual file size limitation currently in Stream for SharePoint.  For automatic transcription generation it's capped for videos up to 1GB, while for on-demand there is a file-size limit of 4GB.

You can refer to this support doc for more information on size limits.  We understand this technical limitation is far from ideal and are looking for ways in which we can increase the file limit but nothing we can commit to announcing at this moment.  I'd say that your solution to this restriction should work as long as the limits are not reached, but I also understand the extra hassle.  If you feel comfortable answering how many 4GB or over you currently have, it could give us a pulse on this particular user pain point.

Thanks again for taking the time to post your question and sharing your concerns and feedback with us.  We really value it, and we do consider it.  Thank you for being a Stream Champion!

[#5]

Thank you for the reply! It's hard for us to asses all videos right now (we're knee deep into streams migration) however so far we've had 20 new videos in the last month that have exceeded 1GB. We're a school and these videos are often demonstrations for assignments and classes so they need to be high quality and have transcriptions to accommodate students with disabilities. I think for us this is going to be a pretty big issue just because of the nature of the videos.

[#6]

@AlyssaAshleyTsang another option is to use a tool like ffmpeg to separate the MP3, transcribe that file (typically 1 MB/minute) and use its captions for the video. I currently have 3 x 2 GB files and have already run into this problem with Stream, so this will be my workaround. I suspect Whisper is not worth the time and effort if the audio quality is good to start with, but might become so if it's low to middling at best. HTH!

[#7]

Oh, and because it's command line you can script/batch it for unattended processing. It's going to be as fast as your computer can process, as there's no GUI overhead. Setup is a bit of a pain, but that's a one time thing. Good luck!