Dictation

[dazzer21-2]

I've been asked to transcribe some audio files that have been sent to me in MP4 format. My idea was to play the MP4s from Quicktime and set up dictation in Text Edit to record/transcribe it. The moment I start dictation (fn fn), it shuts off the built-in audio. For some strange reason, I have also tried playing the file on one Mac and recording via dictation on another, but it doesn't work - records the odd word here and there. Is there an automatic way to do this?

 

[MevetS]

You could try something like this: https://rogueamoeba.com/loopback/, although I've not used it and do not know if it would do what you want. It allows audio from one app to be routed to another.

Good luck and I hope you find a solution.

 

[Slartibart]

Well you can actually automate this to a certain degree by using e.g. VLC for playback and then e.g. using the speech to text feature of Apple Pages (there will be some problem due to missing spoken punctation).

EDIT: you have to setup dictation via System Preferences->Keyboard.

 

[dazzer21-2]

Well you can actually automate this to a certain degree by using e.g. VLC for playback and then e.g. using the speech to text feature of Apple Pages (there will be some problem due to missing spoken punctation).

EDIT: you have to setup dictation via System Preferences->Keyboard.

Sadly, that doesn't work either. Dictation is enabled on the keyboard prefs.

 

[dazzer21-2]

You could try something like this: https://rogueamoeba.com/loopback/, although I've not used it and do not know if it would do what you want. It allows audio from one app to be routed to another.

Good luck and I hope you find a solution.

Thanks. I've had a look and it seems not to be the answer. ?

 

[Slartibart]

Sadly, that doesn't work either. Dictation is enabled on the keyboard prefs.

If you play the mp4 on your phone to the Mac?

EDIT: or you use a website service?

 

[SuperMatt]

I've been asked to transcribe some audio files that have been sent to me in MP4 format. My idea was to play the MP4s from Quicktime and set up dictation in Text Edit to record/transcribe it. The moment I start dictation (fn fn), it shuts off the built-in audio. For some strange reason, I have also tried playing the file on one Mac and recording via dictation on another, but it doesn't work - records the odd word here and there. Is there an automatic way to do this?

How to Automatically Transcribe Audio (For Free)

Here’s how your Mac can create working transcripts of your interviews.

medium.com

Try the above, either the detailed software explanation, or just uploading the audio to YouTube. Note - your problem with muted audio is intentional by Apple. You can see in the explanation above how to override that setting.

 

[dazzer21-2]

The playing of the files from my phone into the Mac is achieving results; not perfect but certainly workable. Thanks for your answers.