How Do I Transcribe Large Media Files

At Alice, we support the upload of huge media files for transcription (over 5GB or up to 10 hours). But what if you've got a massive file that you're having trouble uploading? Maybe your Internet connection is shaky, or you're on the go and don't have time to wait and upload?

Breaking up media files is easy. We'll show you how to do this on a few different devices and platforms.

On MacOS, use Quicktime Player.

Yes, it's a player, but you can break down files and extract clips. This allows you to split a file into multiple parts.

1. Open any media file in Quicktime Player, and seek to the point where you want to split it.
2. In the Edit menu select Split Clip or press ⌘-Y to break it apart. You'll see that the timeline splits into 2 sections.
3. You can delete what you don't want, so that your entire video is only what you need.
4. Then Save.
5. Once you've saved that half, go back and remove the other clip to save the other portion. Use ⌘-Z to undo the last change.

Apple has additional instructions on this.

On iPhone or iPad, using iMovie.

1. First, get iMovie from the App Store.
2. Open iMovie, tap the "+" icon and select Movie, to create a New Project
3. Import your Video, and then tap Create Movie. Your video should show up in iMovie.
4. Move the playhead to the place where you want to split the video.
5. Tap Actions at the bottom, then select Split.
6. Save each part individually by deleting the other part, and savings.

Apple has additional instructions on this.

On iPhone, using Voice Memos.

1. In your Voice Memos app, find your recording, and then tap the the More Actions button (the three dots), then tap Edit Recording.
2. Tap the Crop Icon at the top right, then drag the yellow trim handles to enclose the section you want to keep or delete. Pinch to zoom, if you'd like to be more precise.
3. Tap Trim to Save in order to save that selected portion.
4. Repeat as necessary with the other sections.

Apple has additional instructions on this.

On Windows, you can Windows Video Editor or VLC

Windows 11 comes with tools that let you do this without downloading new software. There's a fantastic HOWTO here.

And if you'd like to try the popular open source and free VLC Media Player, here are some great instructions for that.

On Android, use Google Photos

Google Photos is built in to many Android devices, but you can always get it here.

Google has a set of instructions on how to Trim your video here.