If you want to dub, transcribe, or add subtitles to a video you found online, 4K Video Downloader might be useful.
Category: Apps
Audacity
Audacity is an app you can use to dub a video (to create a new soundtrack with the speech in your chosen language).
Elan
Using ELAN, you can write detailed annotations for video and audio files. It’s a bit tricky to get the hang of, but the plus side is that you can make a transcript that shows who is speaking, exactly when they are speaking, and any other features you want to note. There are heaps of uses for this kind of file, including making subtitles, archiving, research, and language-learning.
There are versions of ELAN for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Download the version you need here.
Once you’ve done that, the playlist of videos below might help you get started. If you don’t have a file to practice with, you might want to download this example set too (also from the ELAN download page). Use them to try out the steps described in the video.
The first video just gives an brief intro to the idea of Elan using Lego figures. You can see from this video that some people use Elan to take notes on everything you can see happening in a video. You might only be using it to transcribe the words that are spoken.
Video 1/6 shows you how to get started on and save a new project.
Video 2/6 shows you around the controls.
Video 3/6 shows you how to create tiers. This is the name Elan uses for each layer of your notes. This video shows you how to create a tier for each person who is speaking.
Video 4/6 is the last video you will need to watch before you’re able to really get started. In this one, you learn how to create segments – small chunks of the video (or audio) that you can then type out.
You probably don’t need to worry about video 5/6 to begin with – unless you are using Elan to do some kind of fancy analysis. But Video 6/6 will be useful if you want to export your transcript to Word when you have finished.
Amara
You don’t need to download anything to use this app, but you do need an account. You can make a free one here.
Amara has some videos that explain very clearly how it works. Basically you just need the link to a video that is already online (eg. on YouTube). Once you enter this link you can start adding subtitles.
The video might already have subtitles in one language that you want to translate. In this case you need to upload the subtitle file. Amara will let you see those subtitles alongside your translation.
YouTube
Using YouTube to make subtitles
You don’t need to download anything to use YouTube’s tools, but you will need a Google account. If you don’t already have one, you can create one here.
Once you have an account you can upload videos.
Then you can select a video to create subtitles for in Video Manager.
There’s a good basic intro on how to create subtitles in YouTube here. And you can watch this video:
Up-loading subtitles to YouTube
You might also want to upload subtitles to YouTube that you’ve made using Elan or Aegisub.
The same guide as above will be helpful to you. Click on ‘Upload a file’ in the drop-down menu. Once you have uploaded a file in YouTube you can make changes if you want to.
Amara gives you the option to automatically sync your subtitles with YouTube. But if you don’t want to do that you can add them in the same way.
*Automatic syncing and automatic captioning won’t work unless the language is one that YouTube recognises. So, not Māori unfortunately.
A note on selecting a language
Many websites and apps don’t have an option for Cook Islands Māori when choosing the language. Most have an option for “Māori” but the language they have in mind is Māori Aotearoa. I usually choose it anyway because it’s better than having some random name. However this causes problems for computers and sometimes for humans because they think that anything tagged with “Māori” is Māori Aotearoa.
MIT App Inventor
App inventor lets you use your computer to build apps. You need a Google account to use this online tool. If you don’t already have one, you can make an account here.
The easiest way is to have an android smartphone that you can test your app on as you build it. Learn more about what you need to get started here.
Windows Movie Maker*
Windows Movie Maker used to come as part of the Windows Essentials suite, so if you have windows on your computer, you might already have this app.
Microsoft don’t support Movie Maker any more, and you can’t download it from there. (There are other places you can find it). But if you already have it, it will still work.
iMovie
If you have an iMac or a Macbook it probably came with iMovie. It’s part of the iLife set of apps. If you don’t have it, you can get it here.
You can download it free for your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch here. It’s big! (699 MB).
This is the support page for iMovie.
If you want an app that takes up less room on your mobile device, Filmora Go might be a better option.
Adobe Spark
Adobe Spark is a free app that can be used for combining short videos clips and stills with text and a voice-over. It’s a user-friendly way of putting together a video from lots of bits and pieces.
You can use it online on any device by creating an account here.
Or you can also download a mobile app for your iPhone or iPad called Adobe Spark Video
Kōrero Rorouira 