Turn a Podcast Into Captioned Clips (5-Minute Guide, 2026).

To turn a podcast into a clip, upload the file, let Whisper transcribe every word with a timestamp, then pick the moment worth clipping — by hand or with an AI moment-picker — before exporting a captioned, auto-cropped 9:16 video — the whole pass takes about 5 minutes per clip. Transcription costs 1 clip credit, a wallet separate from generation credits; exporting and re-exporting cost nothing further.

getvivix Caption Studio runs the whole pipeline in one continuous session — transcription, moment-picking (manual or AI-assisted), captions, vertical crop, export — with no separate video editor to learn. It pairs with the caption maker and Shorts maker when the same episode needs to go out on more than one platform.

What You Need to Caption a Podcast

Any audio or video file works — MP3, MP4, M4A, or WAV. Caption Studio transcribes the whole file in one pass with OpenAI's Whisper model, which covers 90+ languages and outputs the transcript in that language's own script. Each upload is capped by plan: 10 minutes / 100MB on Standard, 15 minutes / 250MB on Pro, 20 minutes / 375MB on Pro Plus, 25 minutes / 500MB on Ultimate — trim the episode down first if it runs longer than that. From there, everything happens inside the same session: no downloading a transcript, editing it in another app, and re-uploading the video.

What's the Right Clip Length?

Sixty to ninety seconds is the safest cross-platform target for a spoken, substantive clip — long enough to hold a real moment, short enough to post anywhere without re-editing. Per-platform data varies more than one number suggests:

Source: Shortimize video-length analysis, checked July 2026. A podcast clip is spoken content, not a trend-format snippet, so 60-90 seconds sits inside the better-performing band on every platform without landing in YouTube's weak 30-45 second middle. YouTube itself now allows Shorts up to three minutes, up from the original 60-second cap (YouTube Help), but shorter still wins on average. Pick the moment before the length — a strong claim, a laugh, or a specific number is what makes a viewer stop scrolling, not the exact second count.

Which Caption Style — and When to Skip This Tool

Caption Studio ships more than twenty caption templates, from plain single-color styles to bold animated ones like MrBeast and Neon Glow. Karaokeis the one built for fast, punchy dialogue — it highlights each word as it's spoken. Export crops to whichever aspect ratio you pick — 9:16 for Shorts/TikTok/Reels, or 16:9, 1:1, and 4:3 for other placements.

Prefer not to scan the transcript yourself? Click Pick Clip For Me and Caption Studio's AI moment-picker reads the whole thing and returns three ranked candidate moments — a hook, a highlight, and a summary-style pick — for 1 clip credit per pick, separate from the transcription charge. Scrubbing the transcript by hand stays free and is often faster on a short episode.

This still isn't the right tool for every workflow. Episodes past the plan length caps above need trimming first, and multi-camera cuts or a full timeline edit belong in a dedicated video editor — bring the finished cut here just for captions and the vertical crop. The crop is a fixed aspect-ratio frame, not a speaker-tracking follow — for a locked single-shot recording that's rarely an issue, but a multi-person video call may need re-framing first in a dedicated editor.

How to Caption a Podcast on getvivix

1. Upload the episode — MP3, MP4, M4A, or WAV, up to your plan's length cap.
2. Wait for the transcript (1 clip credit). Click any line to jump the playhead there, or click Pick Clip For Me to let the AI suggest three candidate moments instead (1 more clip credit per pick).
3. Drag the in/out handles around a 60-90 second moment.
4. Pick a caption template from the 20+ options, or default to Karaoke for punchy dialogue.
5. Export. Captions burn in and the crop goes to 9:16 in one pass — free, and free again for every re-export in the same session.

Transcription costs 1 clip credit — a wallet separate from generation credits — and re-transcribing the identical file is free the second time. Exporting never costs a credit, no matter how many times you re-trim and re-export in the same session. Free signup includes 1 clip credit; Standard, Pro, Pro Plus, and Ultimate add 80, 120, 240, and 400 clip credits a month respectively — see the live pricing page.

Open Caption Studio

FAQ

Can I edit the in/out points after seeing the export?

Yes, at no extra cost. The transcript stays loaded as long as the tab stays open — drag new in/out points and export again for free; only the first transcription and any AI moment-picker pick are billed. Closing the tab loses the upload, though — getvivix doesn't save a project to reopen later, so download the result before leaving.

Does an AI pick the best moment for me?

Optionally. Click Pick Clip For Meand it reads the whole transcript, then returns three ranked candidate moments — 1 clip credit per pick, separate from the transcription charge. Skip it and scrub the transcript by hand instead, for free, if that's faster for a short episode.

Can I add voice-over or B-roll?

Yes. Generate a voice-over with the getvivix voice generator or B-roll with the text-to-video tool, then layer either one under the podcast audio in the same session.

How accurate is the transcription?

Around 95-98% on clear audio. Accuracy drops with heavy background noise, cross-talk, or strong accents — the same limitation any speech-to-text model has. Fix a wrong word by clicking the caption, retyping, and saving; timing stays locked to the audio.

Does it work for non-English podcasts?

Yes. Whisper transcribes 90+ languages and outputs the transcript in that language's own script, so captions come out correct without manual translation.

Turning a podcast into a clip comes down to one file in, one captioned 9:16 clip out, in about 5 minutes — no separate editor, no manual re-crop. Pick the moment with a real hook, keep it to 60-90 seconds, and either scrub the transcript yourself or let the AI moment-picker suggest one. Repurposing the same episode into scripted shorts instead of clipped ones? See how to make TikTok shorts with AI.