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3ITAL Scribe
Faithful, reviewable transcription of long audio and video recordings, on your own computer.
- Version 1.1.3
- Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit)
- Free
- Works offline
Digitally signed by 3i BAIRD Lab LLC · Verify your download · Source code (audit the tool)
What it is
3ITAL Scribe is a free Windows application that turns long recordings, such as interviews, meetings, hearings and client calls, into transcripts you can check against the original audio. It was built for legal professionals who need a faithful working transcript and need to know exactly where their recordings go. By default, nothing leaves your computer.
Private by default
The speech model is included in the installer, so transcription works offline straight after installation. Local transcription runs in a process that blocks all network access.
Built for long recordings
Multi-hour audio and video in common formats (WAV, MP3, M4A, FLAC, OGG, MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI, WebM and more). Progress is saved after every chunk, with pause, resume and crash recovery.
Review against the audio
Click any passage to play that moment of the original recording, correct the text with autosave and undo, and mark passages as reviewed or unresolved.
Clean exports
Copy the whole transcript, or export it as TXT, Word (DOCX) or searchable PDF. Exports are created on your computer.
Transparent
No analytics, telemetry or automatic update checks, and nothing is sent to 3ITAL. The complete source code is published so the tool can be audited.
Free, no accounts
No sign-up and no fees for local transcription. Only the optional API mode involves costs, billed directly by the provider you choose.
How it works
- Add your recordings. Drag them into the app or browse for them. Audio and video files are both fine; Scribe extracts the audio itself.
- Choose how to transcribe. Keep the default local mode, or use API mode with your own provider account. You can add names, terms and a short description of the recording to help with spelling.
- Let it run. Scribe splits the audio into chunks and transcribes them one after another, saving after each one. The queue shows progress and an estimate of the time remaining, and you can pause and resume.
- Review. Read the clean transcript, or switch on manual review to play each passage’s part of the recording, correct the text and mark what you have checked.
- Copy or export the transcript as TXT, DOCX or searchable PDF.
Two ways to transcribe
Local mode: on this computer
- Uses Whisper large-v3, OpenAI’s openly released speech-recognition model, which is included in the installer.
- Runs entirely on your computer: no internet connection needed after installation, no accounts, no per-minute costs.
- The transcription process is blocked from using the network.
- Speed depends on your hardware. On a recent laptop processor, a two-hour recording takes roughly one to one and a half hours. With a supported NVIDIA graphics card and the optional GPU pack, it is many times faster.
API mode: your OpenAI or Deepgram account
- Uses your own API key for OpenAI or Deepgram.
- The audio, and any names or terms you enter, are sent to the provider you choose and handled under that provider’s terms. Nothing goes to 3ITAL.
- Before you start, the app shows exactly what will be sent and where. It estimates the cost and keeps track of it; the provider bills you directly.
- Keys are kept in Windows Credential Manager, or only for the current session. They are never written to projects, exports or logs.
- Use it only where sending the recording to a third-party provider is consistent with your confidentiality obligations and your client’s instructions.
Limits and cautions
- AI transcription makes mistakes. Speech recognition is probabilistic. Words can be misheard, left out or invented (“hallucinations”), especially with overlapping speakers, strong accents, poor audio, names and specialised terms. Review the transcript against the recording before you rely on it.
- It is not a certified transcript. Scribe produces a working transcript. It does not replace a certified transcript from a court reporter or an official transcription service where one is required.
- Speakers are not identified automatically. Speaker labels come from separate audio channels in the recording or are added by you.
- Mixed languages: the automatically detected language is kept after the first confident detection, so choose the language yourself for recordings that switch languages.
- PDF export supports Latin, Greek and Cyrillic scripts. For other scripts, export to DOCX or TXT.
- API mode sends your recording to a third party and incurs provider charges. Some provider models return no timestamps, so their passages follow the processing chunks (about 45 seconds each).
- Platform: Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) only. GPU acceleration requires an NVIDIA graphics card (driver 572.61 or newer) and the optional GPU pack.
- Disk space: the download is 1.47 GB and the installed app takes about 2.3 GB, plus working space of about 115 MB per hour of audio.
System requirements
- Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit
- 8 GB of memory (16 GB recommended)
- About 3 GB of free disk space, plus working space for your recordings
- Optional: an NVIDIA graphics card with 6 GB or more of memory for much faster local transcription
Installing
- Run the downloaded installer. It installs for your Windows user account only; no administrator rights are needed.
- If Windows shows Windows protected your PC, choose More info, check that the publisher is 3i BAIRD Lab LLC, then choose Run anyway. New releases show this notice until they build up a reputation with Microsoft.
- The installer is large, so antivirus software may scan it for up to a minute before it opens.
Installing over an earlier version keeps your projects and settings.
Verify your download
The installer and the program files are digitally signed by 3i BAIRD Lab LLC. To check, right-click the installer, choose Properties and open the Digital Signatures tab.
SHA-256 checksum of 3ITAL-Scribe-Setup-1.1.3.exe:
f48eaef1e8cd0c12c806fe9591776afd26e948d51b1e470893ca3c066889bcd4In PowerShell: Get-FileHash .3ITAL-Scribe-Setup-1.1.3.exe. The checksums of all files of this release are in SHA256SUMS.txt.
Ownership, license and source code
3ITAL Scribe is owned by 3ITAL. It is built and distributed for 3ITAL by 3i BAIRD Lab LLC, which is why Windows shows 3i BAIRD Lab LLC as the verified publisher.
Scribe is free software under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later, with additional terms: the license grants no rights to the 3ITAL names and logos, and modified versions must be marked as modified. It comes with no warranty. Third-party components keep their own licenses, and their notices are included with the app.
Audit the tool: complete source code of version 1.1.3 (zip, 3.5 MB) and the source code of the bundled FFmpeg (zip, 11.7 MB, LGPL).
Please note
3ITAL Scribe has been tested to make sure it works as described, but it is provided “as is”, without guarantees of any kind. Always exercise your own due diligence, and keep a human in the loop to review AI-produced transcripts before relying on them.