How to Use AI Speech to Text in PowerDirector
Turn the speech in your video into timed text, then proofread the lines before they become subtitles.
Updated Oct. 16, 2026 · 3 min read
In a hurry? Use the AI Speech to Text quick guide instead.
PowerDirector's AI Speech to Text listens to your video and writes down what is said as timed lines on their own track. You can play the lines as subtitles or export them as a file. It saves typing out the dialogue and timing each line by hand.
- With your video on the timeline, open Subtitles in PowerDirector and choose AI Speech to Text.
- Set Audio source to the track with the speech, or to All Audio Tracks.
- Set Language to the language spoken in the clip.
- Check Transcribe selected range only if you marked a range, then click Create.
- Read the timed lines in the list. Or play the preview to check them.
- Click any line to fix it, and press Esc to save.
Steps to Use AI Speech to Text
Step 1: Open AI Speech to Text
AI Speech to Text transcribes what is on the timeline, so add your clip there first. Then click Subtitles at the top of the window.
For a video with speech and no transcript yet, choose AI Speech to Text.
Step 2: Choose the Audio Source
Audio source lists All Audio Tracks and each audio track on your timeline. Pick the track with the speech on it, so music on a track of its own is left out. All Audio Tracks transcribes everything at once.
Step 3: Pick the Language
Language is the language spoken in the clip, not the language you want the subtitles in. The list starts with English, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, Spanish, Italian, and French, and scrolls on from there.
Step 4: Set the Options, Then Create
Two checkboxes sit under the language. Transcribe selected range only lights up once you've marked a range on the timeline with range selection. Check it to transcribe just that stretch, and Total duration beside the button drops to match.
Include punctuation in subtitles can only be changed for Japanese and Traditional Chinese. For other languages it stays checked. To add or remove punctuation later, you have to clear the subtitles and create them again.
Check Total duration, then click Create.
Step 5: Read Through the Transcript
When the transcription finishes, the Subtitles panel lists every line with its Start Time. The same lines sit on a subtitle track above your clip. The preview shows each one as it plays, so you can listen and read at once.
Step 6: Proofread the Transcript
Names are worth a second look. In line 4, PowerDirector came out as Empower Director. Click the line to edit it. Enter adds a line break and Esc saves, so press Esc when you're done.
If a name is wrong in every line, Find and Replace fixes them all at once. That, and everything else you can do to the lines, is in How to Add Subtitles. The presenter's speech is now timed text on its own track. The lines play as subtitles right away, and you can also export them as a file. To restyle the lines or move their timing, see how to add subtitles.
We tested these steps in PowerDirector 365 version 25.0.8 on Windows.
Don't have PowerDirector yet? Drop in an interview, a vlog, or a talk, and AI Speech to Text types out what's said as timed subtitles you only need to proofread.
Download PowerDirector Free →FAQ About AI Speech to Text
Set Audio source to the track with the speech on it. The dialog transcribes the track you choose, so the music is left out.
