Record class
The class is happening now and the slides show up tonight, or on Friday. With Record class, Mina listens and turns the class into text while you take your own notes beside it. When it's over she goes through the whole thing again and leaves you a summary, with whatever you have to do.
Where to start
There are several ways in, and they all lead to the same place:
- Record class, in the left sidebar. While it records it says “Recording class”, and tapping it takes you back to the recording.
- On a phone, the separate purple button next to the bottom bar.
- Add, in a space's materials: Record class, “Mina transcribes it as you listen”.
- Take notes in class, on Home; and in the calendar, Take notes on one of today's classes.
- Transcribe the class, the waveform button on an empty note. It doesn't show up on notebook pages: there, you record with Record class.
A new page opens in the space's notebook, with your note on one side and the transcript column on the other. When transcription starts, the page is named “Class on” plus the date, and it goes under Class notes. If a class is already being recorded, Record class takes you to it instead of opening another one: you record one at a time.
On a phone the two columns don't fit side by side. Notes, at the top left of the transcript, switches to your note; under the note's title, the line with the waveform and the clock takes you back to the transcript.
The check before you start
Before recording, the column shows how it's going to sound, in three rows:
- Microphone: which one is in use. If there's more than one you pick it there, and it stays picked for next time.
- Audio: Test the microphone listens for a moment and says “Sound is coming through”, “Too quiet”, “Too much noise” or “Nothing's coming in: say something”. If the browser didn't grant access, “No microphone permission”.
- Internet: four bars, like your phone's signal (good, slow, very slow or offline). Transcription happens in the cloud, so the connection matters.
When everything looks right, Start transcribing. Below it is Far back? Let a classmate transcribe, for when someone else can hear better (more on that below).
While it records
The first few seconds of speech show up written live, word by word, with timestamps. That's so you can check it's coming through: a notice on top says “Checking how it sounds…” and asks you to check that what shows up matches what's being said. If Filmina can measure how well it understands, it says so when the check ends (“It's coming through clearly”, “It's only partly coming through” or “It's barely coming through”) along with what to do, and Got it dismisses it.
After that, the text fades out and a waveform that moves with the voice takes its place: “Listening to the class. When you finish, all of it gets transcribed.” Underneath, the microphone, whether voice is coming in and the time recorded; on top, “Listening” and the clock. It hasn't stopped transcribing: everything is kept for the final pass, which understands far better than the live version.
If three minutes go by with no voice coming in, for example because the microphone is covered, it warns you: “No voice has come through for 3 minutes. Check that the microphone isn't covered.” The warning goes away on its own when the voice comes back.
While it records, the screen stays on.
You can go to another screen or open a file: the recording keeps going. A pill with the waveform and the clock stays at the bottom right (with a dot if there's a warning), and tapping it takes you back to the class. In the sidebar, Record class reads “Recording class”.
If the internet drops, the recording doesn't: “Offline: still recording, it'll be transcribed when you're back.”
Stopping and the final pass
When you tap Stop, the waveform sweeps across while Mina goes over the whole recording with a better model: “Transcribing the class with the whole recording…”. That version replaces the live one. It starts a new paragraph every time the voice changes (it doesn't say who's speaking), and whatever the lecturer dictates as a formula is written as a formula.
If that pass fails, it tells you (“The whole recording couldn't be gone over: the live version stays.”) and Try again retries it. Once it's done, the same button reads Resume, in case the class keeps going.
Transcript and Summary
Once the class is over, the top of the column lets you switch between Transcript and Summary. The summary goes topic by topic, with the ideas in each, and also gathers:
- To do: whatever the lecturer assigned, like a deadline, a date or something to read.
- Questions from the class: what someone in the room asked the lecturer, with the answer.
A very short class gets no summary: it says there's not enough of the class yet to make one.
What stays and what doesn't
The audio isn't kept for you to listen to again: it only lives until the final pass. What stays is the text.
The trash can at the top of the transcript is Delete the transcript: everything transcribed in that note is deleted, and your notes stay.
When the slides arrive, the paperclip at the top of the note attaches it to that file, without stopping the recording if it's still going. From then on the class feeds into the explanation of the slides it touches, like any other note: The notebook explains how.
Let a classmate transcribe
If you're far from whoever is teaching, or can't make it, someone up front can record. Below the check, Far back? Let a classmate transcribe. The first time it explains how it works (“No account needed · Uses your minutes”) and Create the link makes it. Then the Link for a classmate card shows up, with the link and Copy (on a phone, Share, to send it straight away).
Worth knowing about the link:
- Your classmate doesn't need an account: they open it in their phone's browser.
- It works on one device only: the first one to open it keeps it.
- It expires after four hours.
- It uses your transcription minutes, not theirs.
- Asking for a new one cancels the previous one, and while one is active you can't record from that note.
The card shows how it's going, with the name your classmate typed (“Your classmate” if they didn't): “Waiting for them to open it”, then that they opened the link, that they're transcribing and that they're done. Turn off kills the link at any time.
Your classmate sees that you asked them to transcribe the class, an optional field for their name and Start transcribing. While recording they get the same check and the same warnings, the clock, Finish and a reminder: “Keep this page open until the class ends.” Their phone screen stays on too.
When they finish, Filmina runs the final pass and the summary in your note, as if you had recorded it yourself. Your classmate gets a thank-you and an invitation to try Filmina.
How many hours you get
Record class and Dictate share the same hours each month:
| Plan | Hours per month |
|---|---|
| Free | 1 hour |
| Pro | 10 hours |
When you start recording, the note tells you how much you have left this month. With no hours left you can't start: “You've used this month's hours of dictation and recorded classes.” If they run out in the middle of a class, the recording stops there and what was recorded stays. Plans are on the pricing section, and the rest of the limits in Limits.