SoftGist Rating

4.7

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Descript is a powerful video editor that makes creating high-quality videos accessible to content creators. You can automatically remove filler words or add transitions and animated captions to your videos in just a few clicks.

You can also write your scripts in Descript or ask AI to write for you. Likewise, you can use the platform’s AI to brainstorm ideas for your script if you’re struggling with inspiration.

Descript also has a powerful transcriber that transcribes videos in seconds. It’s also fast and accurate, making quick work of transcribing your audio and video content. Simply edit your transcription, and the platform will make the necessary changes to your video in real time.

We scored Descript 4.7/5 for its extensive AI features to support your content creation process. Whether you want to automatically generate scripts, quickly convert your scripts into voiceovers, or generate images for your videos with AI, Descript does it all.

Best For

Streamlining your audio and video content creation process

Pricing

Start at $12/mo. or $15/mo. with annual billing

Free Version

Limited free-forever plan available

Pros

• Fast and accurate transcription
• Feature-rich AI platform
• Text-based editing
• Collaboration features

Cons

• It can be expensive for large teams
• Lacks text-to-video feature

AI Features

4.7

Output Quality

4.8

Ease Of Use

4.7

Price

4.7

What is Descript AI?

Descript AI is an all-in-one audio and video content creation platform designed for video editors, podcasters, and all types of content creators. You can automatically transcribe your videos, and edit the script just like in Google Docs.

The edits you make to your script adjust the video in real time. You can also use the platform’s AI to find and remove filler words or correct mispronunciation, background noise, and more.

Descript’s text-to-speech feature also lets you create voiceovers for your scripts. Choose from various high-quality AI voices, including male and female characters. Alternatively, clone your voice with AI to quickly create voiceovers.

Other Descript content-creation features include the ability to transform your videos into blog posts. You can even adjust your gaze with the Eye Contact AI feature so it always looks like staring into the camera, even when you're not!

Is Descript AI Right For You?

We recommend Descript for the following types of users:

• You want to quickly edit videos without much editing experience
• You collaborate with one or two other people
• You want to go from ideation to production as quickly as possible
• You would like to generate high volumes of video and audio content quickly
• You need to create high-quality voiceovers without studio equipment

However, Descript may not be the best choice if:

• You are looking for affordable software for a large team
• You’re a professional video editor who values creative freedom
• You want to create voiceovers with diverse accents

Pros & Cons Of Descript AI

Getting Started With Descript AI

To get started, visit the Descript AI website and click “Sign Up”in the top-right corner of your screen.

Next, provide your details, including name, email, and password. Alternatively, you can sign up directly with your Google account.

The Descript program will start downloading to your desktop automatically. Descript is a desktop application, so you’ll need to install it on your computer. However, there’s a web application currently in Beta. You can access it by visiting web.descript.com.

However, we’ll be using the desktop application for this review. Sign in to the program once you’ve installed it on your computer.

You’ll land on the main projects page, where you can access the platform’s features or work on your existing projects.

Let’s explore Descript AI’s features.

Video Transcript Generator

Descript has an AI-powered video transcriber to help you generate transcripts in seconds. Go to the main project’s page, click “New”, and select “Video Project.”

Next, upload your video file, and Descript will automatically transcribe it.

Check out part of Descript’s transcript for the video we uploaded.

We watched the video, following along with Descript’s transcription. The AI was able to capture the entire dialogue word-for-word with no mistakes. The AI even captured the filler words in the dialogue.

You can see the video we used in the test.

One cool feature is you can ask the AI to automatically label the speakers in the transcript if there’s more than one speaker. Descript will play different scenes, and ask you to name each speaker.

Then, it’ll label the speakers in the transcript. As you can see, the AI didn’t do a perfect job. We’ll need to edit the transcript to fix the misalignment. For example, some of Mary’s words appear labeled under Susan, and vice versa.

However, this is a small issue. The important thing is that the AI did most of the work. It correctly transcribed the entire video, and even labeled our speakers for us with minimal human input.

The AI transcriber also did an equally good job identifying three different speakers with heavy accents. The last speaker has a particularly heavy accent that is difficult for most people to understand.

As you can see the original video we used for this transcription. You’ll notice that Descript did a decent job transcribing speech with a strong accent.

All things considered, Descript’s AI transcription feature is impressive.

AI Transcript Editor

Besides transcribing your videos, Descript also offers an AI editor to quickly work on your transcripts. You can add chapter titles, generate YouTube descriptions, remove filler words, and more.

Descript also makes easy work of editing your transcript right where you generate the text, avoiding moving back and forth between your editor and transcription software.

Open your project from the main projects page. In this example, we have a transcript of a short Ted Talk about the secret to success.

Then, click “Find” at the top of your script to see all the things you can do with AI.

Descript will automatically remove filler words like “Umm”, “Sort of”, “You know”, and more. It’ll also automatically detect and remove repeated words.

You can also control the filler words you want to remove from your script.

Simply check or uncheck the appropriate box.

You can also highlight specific sections in your transcript, and ask the AI to regenerate these sections. Use this feature to correct mismatched tones or remove background noise.

We successfully edited out background noise and made the audio clearer simply by highlighting a section of the script and clicking “Regenerate.”

The original video has a lot of background noise, and you can also hear the mic echo.

The regenerated audio is much clearer, and you don’t hear any of the initial mic echo. Now, you don’t need advanced editing knowledge or software to clean up your videos. You can do it with Descript with just one click.

You can even generate matching images to go with your transcript with AI. Simply click “Generate Image” from the left menu.

Then, describe the image you want. In our example, we asked the AI to generate visuals that “represent overcoming obstacles” to match the theme of our TED talk.

These are good-quality images, which we can add to our video right in the Editor.

Descript’s AI Editor also lets you add recordings, captions, text, backgrounds, and more to your videos.

There’s even a Timeline to help you manage the script, media layers, and scenes. You can easily edit and organize audio and visual materials from the Timeline.

To sum things up, Descript has a powerful text-based editor that lets you quickly edit your transcripts, including adding layers like visual and audio content. Plus, the Editor caters to different skill levels.

For example, beginners can stick to minor text-based editing. While more advanced users can play around with the layers and create complex compositions using multitrack editing.

Text to Speech

Descript also has a Text-to-Speech feature to transform your scripts into audio. Click “New” from the main projects page and select “Audio project.”

Next, add your script, add a speaker, and click the “Enable speech generation” icon.

You can also choose from numerous AI voices, including masculine and feminine voices. You also get multiple voice-over styles, including Corporate, Narrator, Conversational, and more.

Descript offers high-quality AI voiceovers that don’t sound very robotic. You can also use multiple AI voices and add background music, like in this example, listen to our output by using these features.

Alternatively, train the AI using your voice. Simply upload a recording of yourself, and the AI learns to mimic your voice. This is a useful feature for creating voiceovers from text, without having to record yourself each time.

Overall, Descript’s text-to-speech feature provides high-quality voiceovers for your projects. You also get a lot of creative freedom, including adding background music, sound effects, and more.

The only downside we noticed is the limited AI voice narrators. Some text-to-speech programs offer more variety, including regional accents and dialects.

Otherwise, it’s great that you can choose from stock AI voices or clone your voice. The feature is also quick, easy to use, and does a commendable job of transforming your text into captivating voiceovers.

AI Script Generator

Additionally, you can use Descript’s AI to generate a script for you. Open a new audio project and click “Ask the AI to write.”

You can ask the AI to write the entire script from scratch, generate a script outline on a topic of your choice, or simply brainstorm ideas with you.

We’ll ask the AI to generate a Ted talk-style script for an audience of college students. The AI generates the script in mere seconds.

You can edit the script right where it is. You can also choose AI speakers to convert the text script into audio. Or record the script with your voice, which you can do with Descript AI.

This feature is useful for content creators who need to push out a large volume of content in a short time. The generated script is basic, but that’s normal with AI. It’s not meant to generate publish-ready content.

Rather, the script generator acts as a starting point. So you have plenty of inspiration and a starting point to quickly create audio content.

Other Features

Descript has tons of additional features, including

Screen Recording — Capture, edit, and share your screen or webcam recording

Eye Contact — Use AI effects to adjust your gaze so you’re always looking directly at the camera

Studio Sound — Enhance audio quality to remove noise and enhance speech

Find Good Clips — Use AI to find and clip your best highlights

Remove Retakes — Automatically find and remove repeated takes from your recordings

Summarizer — Summarize your recording into a concise text format

Pricing

Descript has four pricing plans, including a free-forever plan.

The Free plan gives you one hour of transcription per month, one watermark-free video transcription per month, and you can only export videos in 720p resolution. You also get access to basic filler word removal and 1,000-word vocabulary AI voices.

The Creator plan costs $12 per user per month. You get up to 10 hours of transcription per month and unlimited watermark-free video export. You can also export videos in 4K, and use AI Green Screen, Studio Sound, and Eye Contact on files up to an hour long, compared to ten minutes with the free plan.

The Pro plan costs $24 per user per month. You can remove up to 18 filler words and repeated words, export videos in 4K, and unlimited AI voice vocabulary. You also get unlimited AI Green Screen, Studio Sound, and Eye Contact usage.

Finally, you’ll need to contact the Descript sales team to get a custom quote for the Enterprise plan. This tier comes with additional enterprise features, including onboarding and training, security review, and invoicing.

Closing Notes On Descript AI

Descript AI is a handy tool for anyone who wants to streamline their audio and video content creation process. You don’t need to step into a studio to create high-quality videos.

The AI offers multiple high-quality AI voiceovers and a powerful editor to create your videos. And, if you’re struggling with inspiration, simply ask the AI to generate video scripts for you. Overall, Descript handles every aspect of content creation, from writing and recording to editing and publishing, with ease

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Ada Rivers

Ada Rivers is a senior writer and marketer with a Master’s in Global Marketing. She enjoys helping businesses reach their audience. In her free time, she likes hiking, cooking, and practicing yoga.