YouTube Transcript → Timestamp Generator
Automatically converting long YouTube videos into clean transcripts with structured timestamps.
Problem Statement
The Solution
Automation Overview
We built an automation that processes YouTube video URLs from a Google Sheet and generates full video transcripts, structured timestamped sections, and clear topic-based segmentation. The entire process runs automatically and updates results directly back into the spreadsheet.
Sheet-Based Control System
The workflow reads YouTube video URLs from a Google Sheet. Each row acts as a processing unit, allowing teams to add multiple videos at once, track processing status, avoid duplicate processing, and scale transcription easily.
Automated Transcript Extraction
For each YouTube link, the system retrieves the video transcript, normalizes text formatting, handles long-form content safely, and prepares clean text for AI processing.
AI-Powered Video Segmentation
An AI model analyzes the full transcript and identifies major topic shifts, detects logical content sections, groups dialogue into meaningful segments, and determines accurate timestamps for each section.
Structured Timestamp Generation
For every detected section, the workflow generates timestamp start time, section title or topic summary, and corresponding transcript portion. The output mirrors how creators manually timestamp videos — but fully automated.
Automatic Sheet Updates
Once processing is complete, the automation writes the full transcript into the sheet, adds a timestamped overview column, and marks the row as completed. Everything stays organized and easy to access.
Scalable & Reliable Execution
The workflow is designed to handle long videos safely, process multiple links in one run, recover gracefully from failures, and avoid duplicate processing. Perfect for content teams working at scale.
Integrations & Connected Systems
YouTube – Video content source; AI Model – Transcript segmentation and topic detection; Google Sheets – Input control + output storage; n8n – Workflow orchestration, looping, validation.
Smart Logic & Reliability
- Handles long transcripts efficiently
- Prevents reprocessing of completed videos
- Ensures consistent timestamp formatting
- Produces predictable, structured output
- Works reliably for educational, podcast, and explainer videos
Before
Manual transcription, rewatching videos, time-consuming timestamp creation.
After
Paste a YouTube link → receive a full transcript with timestamps automatically.
Tools Used
Our Process
Discover
Identified friction in manual transcript and timestamp creation.
Design
Built a transcript-to-structure automation pipeline.
Build
Integrated transcript extraction with AI segmentation.
Integrate
Connected clean outputs to Google Sheets.
Deploy
Tuned segmentation logic for accuracy and clarity.
Business Impact
Saves hours per video
Enables fast content repurposing
Improves accessibility
Helps creators scale content production
Makes long videos easier to navigate
Perfect for SEO and documentation workflows
"This automation turns YouTube videos into structured, timestamped transcripts automatically. By combining transcript extraction, AI-based segmentation, and clean spreadsheet outputs, teams can now repurpose and organize video content at scale — without manual effort."
Want a system like this for your business?
Let’s build it.