Video translation, captions or transcript take too long or failed
Video jobs run on the server, so you can close the app after the upload. Tokens are charged only for a finished result. How long to wait and what to do after Failed.
Updated November 2, 20264 min read
This applies to three tools that process video on the server: Translate Video, Add Captions and Video to Text. Each has its own History with the job status, opened with the clock icon in the top right corner of the tool.
How long is normal
The times below are what the app itself tells you. Long videos take more.
| Tool | Usual time | How you learn it's ready |
|---|---|---|
| Translate Video | 5–15 minutes on average; HeyGen gets up to 1 hour, or 3 hours with Enhanced cloning | email and push notification; on iPhone with version 1.74+, a Live Activity |
| Add Captions | usually a few minutes | push notification and email |
| Video to Text | depends on the length; after about 20 minutes the app says recognition is taking longer than usual | push notification; an email if the push wasn't delivered |
If you don't get notifications, see Push notifications not working.
Stay in the app until the upload ends
The job reaches the server only after the upload. Until then you see «Don't close the app, lock the screen, or switch apps», and leaving the page loses the progress: «Translation is not complete yet. If you leave the page, progress will be lost.» After «Video sent for translation» or «Video sent for captions» you can minimize or close the app.
If the job takes too long
Open the tool's History and look at the status. Queued and Processing mean the job is still running on the server.
Wait at least the time from the table. Closing or reopening the app doesn't speed up or cancel the job.
With HeyGen, the job ends with an error by itself if it isn't ready in 1 hour, or 3 hours with Enhanced cloning. You won't wait forever.
If an entry has been Processing much longer than that, contact support and give the time you started it.
If the job failed
In Translate Video and Add Captions a failed entry has a retry button in History. Tap it, and the app shows «Retry started» or «Retrying...». Video to Text has no retry button: choose the file again.
Failed jobs don't cost tokens: Translate Video, Add Captions and Video to Text charge only after the result is ready. If tokens were charged and there's no result, contact support.
If the job fails again, check the source.
The video must have a sound track with clear speech. Without speech there is nothing to translate or transcribe.
A private, age-restricted or paid video may fail to download by link. Save the file and choose it from your device.
Try a shorter fragment of 1–2 minutes: if it works, the problem is the length or the file itself.
Error messages in Translate Video
These messages appear before or during the upload, and each one tells you what to change.
«HeyGen supports videos up to 30 minutes. Please trim your video and try again.»: trim the video or choose ElevenLabs in the settings.
«This video is too large even after compression. Please choose a shorter or smaller video and try again.»: after compression the file must be up to 2 GB.
«This video file is corrupted or unreadable. Please choose another file and try again.»: save the video again or export it as MP4.
«Video translated, but lip sync failed. You were charged only for dubbing.»: the dubbed video is ready without lip sync, and the entry in History is marked No sync.
In Add Captions, the animated templates accept only vertical 9:16 videos in MP4 or MOV up to 50 MB and 5 minutes. Other videos switch to the standard styles by themselves. More in How Add Captions works.
How long failed entries are kept
Failed and cancelled jobs are deleted together with their files after 2 days. Without Premium, History is trimmed to 3 entries, but entries that are processing or failed are not removed by this trimming.
When to contact support
Write to support if a retry fails again with a short clean video, the entry stays in Processing for hours, or tokens were charged without a result. Use Settings → Support in the app or the form at vocalingo.app/support, and add the tool and the time you started the job.
Contact support
Describe the problem and we will reply by email. Add the file name or job ID if you have one.