Create translation
Translates audio into English.
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI()
audio_file = open("german_audio.mp3", "rb")
translation = client.audio.translations.create(
model="whisper-1",
file=audio_file
)
print(translation.text)
Parameters
The audio file object (not file name) to translate, in one of these formats: flac, mp3, mp4, mpeg, mpga, m4a, ogg, wav, or webm.
ID of the model to use. Only whisper-1 (which is powered by OpenAI’s open source Whisper V2 model) is currently available.
An optional text to guide the model’s style or continue a previous audio segment. The prompt should be in English. The format of the output, in one of these options: json, text, srt, verbose_json, or vtt.
The sampling temperature, between 0 and 1. Higher values like 0.8 will make the output more random, while lower values like 0.2 will make it more focused and deterministic. If set to 0, the model will use log probability to automatically increase the temperature until certain thresholds are hit.
Response
The translated text in English.
Examples
Basic translation
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI()
# Translate Spanish audio to English
audio_file = open("spanish_audio.mp3", "rb")
translation = client.audio.translations.create(
model="whisper-1",
file=audio_file
)
print(translation.text)
Get translation as SRT subtitles
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI()
audio_file = open("french_video.mp3", "rb")
translation = client.audio.translations.create(
model="whisper-1",
file=audio_file,
response_format="srt"
)
# Save English SRT file
with open("english_subtitles.srt", "w") as f:
f.write(translation)
Get translation as VTT
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI()
audio_file = open("mandarin_audio.mp3", "rb")
translation = client.audio.translations.create(
model="whisper-1",
file=audio_file,
response_format="vtt"
)
# Save as WebVTT file
with open("subtitles.vtt", "w") as f:
f.write(translation)
Translation with verbose JSON
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI()
audio_file = open("japanese_audio.mp3", "rb")
translation = client.audio.translations.create(
model="whisper-1",
file=audio_file,
response_format="verbose_json"
)
# Access detailed information
print(f"Language: {translation.language}")
print(f"Duration: {translation.duration}")
print(f"Text: {translation.text}")
Translation with prompt
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI()
audio_file = open("german_presentation.mp3", "rb")
translation = client.audio.translations.create(
model="whisper-1",
file=audio_file,
prompt="This is a technical presentation about machine learning algorithms."
)
print(translation.text)
Batch translate multiple files
from openai import OpenAI
from pathlib import Path
client = OpenAI()
audio_files = Path("audio_files").glob("*.mp3")
for audio_path in audio_files:
with audio_path.open("rb") as audio_file:
translation = client.audio.translations.create(
model="whisper-1",
file=audio_file
)
# Save translation
output_path = audio_path.with_suffix(".txt")
output_path.write_text(translation.text)
print(f"Translated {audio_path.name}")
Async usage
import asyncio
from openai import AsyncOpenAI
async def translate_audio():
client = AsyncOpenAI()
audio_file = open("italian_audio.mp3", "rb")
translation = await client.audio.translations.create(
model="whisper-1",
file=audio_file
)
print(translation.text)
asyncio.run(translate_audio())
flac - Free Lossless Audio Codecmp3 - MPEG audio formatmp4 - MPEG-4 Part 14mpeg - MPEG audiompga - MPEG audiom4a - MPEG-4 audioogg - Ogg Vorbiswav - Waveform audiowebm - WebM audio
File uploads
Files are uploaded using multipart/form-data. The file object should be opened in binary mode:
# Correct way to open file
audio_file = open("path/to/file.mp3", "rb")
# Or using pathlib
from pathlib import Path
audio_file = Path("path/to/file.mp3").open("rb")
Translation vs Transcription
The key difference between the /audio/translations and /audio/transcriptions endpoints:
- Translations - Always outputs English text, regardless of input language
- Transcriptions - Outputs text in the same language as the audio input
When to use translations
Use the translations endpoint when you need to:
- Convert non-English audio into English text
- Create English subtitles for foreign language videos
- Translate podcasts or audio content into English
- Build multilingual applications that standardize on English output
When to use transcriptions
Use the transcriptions endpoint when you need to:
- Convert audio to text in the same language
- Create subtitles in the original language
- Preserve the original language of the content
Example: Multi-language processing
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI()
# First transcribe in original language
audio_file = open("spanish_audio.mp3", "rb")
transcription = client.audio.transcriptions.create(
model="whisper-1",
file=audio_file,
language="es"
)
print(f"Spanish: {transcription.text}")
# Then translate to English
audio_file = open("spanish_audio.mp3", "rb")
translation = client.audio.translations.create(
model="whisper-1",
file=audio_file
)
print(f"English: {translation.text}")
