OpenSpeaks/Tools

The OpenSpeaks open-source tools are offline-first and for language archivists, including Wikimedians, to support them in documenting languages. All code will be licensed under a permissive open-source license (e.g., MIT or GPL), fully public, and free to use. The focus is simplicity, offline capability, and cross-platform access (desktop-first, browser-based where possible). Internet is required only for optional upload functions. The need for these tools within the community was identified during a previous Rapid Grant-supported project and was documented in this research paper.

Timeline: July 2025–June 2026

Tools

• OpenSpeaks Subtitler
• Media Metadata Viewer & Compress Helper
• Media Duration Calculator
• Multimedia Organization Tool

OpenSpeaks Subtitler

Prototype of OpenSpeaks Subtitler in action

Purpose

Create and edit subtitles quickly, especially for oral history and language documentation materials.

Core Features

1. Load Media
   • Accepts common video/audio formats (MP4, MOV, MP3, WAV, etc.).
   • Offline loading with HTML5-based player.
2. Dummy Subtitle Generation
   • Parameters:
     • Silence threshold (in dB).
     • Minimum silence length (in milliseconds/seconds).
   • Automatically segments media into draft subtitle chunks.
3. Manual Editing Interface
   • Full timeline view + zoomed-in view for current subtitle (with 2–3 preceding/following subtitles visible).
   • Editable text overlay directly on video player.
   • Real-time update of subtitles in playback.
4. Language Selection
   • Dropdown with ISO 639 language list.
5. Export
   • Save as SRT or VTT.
   • UTF-8 encoding.
6. Optional Wikimedia Upload
   • Login via OAuth using MediaWiki credentials.
   • Upload generated subtitles to Wikimedia Commons.

Tech Suggestions

• Frontend: HTML5, JavaScript (possibly React or vanilla JS), Web Audio API for silence detection.
• Backend: None (pure client-side, except Wikimedia API calls).
• Media handling: ffmpeg.wasm for browser-based media analysis.

Update

• Alpha prototype published in 2025 and is in use
• User:Ranjithsiji joins to lead development
  • working prototype published in March 2026
  • User testing scheduled in March and April

Media Metadata Viewer & Compress Helper

Screenshot of a prototype of OpenSpeaks Media Size Optimizer (see working prototype

Purpose

Quickly inspect media properties and compress files for sharing/editing.

Core Features

1. Load Media & Display Metadata
   • Key data points:
     • Duration
     • Resolution (video)
     • Frame rate (fps)
     • Audio sample rate (Hz)
     • Bitrate
     • Codec info
2. Compression Targeting
   • User enters desired output file size.
   • Tool calculates required bitrate for re-encoding.
3. Compression Execution
   • Option to export compressed file.
   • Use ffmpeg.wasm or local ffmpeg wrapper.

Tech Suggestions

• Frontend: HTML5/JavaScript UI.
• Compression: ffmpeg.wasm or native ffmpeg calls in Electron.

See working prototype

Media Duration Calculator

Prototype of OpenSpeaks Folder Media Analyzer

Purpose

Batch calculate total media duration of audio and video files inside folders for project planning/budgeting.

Core Features

1. Folder Input
   • User points to a folder containing media files.
2. Duration Summary
   • Outputs:
     • Total duration of all media.
     • Total duration of audio-only files.
     • Total duration of video-only files.
3. Output Format
   • Display results on screen.
   • Option to export CSV or plain text report.

Tech Suggestions

• Node.js or Python backend for folder scanning + ffprobe (from FFmpeg) for duration extraction.
• Simple HTML/JS frontend.

Test working prototype

Multimedia Organization Tool

Prototype of Multimedia Organization Tool

Purpose

Organise, categorise, tag, and batch-rename multimedia files (video, audio, image) inside a folder using structured naming conventions for production workflows.

Core Features

1. Folder Input
   • User selects a local folder containing media files via the File System Access API.
   • Scans and lists all video, audio, and image files.

1. File Categorisation & Tagging
   • Assign categories (e.g., A-roll, B-roll) to files — categories are editable.
   • Apply supplementary tags (e.g., Establishing, Close-up) independently of categories.
   • Filter file list by category or tag.
   • Inline notes per file within the file list view.

1. Media Preview
   • Built-in player for video, audio, and image preview.
   • Displays current filename during playback.
   • Audio files are visually distinguished with a different colour.

1. Naming Convention Builder
   • Configurable pattern: {language}-{type}-{names}-{subject}_{sequence}.{ext}
   • Language prefix (e.g., en, hi).
   • Type mapped to category (e.g., a for A-roll, b for B-roll).
   • Speaker/participant names joined with hyphens; spaces converted to underscores.
   • Subject/topic in Sentence Case with spaces as underscores.
   • Auto-appended sequential numbering (_01, _02, etc.) to prevent overwrites.
   • Example: en-a-Speaker_1-Speaker_2-Subject_01.mov

1. Export & Rename
   • Export organisation log as CSV or TSV with old name, new name, notes, category, type, and size.
   • Batch rename files directly in the filesystem (requires browser permission).

Tech Stack

• Self-contained single HTML file — works fully offline.
• File System Access API for local folder access (Chromium-based browsers).
• Vanilla HTML, CSS, and JavaScript — no external dependencies.
• Also available as React/TypeScript app (Vite + Tailwind CSS + shadcn/ui).

Test working prototype

Needs

• Tool to ingest metadata in accepted formats by other archives and export Wikimedia Templates

Inspirations

• LinguaLibre Dictionary for creating a dictionary using recordings on Commons: Excellent way to organise community-based recording sessions for those interested in building a dictionary