> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.smartinterview.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Upload interview recordings to Smartinterview

> Add audio or video interview files to Pulse Qualitative, select a language, and let Smartinterview compress and prepare recordings for transcription.

Before you can transcribe or analyze an interview, you need to upload the recording to **Pulse Qualitative**. Smartinterview accepts a wide range of audio and video formats and handles compression automatically, so you can upload the original file without pre-processing it.

## Supported file formats

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Video">
    | Format | Extension |
    | ------ | --------- |
    | MP4    | `.mp4`    |
    | MOV    | `.mov`    |
    | WebM   | `.webm`   |
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Audio">
    | Format | Extension |
    | ------ | --------- |
    | MP3    | `.mp3`    |
    | WAV    | `.wav`    |
    | M4A    | `.m4a`    |
    | OGG    | `.ogg`    |
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

<Note>
  The upload area accepts all common media formats. If your file is rejected, convert it to one of the formats listed above using a tool like Handbrake or FFmpeg.
</Note>

## How to upload a recording

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Pulse Qualitative">
    Navigate to **Pulse Qualitative** from the main dashboard.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Drag and drop your file">
    Drag one or more files from your computer onto the upload area. You can also click the area to open a file picker. You can upload up to 30 files at once.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select the interview language">
    Use the **Language** dropdown to choose the primary language spoken in the recording. Smartinterview uses this to improve transcription accuracy. Supported languages include French, English, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm the upload">
    Click **Upload** (or proceed to transcription). The file is stored securely and queued for processing.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What happens after upload

Once you upload a file, Smartinterview:

1. **Compresses the audio**: the recording is automatically converted to a compact format (mono, 16 kHz) to reduce bandwidth and processing time. The original file is not modified.
2. **Stores the file securely**: your recording is saved to encrypted cloud storage, accessible only to your account.
3. **Queues for transcription**: the file is ready for you to start a transcription job. Processing is asynchronous, so you can upload multiple files and kick off transcription at any time.

## Estimating token cost

Transcription costs **8 tokens per minute** of audio. Use this formula to estimate the cost before you start:

```text theme={null}
tokens = duration_in_minutes × 8
```

| Recording length | Token cost |
| ---------------- | ---------- |
| 15 minutes       | 120 tokens |
| 30 minutes       | 240 tokens |
| 60 minutes       | 480 tokens |
| 90 minutes       | 720 tokens |

<Tip>
  If you are uploading many long recordings, check your token balance first. You can view your balance and purchase additional tokens from your account settings.
</Tip>

## Managing uploaded files

After uploading, your files appear in the transcription history sidebar. Workspace-grouped recordings are listed under **Folders,** and standalone files under **Files**. From there you can:

* **View status**: see whether a file is pending, processing, completed, or failed.
* **Delete a file**: select the file and click the delete icon to remove it and its associated transcript.
* **Move a file**: if you have multiple workspaces, drag a file to a different workspace or use the move icon to reassign it.