Video to MIDI only works when the video has an audio track you can extract.
Note Foundry does not accept video files directly. Extract a mono WAV or MP3 from a video, run that audio through the converter, and inspect the MIDI. In the saved test, an MP4 with AAC audio returned four note events; a video-only MP4 returned no audio stream and produced no MIDI input.
Four artifacts, one answer
| Video/audio input | Extraction or output | Observed result |
|---|---|---|
| single-track.mp4 | extracted WAV → single.mid | 4 notes: MIDI 62, 65, 69, 74 |
| no-audio.mp4 | No WAV or MIDI output | FFmpeg reported no audio stream |
Reproduce the workflow
- Inspect the video and select an audio stream; do not assume the first stream contains sound.
- Extract mono PCM audio and resample it for the converter.
- Run the audio converter and download the MIDI.
- Compare pitches and timing with the source before using the result in a DAW.
The test used a generated four-note melody packaged into an AAC MP4. The extracted audio returned the same four pitches as the WAV baseline, but the detected starts were about 70–85 ms earlier than the generated note starts. That is a measured result for this fixture, not a guarantee for speech, chords or a full mix.
Why the video-only case fails
MIDI is note data, not a video soundtrack. A container with H.264 frames and no audio stream gives the extractor nothing to analyze. The saved failure log records the exact stream-mapping error instead of presenting a blank MIDI file as success.
Video to MIDI questions
Can I upload an MP4 directly here?
No. Extract MP3 or WAV first, then use the browser converter.
What if the video has multiple audio tracks?
Select the intended track and listen to the extracted file before conversion. A silent or wrong track can look like a converter failure.
Will extracting audio preserve timing perfectly?
Not necessarily. In this controlled AAC test, pitch was preserved but note starts shifted earlier. Inspect the MIDI boundaries against the original video audio.
Where are the complete files?
The full results JSON, reproduction script and all downloadable fixtures are preserved with the earlier MP4 experiment.