NVivo will allow you to work directly with audio or video files, but in most cases it is easier to work from a transcription. 

What is transcription?

From Poland et al. in the The SAGE encyclopedia of qualitative research methods (2008):

Transcription is the process whereby recordings of research conversations (interviews, focus groups) are turned into textual material (transcripts), which then become the primary data for subsequent analysis.

Manual vs. automated transcription 

Transcription can be done manually by a human or be automated and done by a machine. 

Manual transcription can be expensive, but is usually more accurate, and is better able to handle nuance around things like emotion, pauses, and inflection. Automated transcription tools and software are continually improving and there are many options available. 

The Research Commons doesn't provide any automated transcription tool training or access at this time.

Ethics considerations

Many automated transcription services are cloud-based and their use requires some important considerations. Cloud-based automated transcription services store data external to SFU and usually outside of Canada and this may not be appropriate for a project's data, depending on the data sensitivity and risk of harm to research participants.  At SFU, ethics approval for use of transcription software is currently unique to each project and not to a particular software program.

Selected transcription services

Cloud-based

• Otter.ai - a low-cost, speedy transcription tool.  
• Dictate in Microsoft 365
• NVivo Transcription - a cloud-based add-on to NVivo that can be purchased. A 14-day free trial is available.
• SFU has a beta transcription feature in Zoom
• Descript
• Ebby
• Sonix

Non-cloud

• oTranscribe - a free open source web app that does transcription locally in the browser.
• Simon Says - offers an on-premise transcription software that runs on Mac & PC, but may be quite expensive.
• Buzz - free offline transcription.
• MacWhisper - macOS app for transcription.

The University of Calgary Libraries & Cultural Resources has an extremely useful—though not exhaustive—list of list of transcription services, along with costs, links to confidentiality agreements, and other considerations.