How to Take Notes on Bilibili Videos

#The Challenge of Passive Watching

Without a system, you are a content consumer, not a learner. Information doesn't move from short-term to long-term memory.

Here are the common hurdles:

• You forget what you watched: Without active engagement, information is quickly lost.
• Language barriers: Much of the best content is in Mandarin, making it inaccessible to many international learners.
• Disorganized notes: A messy folder of random screenshots and jumbled text files is impossible to review, making the effort of capturing them pointless.

Taking structured video notes is the bridge between simply watching and truly understanding. Studies on the effectiveness of learning a language by watching TV support the value of active engagement with video content.

#The Old Ways of Taking Notes (And Why They Don't Work)

Most people start by opening a Bilibili tutorial and a blank text file. You watch, pause, type, rewind, and repeat. This constant task-switching is exhausting and shatters your focus. You end up with a wall of text disconnected from the video's crucial visual context.

The next step is often taking screenshots. You see a critical diagram or code snippet and capture it. Soon, your desktop is a mess of files named Screen Shot 2024-10-27 at 11.45.12 AM.png. These images lack timestamps and are disconnected from your written notes, making them difficult to organize or review.

#Why Just Grabbing a Transcript Isn't Enough

Using a video transcript seems like a smart shortcut, but it has a major flaw: it misses everything on the screen. For the technical and visual content that thrives on Bilibili, this is a dealbreaker.

A transcript can tell you what the instructor said about the code, but it can't show you the code itself. Visual context matters. Transcripts miss the diagrams, on-screen annotations, and live demonstrations that are often the point of the lesson.

Unlike tools that only parse transcripts, some modern tools watch the video to capture what's actually on screen. This problem isn't unique to Bilibili; we cover the same issue in our guide to getting a transcript from a YouTube video. Manual methods force a choice: pay attention to the video or take notes. You can't do both effectively.

#A Smarter Way to Capture Bilibili Notes

A better workflow automates the grunt work. Instead of frantic pausing and typing, you focus on the content while your notes are generated for you.

Tools like HoverNotes, a Chrome extension that watches videos with you, generates AI notes, and saves them as Markdown directly to your file system, are built for this. It avoids the frustrating manual cycle of learning.

This constant context-switching is why so much information from videos doesn't stick.

#Automating the Capture Process

A better workflow is simple. You use a tool to let an AI capture key concepts, generate an outline, and build a structured document while you watch. The AI can handle note-taking so you can focus on understanding.

The key is that the tool watches the video frame-by-frame, just like a human. This means it catches visual details that transcript-only tools miss, like:

• The exact code snippets in a programming tutorial.
• Complex diagrams in a science lecture.
• On-screen annotations the instructor adds.

You can still add your own notes. A "snip" tool lets you capture a specific part of the screen—a single formula or chart—and drop it into your notes. Every screenshot includes a clickable timestamp; one click returns you to that exact moment in the video. You can see a more detailed breakdown of how to take notes on videos with this method.

The goal is to shift your effort from transcription to comprehension. You stop being a scribe and become a learner engaging with the material.

For Obsidian users, notes save as .md files directly to your vault. There's no proprietary format or sync service—your notes belong to you. This local-first approach means your knowledge base is private, secure, and accessible offline.

#Breaking Through the Language Barrier with AI

A significant portion of Bilibili's best educational content is in Mandarin. This no longer has to be a barrier for international learners. Modern AI can process video content and provide notes in your preferred language.

You can watch a machine learning lecture in Mandarin while an AI generates structured notes in English, Spanish, or Japanese. This isn't just a transcript; it's a summary of core concepts, definitions, and examples in a language you understand.

#Accessing a Global Knowledge Base

This unlocks a massive library of knowledge. Bilibili's monthly active user count of 341.5 million in Q1 2024 highlights its role as a major platform for video-based learning. You can see more on Bilibili's audience growth at sec.gov.

HoverNotes was built to solve this. It can watch a video in one language and produce notes in another, handling the translation automatically. For example, you can watch a Korean lecture and get notes in Spanish. This is especially useful for technical subjects where visual context is critical, as the AI captures on-screen code and diagrams that audio translation would miss.

If you're looking to upgrade your study habits, exploring the best AI study tools can open up more ways to learn effectively.

This workflow converts foreign-language educational videos into a permanent, searchable part of your knowledge base, in your own language.

To get a better feel for how this works, see our guide on AI video notes.

#Connecting Your Notes to Your Personal Knowledge Base

Taking notes is only half the job. To be useful, your bilibili notes must become a living part of your personal knowledge system. This is where owning your data becomes critical.

When your notes are saved as local-first Markdown (.md) files, they belong to you. They aren’t trapped in a proprietary cloud service. For anyone serious about building a lasting knowledge base, this local-first storage is a key advantage. You own the files—move them, back them up, search them. They're just Markdown.

#For Obsidian Users

If you’re an Obsidian user, this workflow is powerful. HoverNotes saves your notes directly into your vault. As soon as you finish a video, your notes—with timestamped screenshots and clean formatting—are part of your knowledge graph. You can immediately link concepts from a Bilibili lecture to your existing notes.

#For Notion and Other Tools

If you don't use Obsidian, the principle is the same. The notes are in a universal format.

• Notion: Copy and paste your notes directly into a Notion page. Headings, bullet points, and screenshots transfer cleanly.
• Google Docs: The same applies here. Your notes will paste with their structure intact.
• Any Text Editor: At their core, these are plain text files. You can open, edit, and search them with any tool, now or ten years from now.

An effective note-taking tool doesn’t trap your knowledge; it exports it cleanly into the system you already use.

#Comparing Bilibili Note-Taking Methods

Not all note-taking strategies are equally effective for video content. This table breaks down the pros and cons.

As you can see, traditional methods create friction. You're constantly pausing, switching windows, and manually adding context. An integrated tool makes the process seamless.

If this workflow sounds useful, you can try HoverNotes for free. It includes 20 minutes of AI credits to test on Bilibili videos, with no credit card required.

#Got Questions About Bilibili Notes?

When learning from Bilibili, a few practical questions often come up. Here are answers to the most common ones.

#Can I Get Notes In English If The Video Is In Chinese?

Yes. Tools like HoverNotes can process the original Mandarin audio and generate structured notes in English or another language you choose. The AI summarizes core concepts, not just a word-for-word transcript. This unlocks Bilibili's library of Chinese educational content, even if you don't speak the language.

#Do I Need a Bilibili Account to Take Notes?

No, you usually don't. As long as a video is public and doesn't require a login, a browser tool can access it. You can start taking notes on most educational videos without an account.

#How Can I Best Organize My Bilibili Notes in Obsidian?

Save your notes as Markdown (.md) files directly to a dedicated folder in your Obsidian vault, like /Bilibili Notes or /Course Captures. Inside each note, use tags like #python or #datascience to make your video library searchable.

The real advantage is linking. Once a Bilibili note is in Obsidian, you can connect a concept from the video to other ideas in your knowledge base. You're not just storing notes; you're building a web of interconnected knowledge.

This workflow transforms passive video watching into an active process of building your personal knowledge graph. For more technical questions on how these tools work, you can check a product’s FAQ page, like the one with technical details about HoverNotes.

If you use Obsidian and want to make your Bilibili learning sessions more productive, HoverNotes saves notes directly to your vault. You can try it free—20 minutes of AI credits, no credit card required.