Author: Allan Caeg

A Step-by-Step Guide: How to Write a Transcript Fast

Allan CaegLeave a comment
A Step-by-Step Guide: How to Write a Transcript Fast

So, you’re supposed to transcribe an audio or video file.

Your work may need you to do a steady stream of transcriptions, or you’ve never transcribed a word in your life.

Best practices and guidelines ensure that transcripts adhere to industry standards. How do you keep your transcripts high quality with minimal effort? It helps to establish a process for things to stay organized and smooth.

If you happen to be a seasoned transcriber, there may be transcription tips and tricks that you haven’t considered before. Can you improve your current transcription process?

We’ve created this checklist covering all the essential bases to optimize the transcription process, from start to finish. Check out the necessary steps to get you on your way to completing that transcription task efficiently.

Step 1. Prepare Your Tools and Equipment

Make sure you’ve prepared all the necessary tools and equipment before you begin to transcribe.

A comfortable or ergonomic chair creates a huge difference in keeping your body relaxed during hours of transcription work. It supports your lower back, promotes good posture, and ensures proper blood circulation. Adjust the seat to your preferred position.

Use good quality, noise-canceling headphones. Over-ear headsets are the most comfortable as they encase your entire ear and isolate distracting noise. Human voice frequencies lie between 250 Hz and 2000 Hz, the midrange of sound. We recommend headphones that have a pronounced yet smooth midrange.

Keep your essential every day carry items close. Eyeglasses, a bottle of water, a cup of coffee, or mobile phone should have already been placed on your desk to reduce distractions while doing transcription work.

An online reference such as soft copies of a dictionary or Google helps you quickly search for unfamiliar terms and the context to its meaning.

A foot pedal lets you control dictation playback with your toes. You can play, rewind, and fast forward by tapping sections of the pedal with your foot. You can setup your foot pedal to work with Scribie’s transcription software.

Step 2. Find a Good Transcription Software

There are web-based transcription tools that let you upload and transcribe your entire recordings online. These are your best friends in getting transcripts done–fast.

Scribie’s all-in-one transcription software has built-in tools and shortcuts to make everything easier from start to finish. You can even automatically transcribe your file to cut down time spent on transcription.

Basically, you can transcribe on Scribie in three simple steps:

  1. Upload your file.
  2. Scribie transcribes automatically.
  3. Check and edit the transcript.

Step 3. Amplify Volume and Increase the Audio Quality

Not all recordings are made equal. If you have a difficult file with plenty of background noise, there are ways you can increase its audio quality.

Scribie has a built-in dynamic range compressor that automatically increases the audio quality of your file for transcription. It reduces the volume of unnecessary loud sounds and amplifies sections that are difficult to hear. As we’ve been mastering transcription for about a decade, we continuously optimize tools like these.

Step 4. Familiarize Yourself with the Tools

Make the most out of your transcription software. Buckle up for your transcription journey by getting to know your tools.

Scribie has a timestamped audio player and fully-featured integrated text editor–everything you need for transcription. There are built-in tools, keyboard shortcuts, and a control panel that you can customize to fit your work process.

Scribie’s tools and shortcuts:

The word expander saves time by predicting and expanding the word you’re typing. Frequently used words allow an overview of what words to expect in your recording. This saves you from guessing a vague term.

Spellcheck provides you with suggestions to autocorrect any potential spelling mistakes.

Slow down or speed up audio to catch every word.

Use keyboard shortcuts to pause, skip, forward, or rewind to a certain time in the recording.

Identify mistakes with a blue underline through Scribie’s AI tool.

For recordings with heavy accents, you can dictate and transcribe the file using our voice recognition software.

If you happen to have little idea of your recording’s content, you have the option to automatically transcribe your file. This gives you a nice overview of what to expect and speeds up transcription.

Step 5. During Transcription

Here’s a pro tip: Many transcribers put speech to text by matching the transcript and audio word-for-word. We actually recommend against that. Instead, listen to the entire conversation and use context to interpret and identify the correct words.

During transcription, you may come across unfamiliar content such as technical or medical terms. Do a Google search for context or install soft copies of an online dictionary for a quick definition.

Don’t get hung up on a difficult word, though. There may be certain terms or words that are difficult to catch where you end up pausing and rewinding multiple times. Skip them. Leave a blank in the meantime and get back to those words you missed later to avoid breaking your flow.

Avoid context switching and juggling different tasks at the same time. Alternating between transcribing and editing becomes tiresome. Instead, do one thing at a time.

Begin the task by putting on your transcription hat and focusing on the transcription task ahead. The first draft doesn’t have to be perfect. Once you’ve completely transcribed the entire recording, whether manually or automatically, you can pivot your attention to editing and refining the transcript.

Step 6. Edit the Transcript

Re-play the audio, go over your draft, and zoom in on the ff:

  • Areas left blank or missed
  • Misheard words, terms, or expressions
  • Misspelled words
  • Punctuation
  • Formatting

Use Scribie’s spellcheck and AI tool to identify any misspellings or mistakes that may have slipped through.

Over to You

Transcription work can be rewarding for those with an eye for detail and quality content.

Breaking the transcription process down into step-by-step increments makes long hours seem easy and do-able. While a great transcription software saves time and effort.

We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to make transcription as easy as possible for our transcribers.

Scribie offers online transcription jobs for beginners and seasoned professionals. Learn more about how you can join Scribie as a freelancer.

How to Create Promo Videos out of Interviews [Faster with Transcripts]

Allan CaegLeave a comment

As video editors or production managers, you don’t always have the luxury of working with a storyboard or script.

You may have to create a short promo video from pre-existing footages. This could involve re-purposing your subject’s past TV appearances or putting together interviews from respondents who shared their candid feedback.

See how InVision puts together a powerful 2-minute promo video based on original interviews in the example below:

It’s very easy to underestimate the work required to edit that video, yes?

Now, video production agencies are also often asked by clients to edit video content that they haven’t even seen yet.

Consider the typical shooting ratio or the total hours of footage shot in relation to the eventual runtime of the promo video. Raw footage (to be condensed to a less than 5-minute final cut) can run for over two hours!

This means spending loads of time sorting through every piece of footage after production has wrapped before you can even begin editing. We also lose our flow and productivity when we have to switch between context and tasks.

Stick to your budget, save time, and create a top-notch promo video for your clients through transcription.

Without a pre-existing script, transcripts are a post-production lifesaver.

What Can You Expect from a Transcript?

So, what is a post-production transcript in a nutshell? A transcript gives you a highly-accurate, word-for-word account of your video footage. It’s essential to a fast and smooth post-production process.

They include many elements that make life easier for the storyboarding artist or video editor, such as onscreen captions, music cues, scene details, timestamps, and speaker turns.

How do these transcript elements cut editing time in (at least) half?

You can add on-screen captions from automated or manual transcripts, without having to determine every word yourself first.

Transcripts also provide music and applause cues. With a transcript, you’ll be able to catch specific details, scene-by-scene.

Timestamps, aka time coding, are used to sync text in the transcription with specific frames or scenes. This speeds up locating segments for editing during post-production.

If you have more than one person on the footage, speaker turn tracking allows you to identify the different speakers in your file. You’ll also have the option of having each speaker identified by name.

Speed up your video editing workflow with a transcript. Upload your file on Scribie.

3 Post-Production Tips to Create High-Converting Videos

As content moves towards more video-based mediums, which increase conversion rates, more brands need professional promo videos on a shoestring budget.

After all, video content is dominating the online market. Cisco shares that video traffic will account for 82% of all global internet traffic by 2021.

Studies also show that the audiences’ attention spans are getting shorter when it comes to consuming online content. Not many folks will hunker down to watch a 20-minute video nowadays. We need to get to the gist of the matter, like ASAP.

Check out this 2016 study by Wistia. As video length increases, you’ll notice a huge decrease in engagement levels.

If you look closely, the average engagement of video lengths beyond two minutes decline sharply. Wistia’s study suggests videos lengths within the 1-2 minute and 6-12 minute mark retain the most attention.

Keep It Short and Sweet

To keep your promo videos short and sweet, it’s necessary for you to efficiently sift through hours of footage to find the relevant footage in the reel. A transcript helps editors zero in on what matters for audiences.

Tailor Videos to the Message

As video editors, time is money. And the more time you spend on a single project for a client, you could lose out on other projects. You may be tempted to save time and cram everything in the reel to a single promo video, but for high-converting videos, you’ll need to clarify the message.

A tailored video with a clear message and a specific goal will be much more effective. Transcripts help you stay organized and on top of things. You’ll be able to have a clear overview of the entire contents of the raw file and highlight important points from any long footage.

Immediately Grab the Audience’s Attention

A transcript on hand also lets you create videos that get to the point within seconds. The average attention span is only 8 seconds. Knowing that viewers would click away if you don’t grab their attention immediately, you need to get the message across right away.

A goldfish’s attention span is 9 seconds, a second more than the typical viewer.

A transcript helps you quickly figure out the “why” of your video, and how to immediately captivate and entrench viewers into the middle of things from the onset.

Process and Workflow

Editing can be daunting. A documentary involving multiple interviews, for example, can amount to 30 hours of footage. Reduce your video edit time and cost.

Here are the steps to efficiently create promo videos out of your raw interview footage.

  1. Upload all “rushes” or unedited material on Scribie to convert your video file into a text document or transcript.
  2. Scribie’s transcription software adds a timestamp to your file to help you identify any point in the video, even by the second.
  3. You can edit the automated transcript yourself through our browser-based editor, or delegate the task to our transcription specialists.
  4. Transcripts are then downloaded and used to assist in the video editing process.

Over to You

Transcripts save time, money, and effort.

Whether you had a hand in the shoot or were brought in during post-production, transcripts guarantee that you have total control over your raw interview footage.

Efficiently produce an attention-grabbing and high-converting promo video that perfectly aligns with your client’s goals.

Let Scribie be your post-production partner for promo videos. Upload your raw interview footage for a transcript now.

Human vs. Machine: Should You Use a Manual or Automated Transcription Service?

Allan CaegLeave a comment

Speech and voice recognition software is getting better than ever.

In the age of Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant, we expect more advanced transcription software. However, are any of the automatic transcription services good enough for your audio or video?

How many times have your automatic transcriptions included potentially grave (and often tragically embarrassing) errors?

Transcribing words is relatively easy for machines, and they’ve gotten really good at it. Just take a look at this chart by Kleiner Perkins.

What’s difficult is to infer what you truly mean by saying these words, which makes it more prone to error. Humans, on the other hand, are much better at discerning and recognizing the context of a conference call, webinar, podcast, or any kind of content.

Transcripts produced automatically are quick and private. Yet, they eventually need intervention by hand for proofreading. Others who are looking for accuracy and convenience think that they might as well order manual transcription services.

If you’re unsure whether automatic or manual transcription is the better solution, we’ll be comparing and discussing the pros and cons of both options in detail.

Find out whether you should purchase a manual or automatic transcription service…Human or machine?

The Benefits of Automated Transcripts

First, let’s go over the benefits and downsides of each option, beginning with automatic transcription services.

Transcription tools like Scribie, AWS Transcribe, or The Cloud Speech API by Google converts speech into text transcription from audio. Sometimes, you don’t even need a recorded file. Scribie, for instance, lets you directly make in-app calls where conversations are recorded for automatic transcription.

Automatically turning your video or voice file into a transcript is fast and easy. The average time it takes Scribie to transcribe a 2-hour file is 30 minutes. You’ll have a fast, first draft of your recording in no time.

Besides speed, it also comes at a lower cost for those whose needs don’t require a perfectly documented version of their audio.

Concerned about privacy and confidentiality? With automatic transcription, no other person would listen to your audio. Although some platforms, like Google and AWS, transfer your data to Google servers or others. Scribie is unique in that we have our own tech for privacy concerns and don’t require 3rd-party platforms to process your recordings.

Is It Good for You?

That depends on how you’ll use the transcript. If you’re simply using it to refer to while listening to the recording, you’ll have an easier time processing the information and content of the recording.

Transcripts of interviews, video content, and raw footage are often used by media outlets and journalists as a first draft. Scribie also provides automated subtitles along with the transcript. Users will be able to download the file, as well as upload it to their YouTube account and add it as a caption.

Researchers whose files may contain highly-technical terms or crucial data might prefer automatic transcriptions. Later, they’ll be able to edit the copy themselves for preciseness and accuracy.

For highly sensitive transcripts, such as psychotherapy sessions, rest assured that no other person would listen to the audio or watch the video.

Many businesses also use automated transcripts as a backup for detail discussed in a meeting. It’s also useful for contact centers who record a high-volume of calls with customers.

Automated transcripts are Ideal for:

  • Journalists
  • Medical
  • Research
  • Businesses
  • Contact Centers
  • Media

Get a fast and easy transcript of your recording. Upload a file on Scribie for automatic transcription now.

The Downsides to Automation

Transcription software doesn’t have language inference systems. Without this tech, the machine won’t be able to make corrections based on context, as well as identify different speakers, appropriate paragraph breaks, punctuation marks, and more.

Scribie, however, has a highly-advanced speech recognition engine tuned specifically for transcription of all file types. Unlike others tuned only for conference calls, Scribie can automatically recognize multiple speakers, whether on the other side of the call or sitting right next to each other.

If you find transcription technology that guarantees 100% accuracy, they’re either overshooting claims or over-optimizing for one particular scenario.

Of course, accuracy will also depend on certain factors such as the speaker’s accent or whether the audio is of high quality.

Typical Errors in Automated Transcripts

There are a few usual errors you can expect based on the limitations of today’s transcription automation software.

Artificial intelligence has difficulty detecting speaker turns, especially when there is fast back-and-forth between multiple speakers. All systems have a 20% to 30% failure rate for fast turns. In the most ideal scenario, a system will be able to figure out 90% of the turns. This means paragraphs won’t be broken correctly, words will be missing, and speakers won’t be tracked.

Names of people and places are also often mixed up. There is a village in Wales, for example, called Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, which will most likely never be recognized by transcription software.

Source: Imgur

You can also rule out an automatic transcript from accurately displaying single or double quotes. A voice recording with “He said,…” will show the start of a quote but can’t determine where to close them.

Punctuations, such as hyphens, quotations, and exclamation marks, as well as proper capitalizations, are often unrecognized by systems. AWS, Google Web Speech, and Speechmatics don’t support quotations.

Fortunately, Scribie has an 80% accuracy rate for punctuations. We support all types of punctuations, including quotes and hyphens. Our speech recognition engine also uses Continual Learning to consistently decrease the word error rate (WER). In five to ten years, we’ll be able to reach a 95% accuracy rate for most audio files with good quality.

Automatic transcription is usually the first step to transcription of data and the first draft is rarely the final one. As Scribie keeps your transcript synced to audio, you’ll have an option to manually edit the transcription afterward through our built-in editor tool.

The Benefits of Manual Transcription Services

Transcription by hand is great for a high-quality text version of your file, with an accuracy rate of anywhere beyond 95%.

Nothing is more convenient than handing over the task of transcription to a specialist. Manual transcription services can be beneficial for large files, fast talkers, speakers with accents, and audio challenges, like background noise or distortion.

Manual transcriptions can also be secure. When you use Scribie, your covered by an NDA. Our transcriber directly works through our editor and won’t be able to download the file.

A time-coding feature for manual transcripts helps you determine when a sentence is spoken, so the subtitle shows up at the right time.

Is It Good for You?

Hire a manual transcriber for a clean and polished copy that is presentable to audiences.

Brands and enterprises might need high-quality transcripts to remain compliant with brand guidelines. TV Show subtitles, for example, can benefit from a transcription by hand.

Some content, such as medical and scientific papers are high stakes. It might be preferable to have a human type out the findings. Manual transcription is also crucial for court transcripts, depositions, and other legal documents.

Despite the higher cost of manual transcription vs. automated, a human with attention to detail can save you money. Mistakes by automated transcription software can be costly. A missing punctuation mark once caused a rocket’s engine failure and ended up costing $620 million.

Manual transcripts are ideal for:

  • Enterprises and Brands
  • Research
  • Media
  • Education
  • Marketing
  • Legal

How Will You Use Your Transcript?

Deciding between a human or machine mostly boils down to the application of your transcript.

The modern tech of transcription software is impressive, with an accuracy rate higher than ever.

If you prefer a low-cost alternative and a more hands-on approach, you can use platforms like Scribie to quickly turn your recordings into written text which you can then edit afterward. Of course, doing-it-yourself may be impractical for large files.

Manual transcription services ensure your transcript is high-quality, convenient, and error-free for public or internal use.

Try Scribie’s manual transcription service by 100% humans. Order transcripts online today.

Easy Webex Transcription: Record & Document Your Teleconference with Scribie

Allan CaegLeave a comment
Easy Webex Teleconference Transcription Service

Teams can be productive without having to be physically there.

However, are you documenting your important teleconferences?

Webex has been a key tool in the corporate setting. You use conference calls to stay in touch with remote colleagues, run workshops, or attend training events.

Teleconferences also allow you to connect with clients. You can easily hold sales meetings with potential overseas buyers or easily walk clients through solutions with consulting calls.

What happens after the conversation, though?

To get the most out of your events and meetings, you want to get transcripts out of your recordings.

Transcripts help you keep track of discussions and agreements made during the call. With a documented record of every word, you’ll have an accurate and precise reference point to look back on for future meetings. Plus, you can share the transcript with other team members who’ll be able to keep tabs on discussion points, gain insights behind decisions, and understand the next steps.

Sales and account management teams, for instance, can use a transcript for identifying members’ strengths and improvement areas when it comes to making clients happy. They can pinpoint what works and what doesn’t, and ultimately understand what it takes to close a deal.

Marketers and subject matter experts would also find teleconference transcripts incredibly useful. Workshop attendees would appreciate subtitles as they go through the recorded video afterward. For those who were unable to attend, marketers can offer the recorded transcript to go over the webinar’s content. Hosts can also use the transcript as speaker notes for future webinar sessions.

Alternative Ways to Generate Transcripts

If you’re exploring how to record Webex meetings, there are various ways to process and transcribe the increasing amount of video and audio data.

TIY or Transcribe-It-Yourself

First, you can do it manually yourself. It’s definitely tedious but not impossible to work through, especially for quick meetings. This, however, takes a lot of rewinding, slowing down audio, and close listening. Huge plus if you have a rapid-fire typing speed and can easily decode accents.

In any case, you have to review how to best spend your time and what it costs for you to get up to speed with this task.

Delegate to Team Members

Another option is to delegate the task of transcription to team members. This, however, can distract them from their current focus and more immediate tasks. Based on their strengths, their transcriptions might not be as accurate as you want.

Use Automated Transcription Tools

If you have zero bandwidth to manually transcribe, automated transcription tools are at your fingertips.

Important note: To use transcription services, you will have to convert your ARF file into a widely supported format like MP4, WMA or WAV.

Apps like these are fast and easy with a fair accuracy rate. Text is computer generated, using speech-to-text technology that ideally produces transcripts faster than the length of your audio. It could require some editing after, but still enables you to work faster.

You can try Scribie’s automated audio/video transcription here.

Just keep in mind that you will have to review any automatically generated transcript’s accuracy. For the best combination of cost, convenience, and accuracy, you can order transcripts that are manually written by our professionals at Scribie.

How to Skip the Webex ARF File

When it comes to transcribing Webex calls, you typically have to deal with ARF files.

If you’ve ever attempted to turn your recording to text, you might have stumbled upon Webex’s proprietary file format. Being exclusive to Webex, you’d find difficulties in terms of its closed nature and lack of portability.

It also involves hassles, like installing software to specifically handle this file format.

Converting an ARF file to a compatible format sounds foreign and a bit daunting. You’d rather just stick to familiar cross-platform file types such as MP4.

For clarity: ARF stands for advanced recording file. It is the default file extension format for Webex files. Within a .ARF, you have your recorded online meeting. This includes an index of the attendees and other details.

Other Webex files may come as a WRF. This is a local recording that’s made whenever the user directly records the meeting using Webex’s Record on My Computer option. ARF, on the other hand, are network-based recordings created by the meeting host using the Record on Server option

While ARF may come with advantages, its complications may hold you back from documenting your important teleconferences.

Fortunately, Scribie covers Webex transcription without having to work with ARF files.

By using our phone call service (no need to pay for the call), we’ll be able to record the phone calls and seamlessly deliver transcripts.

What’s great is that it also works for any teleconference with a dial-in number, including UberConference and Google Hangouts Meet.

The Best Way to Transcribe Your Webex Calls: Use Scribie’s Call Recording Feature

Scribie can handle your Webex recording and transcription in a single step. You can dial in directly on Scribie and we’ll record the video and turn it into text as well. Recording is free of charge. All you have to pay for is the call, with a flat rate of 3¢ per minute.

The recording is done on the server side and the audio data is captured directly off-the-wire. The recorded file sounds exactly as the actual call without any artifacts.

Here’s the very simple process:

Step 1: Go to Scribie’s One-on-one Call Service

Step 2: Fill in the required fields

Under Participant 1, add your number.

Add your Phone NumberUnder Participant 2, add your Webex dial-in number. If you’re using other teleconferencing solutions such as Google Hangouts Meet or UberConference, you can use their dial-in numbers too!

Add the Teleconference Dial-in Number

Step 3: Click “Start Call” to get Scribie’s service to call your phone number and the dial-in conference number.

From there, take the phone call as you normally would.Take the phone call as you normally wouldStep 4: Voila! Get the transcript in your inbox.

This easy method allows you to record and transcribe teleconferences without dealing with proprietary file types and extra software.

Over To You

Transcribing and recording Webex sessions can be cumbersome and time-consuming. Usually, you’ll have to record the calls, then convert them into a usable file format for transcription, and finally, upload them to be transcribed.

With Scribie, you can dial in directly and seamlessly get the transcript–all while still using Webex or any other teleconference service with a dial-in number. Transcription just got a whole lot easier.

Got a teleconference coming up? Take your call using Scribie with built-in recording and transcription.