Transcription Process for Freshers and Experienced Alike

The Transcription Process

Transcribe the audio using transcription software.

1. Express Scribe: http://www.nch.com.au/scribe/index.html
2. Transcriber: http://trans.sourceforge.net/en/presentation.php
3. f4: http://www.audiotranskription.de/english/f4.htm
4. inqScribe: http://www.inqscribe.com/download.html

FIRST RUN [getting started]

The first thing that I always do is listen to the audio, at least, once and get a feel for the context and subject that is being spoken and/or talked about and do research about the terms that you come across. So, when you’re transcribing the audio, you know the terms and know what is going on rather than just jumping in blindfolded.

Always, keep and maintain a text file of terms that you encountered when listening to the audio. It would be good that you did the research and kept the correct spellings and terminology to help you out during the actual transcription process.

SECOND RUN [the actual]

Transcribe what you hear as fast as possible, without going back to hear if it is right or is accurate. Use abbreviations as much as possible and don't dwell on the correct spellings at all, especially of proper nouns (names of people and places). Mark speakers separately using numerical denominations unless you know the spelling (M1, F2, Male 1, Female 1, Speaker 1, Speaker 2 and the like, you get the drift, right?). If obvious, put in punctuation, but don't dwell on it at all. This is the most time-intensive run, so the key here is no to do anything but put down rough text unless the time it takes to do additional stuff is negligible.

Time taken for this process should be in the neighborhood of 50-60 minutes, but it greatly varies with audio quality, speaker enunciation and recognition of dialect/accent, crude typing speed, getting used to specific words, and using more abbreviations.

THIRD RUN [the review]

Go over the transcribed segment with the audio again, correcting proper nouns (names of people and places, format according to the template or what has been given by the client) with their proper spellings, punctuation, and first time phonetics and inaudible segments. Don't stop for spelling errors of non-proper nouns. Put in the correct speaker names (format according to the template or what has been given by the client, not first-time usage) using the software.

Time taken for this process should be in the neighborhood of 25-35 minutes, but it greatly varies with audio quality, speaker enunciation and recognition of dialect/accent, transcriber's knowledge of the subject.

FOURTH RUN [running errands]

No audio usage. This process is used at the end of the process when you have gone through the transcribed text and have finalized the transcript. Replace the abbreviations with full-form content (Use a macro will greatly fasten this process and will help in quickly doing the usual ones all at once). Proper case should be automatically done. Spell check the document before sending it off to the client or the end person (Time and again I cannot stress how important this is). Put in first time speaker references.

Time taken for this process should be in the neighborhood of 5-10 minutes, but it greatly varies with varies with the amount of speakers in the file.

[NOTE: The article "Transcription Process for Freshers and Experienced Alike" first appeared on the Transcription, Online Presence, Articles, eBooks, and What Not... blog.]

[Follow: Devesh Prabhu is an avid blogger and blogs on many topics. He has been associated with the blogosphere for the past 8/9 years. You can follow Devesh Prabhu on social media through the buttons provided on the blog.]

[DISCLAIMER: All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. These terms and conditions of use are subject to change at anytime and without notice.]

Recording Audio for Transcription Purposes

There would have been times when you would have felt the need to go back to that interview / speech / discussion / brainstorming ideas to know what all you said and discussed and wished that you had recorded the session or taken down notes to review them later.

Today I would be explaining the different options on how to record audio for transcription purposes, so that you can get the best audio quality and low file size to provide for transcription (conversion to written format) to the vendor or the person who would work on the file.

There are many things which you have to consider when you record audio for the purpose of transcription - audio quality, file size, distortion effects, telephone line quality (long distance calls) cell reception, digital recording, file conversion options, etcetera. Also, you would have to weigh in that the transcriptionist would be going through all of this to provide you with a readable text document for the audio that you have provided.

For small file size, you can record the audio or have the audio converted to the following format after recording.

Mp3, 16 kBits/s, 11.025 Hz, Mono

For quality recording, you can record the audio or have the audio converted to the following format after recording.

Mp3, 128 kBits/s, 44.100 Hz, Stereo

You can also experiment with the various bit rates and frequencies to get the best and optimal recording, but do keep in mind that with a small file size you will have some distortion and with quality recording your file size will go up.

[NOTE: The article "Recording Audio for Transcription Purposes" first appeared on the Transcription, Online Presence, Articles, eBooks, and What Not... blog.]

[Follow: Devesh Prabhu is an avid blogger and blogs on many topics. He has been associated with the blogosphere for the past 8/9 years. You can follow Devesh Prabhu on social media through the buttons provided on the blog.]

[DISCLAIMER: All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. These terms and conditions of use are subject to change at anytime and without notice.]