| User | Thread poster: Geraldine Oudin Your ideas for faster transcriptions |
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Geraldine Oudin 
Australia
Local time: 10:42
  Member (2008)
Japanese to French
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Until now I used to do transcriptions/translations from time to time, and I was completely fine with listening to the files on Window Media Player, stop, and write in Word. I was operating pretty much like I would do in consecutive interpreting, memorizing a segment and then going to Word and typing in the target language.
However, I am getting much and much transcription work and I would like to know if there is a way to control (via keyboard for ex.) the audio reader (read/stop/eventually rewind), wether it be WMP or another one, while staying in my Word window (without having to go the the audio player after each segment).
Any other suggestions welcome.
PS: I am not thing about Dragon Naturally Speaking because each file typically involves several speakers and I think I would loose a lot of time to find the right parametres each time.
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Kitty Maerz
Germany
Local time: 03:42
Member (2008)
English to German
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I have been using a (free) program called f4 which basically is a simple text editor window that also allows you to stop/start the audio from the same window (by pushing F something or other). It also gives you the option of hitting one of the F-keys to enter the initials of the speakers. When done with the text, you simply paste it into Word to use the spell checker and do any formatting that might be necessary.
This is probably not yet the best method for transcriptions (I believe a foot pedal would save quite a bit of time, but I am not really doing enough transcription work to make it worth getting one), but at least for me it is much more efficient than using Word/Windows Media Player simultaneously.
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Geraldine Oudin
Australia
Local time: 10:42
Member (2008)
Japanese to French
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TOPIC STARTER |
Thanks Kitty I am going to have a look at the program you mentionned, because I am still hesitating about the pedal, too.
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Heike Behl, Ph.D.
United States
Local time: 18:42
Member (2003)
English to German
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| | Slowing down speech | Jul 5 |
Apart from a foot pedal, a program that would slow down the speech tempo without altering its pitch might help. You can probably type along with the spoken text or at least don't have to "rewind" quite as often.
WMP allows you to slow down sound files (Now playing > Enhancements > Play Speed Settings).
Other programs are the Amazing Slow Downer or Transcribe, programs available for 30 or 40 dollars, which allow you much more flexibility in changing basically every aspect of a sound file.
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István Hirsch
Hungary
Local time: 03:42
 Partial member (2008)
English to Hungarian
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Why don’t you keep Media player function keys always on top? Open media player and set small size window. Click on the arrow under NOW PLAYING. Choose other settings or something like that (I don’t have the English version) and check Player always on top box. Hope this helps.
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Kitty Maerz
Germany
Local time: 03:42
Member (2008)
English to German
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Just in case you have a hard time finding the program I was talking about, here is the link: http://audiotranskription.de/ Again, I don't do a lot of transcriptions so this might not be the best program available, but it certainly saved me some time compared to just using Word/Media Player.
It is a German site but you can set the language to English so it shouldn't be a problem.
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Williamson
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:42
Flemish to English
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| | Direct conversion into a Word file ? | Jul 5 |
When I go to class at university some professors rattle the subject matter like commercial law at a bullet-train speed. So what I do is simply put my mp3-player on record on and fall asleep. The mp3 records the class as a WAV-file, which if need be can be converted to MP3.
Do anybody know whether Dragon 10 or any other program has a function to automatically convert the spoken word into texts?
Whenever I stop the wav-file and want to continue the sound does not work anymore. I have to log off and log-on again? What could be the problem here?
BTW the current Beta version of Real Player has a slow down function. Just download it.
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Geraldine Oudin
Australia
Local time: 10:42
Member (2008)
Japanese to French
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TOPIC STARTER |
Thanx everyone for your help.
István> Yes, I do that sometimes too, but it doesn't completely solve my problem because I still loose time by having to click on play/stop/back.
I have just downloaded F4. On the site, they say it can be run from Word.I am going to try it later. I'll give you my impressions...
[Modifié le 2009-07-05 10:47 GMT]
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Ana Rita Santos
Portugal
Local time: 02:42
English to Portuguese
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Don't know if this helps, it may not be the best solution for you. I don't do transcription, but I do some translations which require viewing a video (for dubbing).
I've always used Winamp, a player which allows me to set global hotkeys, so I don't have to leave the Word window to play/pause or rewind. You can set the keys that suit you the best. For example, I have Alt+Arrow up for play/pause and Alt+Left/Right Arrow for rewind and forward.
For me, it's the best solution. Not that complicated and I can just type away with the video in a tiny window next to the Word document.
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kmtext
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:42
English
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| | Transcription software | Jul 5 |
I use a free programme called Express Scribe. It can be controlled from the keyboard or a foot pedal and can be set to play at a range of different speeds and is compatible with most digital audio formats. It's well worth investing in the foot pedal though as it almost doubled my productivity.
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GoodWords
Mexico
Local time: 20:42
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
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I use Express Scribe, too. As kmtext mentioned, it is free. Even though I haven’t invested in the foot pedal, it is very useful.
Like some of the other programs described above, you use hotkeys within Word to play, stop, rewind, etc.
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Tamer Mekhimar
Egypt
Local time: 04:42
 Member (Jan 2009)
English to Arabic
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I use Subtitle Workshop. It's a freeware and it supports translation too in the same screen. You can save the file as txt and then copy it to word for spell checking.
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Geraldine Oudin
Australia
Local time: 10:42
Member (2008)
Japanese to French
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TOPIC STARTER |
I have tried both f4 and Express Scribe, and I have to say I found the latter particularly easy to use. Still, I suppose Winamp would probably work the same way, too.
There is a new option called "Mini Scribe" which allows you to work directly into Word or any other program. It came with a fun typing tutorial, which reminded me that even though I type quite fast with 7 or 8 fingers, maybe at some point I should learn how to use all of them.
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Samuel Murray
South Africa
Local time: 04:42
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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France-Japon wrote:
However, I am getting much and much transcription work and I would like to know if there is a way to control (via keyboard for ex.) the audio reader (read/stop/eventually rewind), wether it be WMP or another one, while staying in my Word window (without having to go the the audio player after each segment). |
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As others have said: Express Scribe. It's freeware.
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