How to charge for transcription services Thread poster: Rajabov
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Rajabov
Uzbekistan
Local time: 04:46
English to Uzbek
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Dear colleagues,
I would like to learn about the transcription rates, how this kind of services is charged. Thanks for your points!
| | | | | maybe something like this | Oct 26, 2006 |
Hi,
I really don't know anything about what are standard pricing methods for transcriptions. However, if you are unsure and need a quick method urgently, a suggestion is that you maybe apply an hourly rate as you see fit, as is done with most or much proofreading jobs. Alternatively, if you need a rate per word, divide the desired hourly rate with your estimated number of processed words per hour to get that.
Hope someone else will fill in with better information. Thi... See more Hi,
I really don't know anything about what are standard pricing methods for transcriptions. However, if you are unsure and need a quick method urgently, a suggestion is that you maybe apply an hourly rate as you see fit, as is done with most or much proofreading jobs. Alternatively, if you need a rate per word, divide the desired hourly rate with your estimated number of processed words per hour to get that.
Hope someone else will fill in with better information. This is just my take on this issue in case you need a pricing method urgently.
Best,
Thomas ▲ Collapse
| | | | Heinrich Pesch 
Finland
Local time: 02:46
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
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| Accidentally, I did my first transcription yesterday | Oct 27, 2006 |
It was only a short video file of less than a minute. I wrote the text that was spoken, with time codes, and translated the texts. It took me an hour. So for comparable jobs I will charge 1 hour per minute of video (there is one Kudoz question still open for this job I mentioned, so I'm not done with it yet!).
But hourly rate is the best approach, I agree with Thomas.
Cheers
Heinrich
| | | | | Hourly rate is best | Oct 27, 2006 |
I remember doing this years ago. It was a bad recording of a German speaking Swiss engineer who spoke in English with a very heavy accent. I had to listen three or four times to understand what he was saying. So hourly is definitely best.
Jim
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Rajabov
Uzbekistan
Local time: 04:46
English to Uzbek
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TOPIC STARTER | No translation will be combined with the transcription. | Oct 27, 2006 |
Heinrich Pesch wrote:
It was only a short video file of less than a minute. I wrote the text that was spoken, with time codes, and translated the texts. It took me an hour. So for comparable jobs I will charge 1 hour per minute of video (there is one Kudoz question still open for this job I mentioned, so I'm not done with it yet!).
But hourly rate is the best approach, I agree with Thomas.
Cheers
Heinrich
Thanks for your attention and points regarding the matter.
Hourly rate is the unique best approach, I think also. But you told you charged your per hour rate for per minite of transcription along with translation of the transcribed text as well. In the upcoming transcription work I am going to do, I `ll only transcribe the spoken words, no translation will be done. At this point, can I charge my per hour rate for per 2 minites of the audio file. What do you think?
| | | | | it is all up to you | Oct 27, 2006 |
the best general approach as I see it:
recording of actual time spent for the project and preparing invoice to the customer based on your rate per hour.
| | | | Balasubramaniam L.
India
Local time: 05:16
Member (2006)
English to Hindi
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SITE LOCALIZER | Per minute rate is sometimes useful | Oct 27, 2006 |
While negotiating a small video transcription job of 10 or 15 minutes a client offered me a certain per minute rate. This is the rate for transcribing one minute of the video. This seems to be a system that both translator and job-giver can easily monitor.
However, you should carefully calculate your per minute rate taking into account the clarity of the sound, speed at which the conversation takes place, presence of dialects or other languages with which you may not be familiar, e... See more While negotiating a small video transcription job of 10 or 15 minutes a client offered me a certain per minute rate. This is the rate for transcribing one minute of the video. This seems to be a system that both translator and job-giver can easily monitor.
However, you should carefully calculate your per minute rate taking into account the clarity of the sound, speed at which the conversation takes place, presence of dialects or other languages with which you may not be familiar, etc.
You might also want to take into account the download time and internet expenses involved in downloading the source files, which can be huge.
I recently had to download a 400 MB voice file which took me almost 4 hours. It certainly involved download cost. Unfortunately I had not negotiated this into the cost to be charged the client and had to bear this cost myself. ▲ Collapse
| | | | brandis (X)
Local time: 05:16
French to English
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| transcripition is not an easy profession | Oct 27, 2006 |
Hello everybody,
it requires good hearing and typing synchronization. The involved software and the hardware equipment is not cheap either. We have been doing this since the 50s initially working with tapes and sound boxes, lately the headsets have come. One could have a cheap headset for Rs 300 in India, but it does not function regarding the noise reduction etc., Additionally if you are doing it professionally, one would need a very clean network setup, which is again not cheap. The tra... See more Hello everybody,
it requires good hearing and typing synchronization. The involved software and the hardware equipment is not cheap either. We have been doing this since the 50s initially working with tapes and sound boxes, lately the headsets have come. One could have a cheap headset for Rs 300 in India, but it does not function regarding the noise reduction etc., Additionally if you are doing it professionally, one would need a very clean network setup, which is again not cheap. The transcriber should have sound knowledgel of the subject he processes, else many things can go wrong. The catches in this profession are for example, wrist bones (floating ones) do not co-operate, and one must be totally away from any kind of external influnces. Charge per word is the best choice, and it can be as expensive as translation project. Best regards, Sarmba ▲ Collapse
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juvera
Local time: 00:46
English to Hungarian
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| I hope I am not too late to add some food for thought... | Nov 1, 2006 |
Per minute rate is the usual way to charge.
Are you talking about transcription rates in general? In that case distinction will have to be made between warious types of transcriptions.
Your question already prompted Heinrich to refer to
1. transcription from video,
2. timecoding
3. translation.
You may also do transcription from tapes or CD/DVD, or a downloaded film, and that is a better option than video, because you are likely to be ab... See more Per minute rate is the usual way to charge.
Are you talking about transcription rates in general? In that case distinction will have to be made between warious types of transcriptions.
Your question already prompted Heinrich to refer to
1. transcription from video,
2. timecoding
3. translation.
You may also do transcription from tapes or CD/DVD, or a downloaded film, and that is a better option than video, because you are likely to be able to sit by your computer and watch/listen and write short bits of the text, without messing about with a video. The control is also more sensitive, than a video, so you spend less time rewinding, finding the right spot to restart.
Tapes are the fastest, because you only have to listen, but they don't let you lip-read, if the sound is not clear.
If it is a specific job you want to quote for, you have to define what the job entails. It sounds that there is only transcription, no time cueing or translation involved.
I don't think that you can afford to spend much more that ten minutes transcribing one minute of the spoken word. Much longer than that is not a commercial proposition to your client, or to yourself, some compromise would have to be made.
If you can get the material, you can listen to it for a few minutes, and then time yourself, how long it takes to transcribe say a couple of minutes. That would give you some idea of the sound quality, accent(s) and your ability to cope with them, not forgeting your typing speed.
From that, you can work out a rate/minute in line with your usual hourly rate.
Good luck
Judith ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jaime Russell
United States
Local time: 19:46
English to Spanish
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| 1 minute of audio is about 3 minutes of work | Mar 9, 2007 |
I've only done one transcribing job (interviews), but the agreed ratio was for every 1 minute of audio, there was 3 minutes of work transcribing it, and then the fee was calculated per total hours of work.
It sounded reasonable when I accepted the job, but since I had never done it before, it ended up that I had a 1:4 or 1:5 minute ratio, because I had to go back and listen to poorly audible parts, two and maybe three times.
Hopefully this information is helpful
| | | | Effie Simiakaki (X)
Greece
Local time: 02:46
English to Greek
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| Translation and transcription services combined | Jul 5, 2012 |
What if you are given an audio file in your mother tongue for instance and have to translate/transcribe it in another language?
How are charges calculated in this case?
| | | | Effie Simiakaki (X)
Greece
Local time: 02:46
English to Greek
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| Translation-Transcription services combined | Jul 5, 2012 |
How could charges be formulated in the event you are given an audio file in your mother tongue and asked to both translate and transcribe in another language?
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Elham Khalil
Australia
Local time: 07:46
Member
English to Arabic
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| track the time on an hourly basis | Nov 13, 2012 |
Hello everyone,
I agree with most of you. I've done a few transcription/translation jobs (Arabic/English both directions). Quite often the person/s on the audio may not speak very clearly and i would have to keep going back to listen again and again and try to make out what they say.
I use Fanurio tracking software where i can pause, stop, resume with each action being recorded. I can work say a few hours on one day and then only half an hour the next day, depending on ... See more Hello everyone,
I agree with most of you. I've done a few transcription/translation jobs (Arabic/English both directions). Quite often the person/s on the audio may not speak very clearly and i would have to keep going back to listen again and again and try to make out what they say.
I use Fanurio tracking software where i can pause, stop, resume with each action being recorded. I can work say a few hours on one day and then only half an hour the next day, depending on my work schedule and it will all be recorded: date, hour, minute, second.
I can also define what the different time lots were for, e.g. transcription, review, repeats, final review, etc. When i finish the job, i send in my invoice with a copy of the time tracking record sheet. I charge for transcription per hour and for translation per word.
Fanurio can be downloaded for a fee. It works very well with jobs that require proof of how much time was spent.
elham
James (Jim) Davis wrote:
I remember doing this years ago. It was a bad recording of a German speaking Swiss engineer who spoke in English with a very heavy accent. I had to listen three or four times to understand what he was saying. So hourly is definitely best.
Jim
▲ Collapse
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