Video Transcription FAQ's
All your frequently asked questions on video transcription now answered!
- What are the formats accepted for Video Transcription?
- What kind of video recordings are generally received for transcription?
- How do I save or record television programs on a VHS cassette, DVD or on a PC, to get it transcribed?
- How do I transfer a camcorder recording to a PC for uploading it to an FTP server or sending it by email?
- How do I compress or shrink Video files for faster uploads or downloads?
- What are SMPTE time coded transcripts and how are they relevant to a video or a film?
- What are time-stamped transcripts?
- What is Realty Footage, and is it possible to provide a transcript of this?
- What is B- roll footage, and is a transcription of this possible?
- Can you transcribe video's which are already on Google Video, YouTube, Revver or other sites?
- How do I upload a finished transcript on YouTube?
- My Google Video isn't ready to face the world. How do I get it privately to you for transcription?
- What are your Video Transcription rates?
1. What are the formats accepted for Video Transcription?
We normally accept all digital video formats for transcription. Some of the common formats are:
- mpeg -4 (mp4) (Moving Pictures Expert Group)
- MOV file (mov) (Apple Quick Time Movie)
- Windows Media format (wmv) (Windows Media Video File)
- Real Media (rm or rv) (Real Media or Real Video File)
- AVI (Audio Video Interleave File)
- H-264 (ITU standard for compressing video based on MPEG-4)
- VHS (Video Home System)
- SWF & .FLV (Adobe Flash Player)
2. What kind of video recordings are generally received for transcription?
We receive many kinds of videos for speech-to-text conversion such as employee training videos, education videos, equipment training videos, lectures, presentations, conferences, group interviews, movies, podcasts, short clippings etc.
3. How do I save or record television programs on a VHS cassette, DVD or on a PC, to get it transcribed?
To record television programs on a VHS cassette or DVD, you need to have a DVD recorder/VCR combo. This can be used to playback both DVDs and VHS cassettes as well as record a television program you wish to transcribe. The most popular brands of the DVD/VCR combo units are Panasonic DMR-EZ48VK, Samsung DV-VR375 and LG RC897T.
For recording TV programs on to a computer and burning them to a DVD or uploading them directly on to our FTP, we recommend that you install a freeware program beyond tv4 on your computer.
To know more: https://www.snapstream.com/products/beyondtv/
4. Why is a transcript required?
There can be many reasons for requiring a transcription of the videos, for production processes such as adding captions or sub-titles and editing the videos or movies aided by a transcript with time-stamping or time-coding displayed. Attaching a transcript to a streaming video on the net will index the video in search-engines; featuring them in Google video, YouTube or other Internet video websites, besides this a worded-script is also useful for training sessions or simply for archiving it.
5. How do I transfer a camcorder recording to a PC for uploading it to an FTP server or sending it by email?
If your PC has a Windows XP operating system, the Microsoft Movie Maker program can transfer the camcorder video on to the PC. Simply plug the camcorder through a USB or Fire wire, Windows will recognize the camcorder, and using the Capture function in the Movie Maker program of Windows download the video recording from your camcorder to the PC. You can now edit and save you video in an MPEG-2 format, ready to be uploaded. If you do not have a Windows XP running on your PC, you can download an application called DV capture from https://dvdepoch.com/
This application can transfer the recording on to the PC.
6. How do I compress or shrink Video files for faster uploads or downloads?
You can use Windows Media Encoder 9.0: Microsoft to compress digital media files. Windows Media Encoder is an easy-to-use, powerful production tool that enables content developers to convert both live and prerecorded audio, video, and computer screen images to Windows Media Format for live and on-demand delivery. You can download this application from the link below.
If you are a commercial organization that is into large-scale production of media content and require compression software for audio/video, you can try this link.
https://www.blazemp.com/blaze_media_pro.asp
7. What are SMPTE time coded transcripts and how are they relevant to a video or a film?
SMPTE stands for Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers and SMPTE time codes are a set of prescribed standards that are used to label a video or a film in a sequence of numeric codes that are generated at regular intervals by a timing system.
The need to add time code to a video or a film is essentially for synchronization and logging material such as Captions or Sub Titles in a recorded media.
An SMPTE time coded normal transcript for instance will have a time code mark every 30 seconds with an accuracy level of +/- 3 seconds. For a video recording of a question and answer session, a time code mark will reflect on the answers section of the transcript only.
An example of a time coded transcript:
Q: So how was your trip to the moon?
+++ VHS 101-B 01 : 04 : 15 +++
A: Wonderful – except for the fact that I forgot to get my wife back from there.
8. What are time-stamped transcripts?
A time stamped transcript reflects the head of the counter and does not match the Master Tapes. Time stamping starts at 0:00:00 and are mentioned in the script when the audio/video submitted for annotation is without any visible or audible time code.
9. What is Realty Footage, and is it possible to provide a transcript of this?
Reality footage can be any documentary or a television footage, which is completely unstructured, meaning participants in the show do not have a script through which they read their lines, the camera rather captures the actual events as they are happening
An example of the Realty TV is the popular 'Big Brother' series.
These shows are difficult to transcribe, but every effort is made to identify every speaker, a brief description is also added on the events taking place in the show.
10. What is B- roll footage, and is a transcription of this possible?
B-roll footage is a supplemental or alternate footage that is inter cut with the main shot in an interview or a documentary, transcriptions can be provided, but extra charges will apply on B-Roll footage transcriptions.
11. Can you transcribe video's that are already on Google Video, YouTube, Revver or other sites?
Yes. You just need to give us the URL for your video and we will transcribe it for you. However, please note that as of now, only YouTube and Google Video support captioned/subtitled videos.
12. How do I upload a finished transcript on YouTube?
If you wish to provide captions to your video on YouTube, just click on "My Account" and then "My Videos." Find the video you want to add captions to and then select it by clicking on the image. Scroll down to the "Captions and Subtitles" section at the bottom left. Then upload the captions/subtitles file.
13. My Google Video isn't ready to face the world. How do I get it privately to you for transcription?
You can upload your video on Google Video and set it as unlisted, so it won't be visible to the world. You will be provided with a private URL, which you can then provide to us. After uploading the transcription, you can change the preferences and make the video available on the public domain.
14. What are your Video Transcription rates?
Depending on the quality and length of your video, our rates vary. Captioning and embedding charges are additional. But rest assured that our video transcription rates are some of the best in the industry. For complete details, check our pricing.
