MANUAL TRANSCRIPTION
Manual Transcription
Automated Transcription, as helpful as it is, can only go so far. It can provide a preliminary verbatim transcript that requires review, correction, and editing. This process requires an understanding of manual transcription. And if you want to use any of the other types of transcription described in the Tutorial? Yup, manual transcription.
Transana provides a whole host of tools designed specifically to make transcription go as smoothly as possible.
This ScreenCast demonstrates how to manually transcribe video and audio in Transana.
Please note that Transana uses Command rather than Control on macOS for the transcription functions described in this ScreenCast.
Transcribing Media – Step by Step
To transcribe a video or audio file that you have imported into Transana:
1. In the Document window’s toolbar, click the Edit Mode icon, which looks like a hand holding a pen.
2. Press Ctrl-S on Windows or Cmd-S on macOS to start the video. Listen for a few seconds, then press Ctrl/Cmd-S again to pause the video. Type what you heard.
3. Press Ctrl/Cmd-S again to restart the video. Transana automatically rewinds the video two seconds, as many transcribers find this overlap helpful during the transcription process.
Continue to use Ctrl/Cmd-S to start and stop the video as necessary as you transcribe the audio. It is a common practice to insert a blank line in the transcript each time the speaker changes, as you will find it much easier to work with your transcript if you add this visual demarcation of speaker change.
Note these other features you might find useful:
Ctrl/Cmd-A starts media file playback with a ten-second rewind.
Ctrl/Cmd-D pauses or starts media file playback with no rewind.
Ctrl/Cmd-F moves the media file forward by ten seconds and plays it.
Ctrl-(comma)/Cmd-< slows down media file playback by 10% of normal speed, if playback speed change is possible, which varies by media format and type of computer.
Ctrl-(period)/Cmd-> speeds up media file playback by 10% of normal speed, if playback speed change is possible.
4. Click the Save icon periodically.
Here is an example of a portion of a finished transcript. Yours could look quite different:
Transana’s Main Screen When You Are Transcribing Video
Note in the graphic below: There is a waveform in the Visualization Window, a video in the Media Window, a Transcript in the Document Window, and the Transcript name is highlighted in the Data Window.
Most Commonly Used Keyboard Shortcut Keys
| Ctrl-S or Cmd-S | Start or Pause Video Starts media file playback with two-second rewind |
| Ctrl-A or Cmd-A | Starts media file playback with ten-second rewind |
| Ctrl-D or Cmd-D | Pauses and Starts media file playback with NO rewind |
| Ctrl-F or Cmd-F | Starts media file playback forward ten seconds |
| Ctrl-(comma) or Cmd-< | slows down media playback by 10% of normal speed |
| Ctrl-(period) or Cmd-> | speeds up media playback by 10% of normal speed |
