3.1. Creating Transcripts

Creating a transcript is as simple as creating a new document. This page walks you through the creation process and discusses several common approaches to structuring your transcript.

• Creating a New Document
• Transcripts and Time Codes
• More About Transcripts

3.1.1 Creating a New Document

To create a new transcript, select the File > New menu item. This opens a new transcript window.

The left half of the window is devoted to displaying and controlling your media object. The right side of the window contains your transcript.

The transcript field is a free-form editing field, similar to a standard text editor. InqScribe does not impose any particular structure on your transcipts.

Usually, the first thing you do once you've created a new transcript is select a media source. See the documentation for Selecting Media Sources or the Quick Start Guide for more information about this step.

3.1.2 Transcripts and Time Codes

What makes InqScribe transcripts different from ordinary text files is the ability to insert "live" time codes into the transcript itself. Here's an example.

[00:05:00.00] Something happened at the five minute mark.

The time code itself is set off from the text via [brackets]. Any of several different kinds of brackets will work, including (parentheses), [brackets], {braces}, and <angle brackets>. This makes it easier to identify time codes and ensures that if you happen to enter a time of day in your transcript, the time of day is not mistaken for a time code.

Time codes are also colored to make it easier to find them in the text. You can choose the color using the Preferences dialog.

You can also use the Transcript Settings dialog to force InqScribe to recognize timecodes without any brackets, or to change how inserted timecodes appear, on a window-by-window basis. (To change these values for all new windows, use the Preferences dialog.)

The time code format is based on SMPTE time codes. The complete format looks like "HH:MM:SS.FF" where HH = hours, MM = minutes, SS = seconds and FF = frames (InqScribe assumes that there are 30 frames per second, although you can change this). The hours and frames fields are optional, which means that InqScribe will recognize a time code that looks like "10:30" (10 minutes and 30 seconds). You may also preface the time code with a dash to indicate a negative time.

Here are some examples of valid and invalid time codes.

• {10:30} (valid)
• (-10:00) (valid)
• [2:20:15.22] (valid)
• <12:223:00> (invalid; no fields in the time code can be more than 2 digits)
• (12:3:00) (invalid; only the leading field can have a single digit)

Time codes can be thought of as "bookmarks" within your transcript. They refer to specific times within the media object, and you can use time codes to quickly jump to those times within the media.

Note: By default, the time at the beginning of your media object is always "00:00.00". However, you can change this starting time by using the Start Time field in the Select Media Source dialog.

Inserting Time Codes

You can insert the current media time into your transcript in several ways.

• Type it in yourself.
• Select the Edit > Insert Time menu item. This inserts the current time into your current selection, just as if you typed it in yourself.
• Press command-; (on Mac) or control-; (on Windows). (This is the menu key associated with the Edit > Insert Time menu item.)
• Select the Edit > Copy Time To Clipboard menu item, and then paste the time into the transcript manually.
• Define a keyboard shortcut to insert the current time, and use it.
• Define a snippet to insert the current time, along with some other text of your choosing, and use it.

Where Do Time Codes Go?

It's up to you where you put time codes in your transcript, but in terms of general use, we recommend placing time codes before the text to which they refer. The example above illustrates this practice.

The advantage of adopting this approach is that it will make exporting your transcript for use with other applications easier. But there's nothing wrong to inserting [00:05:36.15] timecodes within [00:05:55.00] a paragraph like this, or setting them off on their own line. It all depends on your needs and existing practices.

Navigating via Time Codes

There are two primary ways to use time codes to navigate within your media object.

• Select the Media > Go To... menu item, and enter or select a time code in the dialog that appears.
• Use a time code as a hyperlink by clicking on it. (Note: If you want to select text within a time code instead of jumping to that time in your media, then hold down the option key (alt key for Windows). This changes the cursor to a regular text selection cursor, and you can select the text normally.)

3.1.3 More About Transcripts

Read more tips about working with transcripts, including notes about adjusting lots of time codes at once, planning ahead so you can use your transcripts with other applications, and structuring transcripts in a variety of ways.