From Voice to Page - The Transcription Process in the Twenty-First Century

by Eric C. Williams & Tom Miller

Say you're producing a project with multiple interviews on multiple days, maybe even in multiple cities. You're shooting hours of interviews, and you’ve got a week to sort through them and write a script. How do you get those interviews onto paper so that you can work with them?

Early on, everyone made VHS window dubs and audiocassettes of the field tapes after the shoot was over. These tapes were then sent off to someone who could type (at the speed of light) what they heard on the tape. Then upon viewing the matching VHS window dub, the transcriber (or an intern) would type in the time code at the start of each question, or paragraph. Then those pages were sent back to the producer, who we hope found them useful in assembling the story, since by now a lot of money had been spent on Federal Express charges!

Later, savvy producers learned to ask the sound person on location for an audiocassette recording of each interview. These recordings were mailed to the transcriber (often overnight) right from the shoot, or carried back with the producer. Sometimes, when time was short and the budget large, we would set up a live phone link from the interview location to the transcription service, who would record the interview onto a cassette on their end and avoid the shipping time.

These days, we sound techs record the interview on a digital audio recorder, so the resulting transcription file can be emailed to our transcriber, or uploaded to a server. This may be a simple mono mix (one-track) recording of the interview, or a stereo (two-track) recording with the camera’s time code signal on the left channel and the audio on the right. To our ears, the time code sounds like garbled noise. But many transcribers can convert that noise back into numbers, which sync with the spoken words. Then the written transcript can include the corresponding time code for quicker referencing in the edit.

On the set, the wiring is pretty simple. The sound from the interview itself comes from the mixer. There must be a mono output on the sound mixer, of either tape out level (-10db) or mic level (-50db). This is fed into the right channel of an MP3 recorder. Most of these little devices have only a stereo mini-jack (1/8") phono plug for their input. A simple cable splitter allows you to send separate inputs to each track.

The time code signal comes from the camera’s time code out port (most high-end cameras have this), via a BNC connector. Because these signals are hot (<+4db line level), they will need to be padded down to a level similar to the audio signal coming in from the audio mixer. This is either tape or mic level depending on what the mixer is sending, and on the input capacity of the MP3 recorder. Padding can be done with custom cables from a professional audio supplier, like Trew Audio in Nashville.

A convenient alternative to padded cables is pictured here: Peter Engh's Transcode box, which takes a mono mix in from the mixer, and a time code signal via bnc cable from the camera, and allows the user to adjust the time-code signal relative to the audio for an optimum level. A stereo mini cable comes out of the Transcode and into the MP3 recorder.

If you're lucky enough to have a Sound Devices 702T or 744T available, set up is even simpler: just plug time code from the camera into the time-code-in lemo jack on the device. For audio, you come out of your mixer and into the digital recorder with XLR cables. Match up levels, line or mic, and choose the appropriate menu settings on the Sound Devices.

No matter how you do it - whether using audiocassettes or digital files - the end result is hopefully the same: an accurate written transcript of each of your interviews with corresponding time code. This essential tool will take you a long way towards a great script! Happy writing!

Transcription Services

Prices run from $1.50 to $3.00 (and up) /per minute depending on turnaround time, interview type and quality (strong accents cost more), and whether or not you want time code put in. Not every transcription service will be able to handle the digital files with the time code track - so it’s worth checking around. Here are a few that do:

Production Transcripts - http://www.productiontranscripts.com - 888-349-3022

Very well organized website that explains everything, depending on the type of program you are producing.

Transcript Associates, Inc - http://www.tscripts.com/services.php - (212) 757-7113

Somewhat confusing website, but one of the top transcription businesses for the film/video world. A brief chat with them will clarify anything still obscure on this subject.

Word Wizards, Inc - www.wordwizardsinc.com - (301)-986-0808

They have a great website that explains the dubbing process with time code.

About the Author: Eric has been traveling the globe as a professional film and video sound Recordist for 27 years. He can be reached through Big Pictures Media, or directly at ericcw@earthlink.net

This Article first appeared in the February 2008 issue of Big Pictures News.

Copyright 2008, Big Pictures Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.