When I started this newsletter in the fall of 2012, one of the very first questions I got was: Is there an app that will help me transcribe my quotes faster?
I said I’d look into it.
And then I got another email the next week. And the next. And the next.
I’ve been getting emails from you guys pretty much weekly for about 17 months now. So I am going to say the following two things:
1. There is not a magical app that will just do the transcribing for you. I’m really sorry.
2. There IS, however, a tool to help you transcribe better, and I will share it with you today.
It’s called oTranscribe. (It comes heartily recommended by a handful of loyal TFR readers, as well as a handful of my colleagues. And now me.)
Here’s how it works:
You’ve got an audio file to transcribe either an .mp3 or a .wav. Open oTranscribe, and upload the file.
Then you hit the escape key, and your file will start playing. Right underneath it, there’s a big text pad for you type out the quotes as the file plays. Everything happens in your web browser you don’t need a separate text file open to transcribe in.
To start/stop the audio, you press escape. To rewind a few seconds on a Mac, you hit Fn + 1. To go forward, Fn + 2. (On a PC, it’s F1 and F2.)
And here’s the real magic: If you hit Fn + 3 (or F3 on a PC), it’ll slow down the audio, and Fn + 4 (or F4 on a PC) speeds it up.
So no longer do you have to frantically hit start/stop on a file as you’re transcribing. oTranscribe slows down the file to a speed that pretty much anyone can type at.
And as you’re going along, you can insert a timestamp (hit Control + J) into the transcription. Click on it, and your audio will start playing directly from that spot.
Basically, it’s magic.
To test it out, I tried transcribing Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” Now, I’m a decently-fast typist, but at normal speeds, it would take me hours to transcribe that song. Dylan just sings too fast!
But with oTranscribe, I was able to slow it down and keep up.
I highly recommend you give it a test run it’s free, and you can play with it at http://otranscribe.com.
ONE MORE THING
You’ve surely noticed that these emails have been less consistent over the past two months or so. And for good reason: I’ve been busier and busier at work. (Which is good for me! But bad for you guys.)
So here’s my new promise for 2014: I’m not going to be able to get you guys a tool every week. It’s just too much sorry.
But I will send you a new tool every TWO weeks. I’ll make them good promise.
Anyway, as always: Thanks for reading, and go tell some awesome stories this week!