Transcribing is Love

April 19, 2012 9:39 AM

Fanscribed helps listeners transcribe their favorite podcasts into text, by fanning out the work involved to followers of the podcast in 30 second snippets, making the transcription process fun and interesting!

Requirements: A Flash and JavaScript enabled web browser. That is it!

After learning there was an attempt to transcribe MeFi Podcast I readily jumped in to assist with the latest and found both suggested tools to be not as efficient as Fanscribed. It is my intention to have all of the MeFi Podcasts 100% transcribed by making the process easier for anyone to jump in!

Features:
- Open Source and Free
- Convenient hot-keys so your fingers never leave home row.
- Snippets are a digestible 30 seconds per session. Transcribe just one or MANY!
- Pause/Play has an automated 3 second rewind feature built in for efficiency.
- Editable on-the-fly key for abbreviating Speaker(s) names while transcribing- the full name populates in the final transcript.
- Sessions locked for 20 minutes allowing unlimited users to transcribe at once.

Additional Information:
Currently being used for one other podcast (6 hours of audio/week) and a demo video is available with that podcast as example.

I had the creator of this wonderful tool set up a demo page so any and all interested MeFites can put it to the test!

posted by TangerineGurl to MetaFilter-Related at 9:39 AM (36 comments total)

I think I just figured out a really convoluted loophole around the no-MetaFilter-related-content-on-the-blue rule:

After the transcription is finished, someone should edit it into screenplay format. Then we can get actors to re-enact it, film it, put it up on YouTube, post it to projects, and have someone post it to the front page.

IT'S FOOLPROOF.
posted by griphus at 9:46 AM on April 19, 2012 [2 favorites]

Mathowie already looks a lot like Ed Helms. . .
posted by Think_Long at 9:48 AM on April 19, 2012

Clever idea since transcribing it turned out to be very tedious and I wasn't interested enough in the results to bother doing any more after a certain point.
posted by smackfu at 9:52 AM on April 19, 2012

MATHOWIE IS ALREADY BUSY BEING THAT ONE GUY FROM HEROES.
posted by roll truck roll at 10:10 AM on April 19, 2012 [7 favorites]

Then we can get actors to re-enact it, film it, put it up on YouTube,

Suggestions: Let one person play all the roles and/or divide the script into 15 second clips, so folks can produce their clip anyway they want. Animation, claymation, using kids, whatever.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:15 AM on April 19, 2012

MATHOWIE IS ALREADY BUSY BEING THAT ONE GUY FROM HEROES.

Zachary Quinto? Oh my god you are so right.
posted by Think_Long at 10:22 AM on April 19, 2012

Man, it's been a while since we've discussed that whole Sylar thing. Used to feel like a weekly event.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:25 AM on April 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Before my time, so this is all new to me.
posted by Think_Long at 10:52 AM on April 19, 2012

I demand to be played by Jack Black. Or Walter Brennan's reanimated corpse.
posted by jonmc at 10:57 AM on April 19, 2012

In any case, yes, podcast transcriptions are keen. I'm curious whether folks will find this tool helpful for more broadly crowdsourcing the process; I've done a few small stints of podcast transcription myself over the years and its both kind of fun and kind of tedious.

Really slicky-slick transcription workflows often involve footpedals for flow control stuff, as I understand it, but short of sticking a mouse on the floor and mashing the buttons that's probably not a practical solution for most folks.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:00 AM on April 19, 2012

I just tried it on the demo page! It was neat! I did not transcribe all the "uh"s, as it seemed unnecessarily cruel to do so.
posted by Greg Nog at 11:01 AM on April 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Then we can get actors to re-enact it, film it

Nuh-uh, xtranormal. Because what this place needs is more talking animals.
posted by octobersurprise at 11:10 AM on April 19, 2012

I had a summer job transcribing training tapes for a gym franchise company. The woman who did the training tapes was the founder of the company and had a lot of energy and enthusiasm, but she'd recently been ousted by the board of directors or whomever so they wanted to have someone else record the training tapes (using all her wording), but there was no text, only the recordings: thus, me, transcribing. I discovered that if I slowed the playback down to 50% I could type fast enough to keep up and I wouldn't have to pause or go back, which was great and saved a lot of time. HOWEVER listening to that woman's bright and bubbly voice tracked out to twice her normal speaking pace was the most irritating and creepy-this-is-how-they-make-demon-voices-in-B-horror-films experience of my life.

So this is probably better.
posted by shakespeherian at 11:39 AM on April 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Really slicky-slick transcription workflows often involve footpedals for flow control stuff, as I understand it, but short of sticking a mouse on the floor and mashing the buttons that's probably not a practical solution for most folks.

This working model? Your fingers never leave the keyboard. It makes sense.

I just tried it on the demo page! It was neat! I did not transcribe all the "uh"s, as it seemed unnecessarily cruel to do so.

Greg Nog , Thank you! This is the type of feedback I was looking for. Either way.
Also: You are a natural! Wiki states:

"Removing ums and ahs and erms not only makes your job easier, it makes the mods sound smarter! Plus, it's easier to read, so consider that."
posted by TangerineGurl at 11:58 AM on April 19, 2012

shakespeherian -- I could not agree with you more.

When I downloaded the software (s) [linked above] I played with the option of slowing the recording and YES everyone sounded drunk at 80% LOL
Turns out I really need to hear the natural voice while transcribing.

One feature I DID enjoy that fanscribed does not yet have added: automatic staggered pauses (about 3 seconds) while the audio played.
posted by TangerineGurl at 12:03 PM on April 19, 2012

One of my weaknesses as a practical transcriber is that I find filled pauses and other production idiosyncrasies and errors really interesting and have a hard time properly streamlining past them when typing up natural conversation.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:15 PM on April 19, 2012

You get those long uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhs and duhrrrrrrs right up in there, eh?

As a former relay call operator and offspring of The Best Medical Transcriptionist In The West and great fan of the MeFi podcast, I'm intrigued by this project. We shall see.
posted by carsonb at 12:23 PM on April 19, 2012

Looks like we are having fun! Coming along nicely! Head over and transcribe just ONE 30 second snippet!
posted by TangerineGurl at 12:47 PM on April 19, 2012

As a hearing impaired person, this is me jumping up and down with glee!
posted by desjardins at 12:53 PM on April 19, 2012 [2 favorites]

"As a hearing impaired person, this is me jumping up and down with glee!"

desjardins I am deaf in my left ear and there was a recently released podcast where restless_nomad was left channel only due to some fluke. Imagine my non-delight.
posted by TangerineGurl at 1:06 PM on April 19, 2012

MetaFilter is text-based (as it always was) so it just MAKES SENSE that we should make this available. I know it's been attempted but the completion rate has been low and I am hoping this will help.
posted by TangerineGurl at 1:10 PM on April 19, 2012

Oh no! In the 6:30 segment, I'm transcribed as saying "witches" when in fact I said "liches". Somebody fix that before the gamers murder me.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:28 PM on April 19, 2012

SOMEONE CHANGE IT TO BITCHES AND GET HIM IN TROUBLE
posted by Greg Nog at 1:44 PM on April 19, 2012

snitches
posted by desjardins at 1:49 PM on April 19, 2012

I think usually britches had them and so it tends to be a like a amulet charm
posted by Greg Nog at 1:56 PM on April 19, 2012

Cool! I look forward to checking this out.
posted by Pronoiac at 2:02 PM on April 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Oh no! In the 6:30 segment, I'm transcribed as saying "witches" when in fact I said "liches". Somebody fix that before the gamers murder me.

Sorry. Totally forgot to mention this feature.

- Go to the READ tab. You can edit from there.
It's flawless.


Next issue, please?
posted by TangerineGurl at 2:04 PM on April 19, 2012

The chosen hotkeys probably work a lot better if you have an english-language keyboard? Unfortunately on mine they are actually mapped less conveniently than the pipe | key. I managed to do a backslash by accident, but haven't managed to reproduce it! Customised keying would be loverly if we know people on the dev team.
posted by Iteki at 2:23 PM on April 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Wait, how do you edit? I don't understand. I'm on the "Read" tab, and all I see is static text. Do I have to sign into something or something before editing?
posted by koeselitz at 2:43 PM on April 19, 2012

Aha! I just had to sign in on the sidebar there. Got it. Thanks!

By the way, I fixed "witches" so it says "liches" now.
posted by koeselitz at 2:46 PM on April 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

- Go to the READ tab. You can edit from there.

Wait, how do you edit? I don't understand. I'm on the "Read" tab, and all I see is static text. Do I have to sign into something or something before editing?

It's kinda non-obvious.

The steps are:
You start on the READ tab.
Click on the TRANSCRIBE tab.
Enter your name and an email on the right. Click SAVE.
Click on the READ tab again.
Edit buttons appear above each section.
posted by zamboni at 2:46 PM on April 19, 2012

Ty zamboni for your contributions so far. Appreciated !
posted by TangerineGurl at 3:28 PM on April 19, 2012

The chosen hotkeys probably work a lot better if you have an english-language keyboard? Unfortunately on mine they are actually mapped less conveniently than the pipe | key. I managed to do a backslash by accident, but haven't managed to reproduce it! Customised keying would be loverly if we know people on the dev team.

Yes, Iteki I know the developer and I apologize for not considering this might be an issue.
WARNING: American QWERTY required
posted by TangerineGurl at 3:30 PM on April 19, 2012

I did not transcribe all the "uh"s, as it seemed unnecessarily cruel to do so.

I KNOW I "UH"!
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:42 PM on April 19, 2012

Verbing weirds language.
posted by shakespeherian at 8:39 PM on April 19, 2012

#70 [20121104]: phylactery, gegenschein, narthex, miasma & catarrh
(Word challenge episode)


100% transcribed for your viewing pleasure
posted by TangerineGurl at 11:34 PM on May 16, 2012