Yesterday, I got this email from a reader of this blog. I’ll paraphrase (won’t bore you will the smiles and lols). “Hey Kongo, thanks for all the advice on What would you recommend as the best transcription software for Mac? Thanks, Maggie.” I replied to her email and I thought I should post the reply on my blog for other transcribers that might be searching for a transcription software to use on their mac computers.Now, let me be clear.
![]()
Jump to Part 3. MP3 to Text App for Chrome to Translate MP3 to Text - Wondershare UniConverter - Best Video/Audio Converter for Mac/Windows.
By transcription software, I’m referring to software that’s going to assist you manually transcribe audio/video files. I’m not referring to software that automatically converts speech to text: aka dictation software, voice recognition software, speech recognition software.
I prefer to refer to these types of software as dictation software.And since we’ve digressed, let me share with you my 2 cents on dictation software. The accuracy of dictation software is poor – on average about 60%.
Accuracy improves with good quality, single speaker audio. If you’re looking for a dictation software to automatically convert your audio to text, I’d recommend you don’t buy software that’s not cloud based.Here’s why, speech recognition algorithms improve every day (machine learning etc). And you’ll not be able to take advantage of these improvements with an offline software (for instance Dragon Dictate). I’ve tried a few cloud based dictation services and they’re not bad – I got 90% accuracy on a YouTube video transcript. Most use either or.Anyway, transcription software are meant for those of us who want to get a software that’s going to assist the manually transcription (= type out the text using our fingers and sometimes our feet!) of audio/video files. To reiterate, the main advantage of a transcription software over a normal audio/video media player is the ability to control audio/video playback.Here were my requirements when I was searching for transcription software for my Macbook Air. 1) Easy configurable transcription controls.
2) Support video and audio of various formats and codecs. 3) Timestamp Support. 4) USB foot pedal support.
Grab a cup of coffee and let’s look at each one of these in depth. Key Features of a Good Mac Transcription Software. Configurable Transcription ControlsAny transcription software worth its salt supports keyboard hotkeys. And they are easily configurable. But the really good ones support global hotkeys. Which means that you are not restricted to typing on the word processing plane provided with the transcription software. Thus, you can transcribe into any word processor of your choice (Pages, Word etc) and the transcription hotkeys will work.
And the advantages of using a dedicated word processor are numerous (spell check!). Support Various Audio and Video FormatsAs a transcriber, you do want to get a transcription software that supports a wide range of audio and video (very useful for slideshow videos) formats.
For me, this is not usually a deal breaker because I can’t expect a transcription software to support all audio and video formats – and there is a lot of them. But a transcription software for mac must support.mp4 video format and.m4v/.m4a/.mp3/.mpg audio files. I have a dedicated audio and video converter that converts audio files to.mp3 files.
And the.mp3 format work well on most mac transcription software. Timestamp SupportA lot of my clients ask for timestamps/timecodes to be inserted into the transcripts. Timestamps make it easier for them to refer back to the video or audio.
And if they’re using the transcripts to create a paper edit for a documentary project, timecoded transcripts provide the easiest and most efficient way to get a handle on a large block of video footage.So, timecode support is a must. But again, this is a feature that is not very well supported in any of the mac transcription software. They usually do support it on their word processing plane, but getting the timecode to Pages or Word is challenging. There are workarounds that I’ll share with you.
![]()
USB Foot Pedal SupportAgain, most mac transcription software support However, compatibility is an issue and it’s not guaranteed. Having said that, I own the Infinity IN-USB-1 and I’ve yet to come across a mac transcription software that does not support it.Having gone through the 4 basic requirements for a mac transcription software, you really have only 2 choices: F5 or Express Scribe. InqScribe is a good transcription software, but it doesn’t support global hotkeys, which is a real shame. If you’re okay transcribing into their word processor, you can try it out. All other mac transcription software I found were very old versions (5 years) and were no longer actively supported.
Best Transcription Software for Mac. F5I really like F5 and I use it exclusively to transcribe on my mac. It’s checks all the boxes and is perfect for my transcription needs.
A while back it used to be free (as in beer), but that’s no longer the case. To be honest, I find their pricing model to be complicated. There’s a free version of F5 – which only allows you to transcribe the first 10 minutes of a video/audio file. A standard version, unlimited transcription (you can transcribe any length of audio/video file) but no USB pedal support, no waveform, memos and auto speaker changing. I recommend you get the pro version, mainly because of the USB pedal support (not sure why this is not in the standard version), and you’ll need a foot pedal ) to play and pause F5 in the background.My other gripe with F5 is inserting timestamps into my transcripts. It’s easy enough when you’re transcribing into the F5 word processor – just press F8.
Which reminds me. You’ll need to activate the F keys under System Preferences Keyboard, for them to work on your Mac.Anyway, back to inserting timestamps, there is no easy way to insert timestamps into Pages. You’ll have 2 options. Option 1 is switch to the F5 window, CMD + T (to generate the timestamp),and copy and paste the timestamp to Pages. Works, but as you can imagine, if you want to insert timestamps every 30 seconds, it’s a lot of work going back and forth between the F5 and Pages. The second option is write an apple script or use Keyboard Maestro to record a macro.
I’d recommend keyboard maestro – very easy to use ( if you want me to create a short how to video let me know in the comments section below). – I don’t know why, but I ramble a lot in this video; bear with me.I do know my way around code, so I have an apple script that I use to insert timestamps into my transcripts with one keyboard stroke. Other than that, F5 is simply great. I get better audio quality using F5, and it’s really very easy to use and customize. Definitely the best transcription software for mac.
Express Scribe ProWhere to begin with Express Scribe. Some people love it, others hate it. Personally, I’m ambivalent. I’ve used it a lot in the past, but that’s before I found F5. I do have a lot of issues with NCH – the company that makes this software, but the software is pretty good.You’ll want to get the pro version.
I’ve had numerous issues with the “free” version and vowed never to install it again! But the pro version doesn’t come with adware, supports most USB foot pedals, and plays videos and a lot of other formats.
Though, the audio quality is not that great – especially if you slow it down.The interface is a little complicated and you’ll have to take time to get used to this mac transcription software. For instance, here’s how you insert timestamps into your transcript.
You’ll need to first create a system wide hotkey to copy the timecode to the mac clipboard. You can create a hotkey via Options Hot Keys. Once you’ve created the hotkey, adding a timestamp to your transcript on Pages involves hitting the hotkey and then CMD + V to paste the timestamp.Very easy, but I wish it was more intuitive. So yes, there is a steep learning curve on how to use Express Scribe for transcription – well worth it, because this software has a lot of customizable features that are going to help you become a very efficient transcriber.That’s it for this post on mac transcription software. I hope you’ve found it worthwhile and please feel free to use the comment section below to share tips, suggestion, frustrations, reviews etc on the transcription software of your choice. Happy transcribing! Posted in:,.Last Modified: May 7, 2018.
The process of making a video has always been painstakingly long, and even though digital cameras and video editing apps that emerged in the last couple of decades have made this process somewhat easier, creating captions for videos you share online is still a time-consuming endeavor. Accessibility and better retrievability by search engines are among the most common reasons why video content producers choose to add captions to the videos they share on social media and video hosting platforms. If you are looking for a way to save some time on creating subtitles for your videos you’ve come to the right place because in this article we are going to take you through some of the best speech to text platforms that enable you to generate captions in just a few minutes.Converting Audio to Text in 2020Before we proceed any further we would like to note that the platforms and apps we featured in this article can only help you generate a subtitle file and that you are going to have to use a video editing software or an online subtitling platform to add that file to a video. Here are some of the best options for converting audio to text in 2019.1.Price: Free trial, different subscription plans availableWatson was initially created to answer questions on a popular quiz show called Jeopardy, and over time IBM developed a cloud-based version of the software that turns audio into text. The speech to text functionality is just one out of many IBM’s Watson offers as you can also use it for machine learning or data analysis among numerous other things. You can create an account on IBM cloud for free, but if you decide to use this platform on a constant basis, then you will have to choose one of the available subscription plans.Turning speech into text with Watson is easy, as you just have to pick a voice model, upload the audio file you saved in MP3, MPEG, wav, flac or opus file format and choose the keywords you’d like Watson to spot. Alternatively, you can use this platform to record audio files you’d like to convert to text, but you should keep in mind that Watson only supports French, German, Arabic, English, Korean, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Mandarin, French and Japanese languages.2.Price: Free trial, subscription plans start from $17.25 per monthThis feature-rich platform is designed to help storytellers tell their stories.
You can either upload audio or a video file and Sonix will generate a transcript of it in a remarkably short period of time, so you can transcribe a 30-minute audio file in less than five minutes. Transcriptions Sonix generates are not always a hundred percent accurate, but you can edit each word that this speech to text platform has generated in its Audio-Text editor.Moreover, the platform is equipped with a video player so you can see your videos next to the transcript, which can be quite useful if you are trying to correct the misspellings and other mistakes.
The best part is that Sonix has Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Audition integration, so you can add markers, metadata, captions or make rough cuts on both audio and video files you use in your projects.3.Price: Free trial available, subscription plans start at $6 per hour of uploaded audioRegardless of the pricing plan you choose, Amber Script lets you create text from audio files in 29 different languages. In addition, some pricing plans allow you to create text from both audio and video files, so you can easily make subtitles for your videos. Simply upload the file to Amber Script and the platform will generate the text for you. The text may not be entirely accurate, but you can easily make all corrections from the Amber Script’s text editor that offers speaker distinction and timestamp features. In case you don’t want to edit the text by yourself, you can choose a subscription plan that guarantees a 100% accuracy, as well as other advanced options.
You can export the text in a variety of file formats, including commonly used text file formats such as SRT, json or docx, and use it for a wide array of purposes just minutes after you’ve transformed an audio file into text.4.Price: FreeThis free online converter lets you turn YouTube or any other type of video or audio file to text for free. You can upload a file directly from your computer, use a video’s URL if it is stored online or import it from personal cloud storage services like Dropbox or Google Drive. Currently, you can only transcribe video and audio files that are in English, French, Hindi and Chinese languages which can limit your options if the text you’d like to generate is in another language. Keep in mind that you are going to have to specify the start and end points of the transcription which allows you to create text from only a portion of the video or audio file.
Once the conversion is completed, you will have to wait for your request to be processed before you can download the text the platform generated for you.5.Price: $19.99Compatibility: WindowsIf you are looking for a reliable speech to text software you can use on your PC, then Sobolsoft’s MP3 Speech to Text Converter software is probably one of the best options you can find on the market. The software is easy to use, as you just have to select the audio files you’d like to transcribe and hit the Start Converting button. All the text the software generates will be displayed in the Results window where you can edit it, copy it to clipboard or save it as a text file.
However, this software doesn’t provide support for video files, which means that you can’t use it to transcribe files that are saved in MP4, AVI, MOV or any other of the popular video file formats. You can try the Sobolsoft’s MP3 Speech to Text Converter for free and decide if you want to purchase the license to use the software without any restrictions.6.Price: $99 for an individual licenseCompatibility: Windows, macOSEven though you can’t generate text automatically with InqScribe, this app for PC and Mac computers is still one of the best ways to create subtitles for your videos or transcripts of audio files. The software offers support for a large number of languages so you can use several different languages in the same document. Simply add a video or an audio file to the software’s media window and start typing your transcript. You can also add timecodes wherever you want in the text, which makes InqScribe perfectly suited for the production of subtitle files you can easily add to the videos you share online.
The software lets you export the workflow and use it Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere Pro to add subtitles to your projects before you export them as video files.7.Price: Free trial available, subscription plans start at $0,05 per minuteYou can create a subtitle file in just four easy steps with the GoSubtitle online platform. In case you opt to use the free version of GoSubtitle you won’t be able to upload files that are larger than 500 MB, but if you decide to purchase one of the available subscription plans you will be able to upload files that have up to 5GB.
Once you upload the video to the platform, you can proceed to select the source and destination languages and subtitle formats. GoSubtitle offers support for more than 90 languages and it lets you choose from four different subtitle formats including srt or vtt. You can also use the subtitle editor, if you would like to adjust the subtitles the platform created automatically and sync them perfectly with your video. The accuracy of the text GoSubtitle platform generates depends on a number of factors, and you should check the subtitles before you add them to your video.Converting Audio to Text With a SmartphoneSpeech to text apps for Androids and iPhones can help you generate transcriptions of your audio and video files. Open an app like on your Android device and play the file you’d like to transcribe on your computer to start converting speech into text. Just keep in mind that the text files you create in this way can’t be easily linked to their sources, so if you are looking for a quick way to generate subtitles for your videos, then some of the software products and online platforms we featured in this article are a much better option.ConclusionThe process of converting speech into text doesn’t necessarily have to be complicated.
The online and computer-based speech to text apps can help you create transcriptions quickly, even though the results you will get may not be always entirely accurate. What is your favorite method of converting speech to text?
Leave a comment, and let us know.
![]() Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
January 2023
Categories |