Working with Multimedia Transcripts

A multimedia transcript consists of two documents: an audio or video file + an associated transcript.

Opening Transcripts

In contrast to ordinary documents, transcripts are found at the very bottom of the project explorer on the left-hand side of your main window, in the Multimedia Transcripts section.

Synchronized Scrolling

When opening a multimedia transcript, synchronized scrolling is activated by default. This means when you play the multimedia file, the text segment in the transcript between two timestamps is highlighted while the multimedia file is playing – and when you reposition the text cursor, the multimedia document seeks to the associated time.

Note that positioning will only be as good as your timestamps. Most transcripts won't have timestamps that are good enough for word-accurate synchronization.

If the document does not contain timestamps, ATLAS.ti estimates the synchronization based on the length of the multimedia file and the transcript. You can add time stamps for a better synchronization. See below for further information on how this is done.

Timestamp List

You see a list of time stamps in the audio or video document pane. If you want to see more or less, you can grab the header with your mouse and pull it up or down.

You can quickly navigate through the document by selecting timestamps from this list, and start playback at the appropriate time by double-clicking.

Editing Timestamps

To see the timestamps, click on the Edit Timestamps button in the Document ribbon.
The timestamps are indicated by green markers.

You can modify the position of an existing timestamp, add new ones, or delete timestamps.

Moving a Timestamp

Simply drag the green marker to reposition the timestamp. Note that you cannot reorder timestamps this way, so you can only drag between the surrounding timestamps.

Adding a Timestamp

In the transcript, put the cursor at the position where you want to add the time stamp. In the multimedia document, position the play-head (red line) to the corresponding position. In the toolbar, click Add Timestamp.

Deleting a Timestamp

Select a timestamp in the list, right-click and select Delete.

Deleting an Association

Open the Multimedia Transcripts branch in the Project Explorer, right-click on either transcript or the multimedia file, and select Disconnect.
This does not remove the document from the project. The multimedia file and transcript are still available in the Documents branch, but they are no longer associated.

If you want to remove an associated document from the project, you need to delete the association first.