- What is the difference between WatchingWords and CastingWords?
WatchingWords sells monthly transcription plans, with editing tools and support. It quickly converts your audio and video into timestamped, searchable text files in a variety of formats. Upload your files or connect a cloud storage service and within a couple of hours you can search on a keyword and jump straight to the quote or segment you're looking for. Edit right on the site, then download your files in a range of text, subtitle, and caption formats. Transcription is done by both people and machines, depending on the plan you select.
CastingWords service is a traditional human-powered transcription service. Its purpose is to produce polished, hand-edited transcripts with labeled speakers, researched spellings, and tags for sound events such as laughter and applause. Order a la carte, with no plans or monthly commitments.
Both services are products of CastingWords, LLC, of New Mexico.
- How long does it take?
WatchingWords results are usually available within a day. Machine results can be as fast as two hours of dropping your file into the connected feed or cloud service provider (or uploading it directly).
- How much does it cost?
We have several plans available. Pay as you go, or get lower per-minute rates with a monthly plan. Human powered, machine or both.
- What if I don't want timestamps or captions?
No problem, clean transcripts are always available. Our search tool allows you to jump straight to the desired spot in both your media file and the transcript. The timestamping process is what makes that possible, however, even though every file is timestamped you may choose not to have them on the downloaded transcript.
- What file formats do you accept?
You can provide your audio or video in MP3, MP4, M4A, M4V, MPEG, MOV, WEBM, OGG, FLAC, WAV, and most WMA/WMV files at this time. We can usually handle other types of audio and video, but of course if manual intervention is needed, that will cause delays. Drop us a line if you have questions about supported formats.
We can NOT handle certain proprietary formats, including WebEx ARF and DVF. Most recorders that produce proprietary formats also offer software to export to MP3, WAV, or other formats we can work with.
- What file formats do you deliver?
You can download your WatchingWords transcript files in plain text, RTF, and DOC formats. Captions and subtitles are provided in SRT (two styles), VTT (two styles), and DXFP. You can also view your transcript online (HTML), with real-time tracking as the audio plays. Email us if you have questions or requests regarding our output formats.
- What happens with bad audio? What if my transcript is gobbledigook?
Generally we do our best with bad audio, but it does tend to produce gobbledigook output that requires much editing on your part. Some files are just too hard, and will turn up in your feed as untranscribable.
- Why does the audio skip around when I'm editing?
The audio follows your mouse clicks. Move the cursor using the arrow keys or other keyboard shortcuts to prevent the audio from jumping to the new spot.
- Do I have to save my edits?
No. Edits are saved automatically.
- Can I change my plan?
Yes! Visit Your Account to make a change. Upgrades are applied immediately. Downgrades and cancellations are applied at the end of your billing period.