Text-based Editing best Practices for Mixing Interviews

[Atomstream]

I am using text-based editing on a pretty big project involving interviews with about 30 people.

I created a new timeline to serve as my primary timeline for the production.

I dragged clips from various interviews onto that new timeline. The text transcripts went with the clips, but the names of the speakers didn't. (Sad face)

On the new timeline, speaker names are not editable. (Sadder face)

And on the new timeline, with various clips on it from various speakers, you cannot initiate a new transcription to start fresh with just those clips. (Sad, confused face.)

What's the best practice, then, for combining clips from various interviews to create a nice tight production? (wondering, hopeful face).

[Stan Jones]

Atomstream,

I am assuming you are dealing with transcripts and not with captions created from transcripts.

> I dragged clips from various interviews onto that new timeline. The text transcripts went with the clips, but the names of the speakers didn't.

The speaker name is on the left in the Transcript. When I add from the transcript to the sequence (or drag a clip with a source transcript to the timeline), the source transcript of the sequence has the speaker names. A screenshot of what you are seeing might help.

> On the new timeline, speaker names are not editable.

To edit a speaker name from a source transcript, you must open the source clip in the Source monitor and edit the speaker name in the source transcript.

> And on the new timeline, with various clips on it from various speakers, you cannot initiate a new transcription to start fresh with just those clips.

Right. There are 3 options. 1) Leave the source transcriptions - and the sequence view is of the parts of those transcripts that are in the sequence. Or 2) replace them with a static transcription of the sequence, which won't update as you edit. And 3) Once there is a static transcript, an option appears in the 3 dots menu for the sequence to "Generate text-based editing transcript." You get a dialogue with this message, "Your existing sequence transcript will be replaced by a dynamic transcript that is sourced from the clips in your sequence." And what you get is a return to the original.

The only way I see to get a source clip of an edited sequence is to export/reimport, keeping the dialogue on audio track 1.

> What's the best practice, then, for combining clips from various interviews to create a nice tight production?

I'm still experimenting, but, generally, I'm guessing the preferred workflow is to keep the source transcripts until your edit is finished. And you have to be careful about overlapping dialogue. A screenshot demonstrating how you are laying out multiple clips might be helpful.

Stan

[Atomstream]

Stan, your reply is very helpful! Here is more detail about my post.

Here, you see the Andrea T. transcript for the Andrea T. interview. Her name is visible in the Transcript pane.

I cut (CTRL + K on both ends) and highlighted a segment...

...and dragged it to a new timeline containing clip from several interviews. The new timeline is below.

You can see that the Transcript pane aboe (the newly assembled timeline) has different controls for the speaker names. Andrea T. is identified as Speaker 1 in the new timeline because she was Speaker 1 in the original interview timeline. You can also see that the new timeline does not have the three dots to the left of her name, and that means I cannot change her name in this new destination timeline. 

So, even though her quote is labeled with her name in my interview source, when I drag it to a new timeline, her name does not go with it. I also noticed that I cannot Copy her line and Paste it in the new timeline.

You suggested that if I want to edit a speaker name in a source transcript, to go to the source and edit. You can see here that I have done that. It has no effect on my new timeline, which is assembled from clips from several speakers. Just wanted to mention that since you helpfully suggested it.

OK, moving on...YES--you are correct that choosing to create a Static Transcript cures some of the challenges I identified. I can change Speaker names if it is helpful to me, but it is not. If I move clips around, then generate a new transcription, it will start fresh with generic speaker names.

And, curiously, when I create a new "text-based editing transcript" it is (as you said) the same as what I started with, with speaker names that are not editable. 

This is OK--I can work with it, but it is really no better than before Text-Based Editing debuted.

And that is why I am asking: What is the best practice in this common situation?

• I see that Text-Based Editing can help me sort through and find the very best quotes from each interview. I can then have many sources that consist only of the best comments. That is helpful.
• I am hopeful that the ability to carry speaker names to a newly compiled timeline can be added in the future.
• I have worked out a process involving exported CSVs of edited transcripts. I label and rate every comment, then combine it into a master Excel spreadsheet that allows me to add additional columns for ordering clips.
  Once I am happy with the order of clips in my master spreadsheet, I go to my various source videos to extract the needed clips.
  For now, that seems to be the best route, even factoring in the helpfulness of TBE.

It just seems to me that bringing known speaker names along would be a helpful feature.