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Stan Jones
Community Expert
Community Expert
May 30, 2023
Open for Voting

Audio Track Selection for Source Media Transcription

  • May 30, 2023
  • 74 replies
  • 10200 views

Edit 12/15/24: Update on Multichannel Audio Transcription Support. Tests on PR Release 25.0.0 confirm that this is working for mono and stereo, and that the problem with Sony FX MXF files was fixed. Users experiencing problems should start a new thread and ask for assistance. Include information about the files used and process for transcribing.


PR Release version 24.0.0 added transcription of multiple audio channels for source media for mono, and stereo was added in Release Version 24.1.0.

 

Manual transcription occurs when right-clicking the source in the Project Panel, or using the 3 dot menu in the Text Panel.
If PR recognizes the file as having multiple channels, it adds "Channel Selection" to the options in the "Create Transcription for Source Media" dialogue. If it does not see multiple channels, you do not see that option.

 

Automatic transcription occurs when you set preferences to transcribe files when they are imported to the project or added to a sequence. It also occurs when untranscribed sources are in a sequence, and the Transcribe button is clicked in the Text Panel.


Auto-transcription uses a mix of the audio tracks. This works well as long as there is little overlap of dialogue on multiple channels.

 

An earlier post in this thread provides more detail:
https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-ideas/audio-track-selection-for-source-media-transcription/idc-p/14284739#M12271


Edit 10/30/23: Update on Multichannel Audio Transcription Support. PR Release version 24.0.0 added transcription of multiple audio channels for source media, but only for mono. Stereo has been added in the Beta version, and is in active development.

 

Auto-transcription still looks only at audio track one.

 

If PR recognizes the file as having multiple channels, it adds "Channel Selection" to the options in the "Create Transcription for Source Media" dialogue. If it does not see multiple channels, you do not see that option.

 

Some MXF files with multiple mono channels are not yet working correctly.

 

See these posts from staff:

 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-beta-bugs/text-based-editing-doesn-t-work-with-multiple-audio-channels/idc-p/14155069#M1380

 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-ideas/audio-track-selection-for-source-media-transcription/idc-p/14113645#M11053

 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-ideas/audio-track-selection-for-source-media-transcription/idc-p/14132036#M11257

 

Original Post: Text-Based Editing/Source Media Transcription as rolled out in Releaase 23.4.0 does not allow for the selection of which audio track to transcribe, but transcribes only track 1. From forum posts, users often appear to have multiple audio tracks per file, including microphone, camera(s), sound board input, etc. The workarounds quickly become onerous.

 

I recognize the difficulty, which is encountered when using nesting workaround. Instead of one transcription per clip, you must have multiple transcriptions per clip. In my experiments, the audio track picked currently for transcription is not changed by mapping audio channels etc. So any method using multiple audio tracks/transcriptions would need to name them in a way that the user could understand and track.

 

Workarounds:

 

  1. Modify the source file so the desired clip is audio track 1.
  2. Place the clip in a sequence, create a static transcription (which allows audio track selection), and then nest that sequence. That nested sequence carries the transcription and behaves like a source transcription.
  3. Select the multitrack file in the Project Panel and Clip -> Audio Options -> Extract Audio. This creates as many files as there are audio tracks, named [Filename] + Extracted.wav, [Filename] + Extracted_1.wav, etc. Note that the numbers are in revers order to the audio tracks in a sequence. For example, if there are 2 audio tracks, the file named ...Extracted_1.wav will be audio track one and the file named without the _1 will be track two.

 

Note that anytime transcribed clips are on different tracks in a timeline, the higher-ranking track (e.g. audio track 1 is higher than audio track 2) will be active.

 

If you are upvoting this idea, be sure to click the numbering box in the upper left of the thread, not just individual posts.

 

Stan

 

 

74 replies

Stan Jones
Community Expert
Community Expert
September 23, 2023

They are starting to work on this in the public Beta. The "What's New" note in the PR Beta says "Source Multi Channel" and "Enables multi channel options for source clip transcription in the text panel." I thought I saw a staff post, but I cannot find it. In any event, I see no new option enabled in the Beta, so probably early days for its development.

 

@TeresaDemel @Annika Koenig,

Perhaps I just dreamt that one of you posted about this. lol. Is there any update posted?

 

Stan

 

Participating Frequently
September 20, 2023

Yes, please fix this. This is so bad and causes so much wasted time and effort. Please allow selection of audio track asap.

jakeprice
Known Participant
September 20, 2023

"We absolutely NEED a way to tell Premiere Pro what audio track to use for transcription." Of course! How is it that Adobe hasn't figured out this most BASIC functions. And why does this feature exist in static transcript and not when transcribing the source?????

Stan Jones
Community Expert
Community Expert
August 31, 2023

@avid314786382y9u,

 

Your workflow is a great example of the challenges in text-based editing. Even if source media transcription allowed specifying which tracks to transcribe, you'd still have the issue described in my note above: "Note that anytime transcribed clips are on different tracks in a timeline, the higher-ranking track (e.g. audio track 1 is higher than audio track 2) will be active." From your description, I assume you have separate audio for the speakers, so you can transcribe them as independent sources. BUT, when you add them into a sequence, one will always be in the higher audio track, and the other's transcript will not be visible. To test this, mute the higher audio track, and you will see the lower track's transcript.

 

I think the best option for you is to do a static transcription of your sequence with both audio tracks, using the identify speaker and "mix" settings. This creates a transcript of both speakers, hopefully with the speaker designations being correct.

 

Now nest that into a new sequence. The nested sequence (and its "static" transcription) are treated as a source transcript in that new sequence. That transcript will in fact update as you edit, and you see both speakers for editing.

 

You'll have to manually deal with any times the speakers talk over each other.

 

I'm wondering what the right feature request is for such situations. A toggle to show all transcripts (e.g. those hidden by higher tracks)? But how do you display those when they overlap others; columns of tracks? And how would you edit them? The current method (one transcript and using mute as a workaround to show a hidden track) is limited, but what is the option?

 

Stan

 

 

 

Participant
August 30, 2023

I edit a weekly podcast. The interview is typically a nested sequence with the interviewer on A1 and the guest on A2. When I run the transcript for the finished sequence, it only displays text for A1. This is incredibly frustrating, and replacing it with a static transcript defeats the entire purpose of the linked transcript system. Hopefully this gets fixed sooner than later.

Participant
August 18, 2023

Hi Stan, and thanks for bringing the attention to this limitation and helping other users.
I have tried #1 but it has not worked. It seems as if there is a cache for the attempt that failed which prevents it from seeing the "new" audio on A1. It's a guess.

I have tried #2 and #3 several times with no success either.
I will continue using static transcriptions which are already a major help until the bug is fixed.

Rubén

R Neil Haugen
Legend
August 6, 2023

Thanks for popping in, Jarle!

 

We've needed more and better user options for setting up audio for some time. As you have commented on several occasions.

 

Between proxy audio, channels for specific broadcast needs, and others, it's more potentially complicated these days.

Everyone's mileage always varies ...
Legend
August 6, 2023

@R Neil Haugen  I think @Stan Jones has laid out the problem and the workarounds perfectly. We absolutely NEED a way to tell Premiere Pro what audio track to use for transcription.

 

The current solution works fine for people who record using their phones or system cameras (usually "stereo" sound with the same audio on both channels, so in practice, just double-mono), but for those who use professional cameras with 4 audio channels or more, or separate audio recorders with multiple channels, it's not working great, and sometimes not at all.

Stan Jones
Community Expert
Community Expert
August 1, 2023

@Mauronic,

 

Thanks for the additional thoughts about workarounds.

 

XML has some powerful workaround options for many functions.

 

Stan

 

R Neil Haugen
Legend
August 1, 2023

I'd love to get @Jarle Leirpoll in this discussion. Joost Van Der Hoeven also but I don't know his moniker to ping him.

Everyone's mileage always varies ...