Audio Track Selection for Source Media Transcription

Report · May 30, 2023

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-transcripti...

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-...

https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-ideas/audio-track-selection-for-source-media-transcripti...

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:

Modify the source file so the desired clip is audio track 1.
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.
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

Report · Oct 07, 2023

Hi, I dont see any new updates, the latest beta doesnt appear to be .45 for mac silicon. i have same problem still, i have even tried a new clip where audio was reccodred on channel, 1,2,3,4

Report · Oct 07, 2023

> I dont see any new updates, the latest beta doesnt appear to be .45 for mac silicon.

Build 46 is there for PC. It took a few days. I have not tried it yet, but there's clearly some difference for Mac.

Stan

Report · Oct 08, 2023

Hi Kerstin, I just updated to latest build today, still does not see the audio for transcription, from my clips that dont have audio on channel (1), this build also just quit on me, no error, i went to import a different clip and boom.

How do i get you my video file for testing ?

Report · Oct 11, 2023

Latest official and beta update have the same problem

Report · Oct 22, 2023

I guess my problem 'enable script base edit not working' is same with this article

OKOASIS

Report · Oct 24, 2023

Hi @Xzault,

you can send me a link to your file here in the thread or via a private message. Thank you!

Report · Oct 30, 2023

Is there any update to this issue? I finally today updated to and tried out Premiere Pro 2024, started a new test project and imported a single game recording from Nvidia Shadowplay, which always records the mic on the 2nd track if told to separate the tracks. When I imported, it didn't give me an option to choose my transcription track, and when the import was completed, there was no transcription of the second track, only the first.

Without the ability to choose a transcription track, this feature is essentially useless in its current state to a huge number of users who edit their game videos with Premiere Pro. As it is, the feature isn't very intuitive. Are there any plans to make track selection at time of transcription an always-available option in an upcoming update?

Report · Oct 30, 2023

@NPhillip, I edited my original post here to add an update. See at the top.

To transcribe channel 2 of a source media file, don't use auto-transcription. Right-click in the Project Panel and pick transcribe or open in the Source Monitor and switch to the transcript tab and use the 3 dot menu. If it is mono, it should show the channel selection in the transcription options. Stereo channels are supported in the Beta version.

This is still in active development.

I hear you: auto-transcription with a selection for your favorite channel might be nice. I wonder if an easier step would be to allow channel selection for multiple files (e.g. from the Project Panel).

Stan

Report · Oct 31, 2023

Still does not work for me! I tried the latest beta, my audio is on channel 2,3,4 and adobe cant find/transcribe from any channel i select. now of course i can open the file in the project and hear my audio, i dont understand how this isnt a simple fix, but hey im no programmer

Report · Nov 01, 2023

@Xzault,

Is your Beta 24.2.0.1? See this post re next fixes for mxf:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-bugs/premiere-pro-2024-0-not-transcribing-source-clips/i...

Is your clip from a Sony camera?

Thanks for continuing to post on this.

Stan

Report · Nov 01, 2023

yes Sony FX6

Report · Nov 02, 2023

latest build 24.2 just transcribed for me, oh the joy, lol

Report · Nov 02, 2023

auto scroll doesnt seem to work after transcribe. i then created a new sequence from the clip, and auto scroll started to work. then i un-did the creation of the new seq and auto scroll is still working.

Report · Nov 07, 2023

Hi @Xzault

happy to hear that your clip is transcribed successfully!

When you say that auto-scroll doesn't work, do you mean that you don't see the playback in the Text panel to be in sync with the Program or Source monitor? Does playback on the transcript work at all (do you see the blue active word bubble?)

Best,

Kerstin

Report · Dec 07, 2023

On MacOS I can now click one Clip in the Project window, select retranscribe and select a channel. But this only works for a SINGLE clip. So I have to select every single clip of a shooting day and select channels? Not really an option unfortunately.

Report · Dec 07, 2023

There are new options in that new Preferences tab at the bottom, Transcriptions.

Check there, as I think you can set it to transcribe on import. Might only be in the beta, I'm not at my computer at the moment. But might be in the 24.1 shipping ...

Report · Dec 07, 2023

I can set transcription settings for import in the ingest tab - but no audio channel selction there.

Or I can select "..." in the transcript tab and then I can set channels for the selected clip - just like right-clicking in the project window and hitting "re transcribe"..

Report · Dec 07, 2023

Next problem: I usually use multiple lav mics - therefore I need four audio channels. So when the speaker changes I need to select another track. Or tell premiere to use a mixdown of ONLY channel three and four for example. I think its way easier to first put all clips in a sequence and delete all audio tracks that I dont need and then transcribe this sequence, but then I loose the ability to Text-Edit, right?

Report · Dec 07, 2023

Seems like it, I can only generate a static script from my sequence or generate a dynamic transcript - but thats a script from the source clips..

Dont know if it works with nested clips but that makes things indeed very complicated.

Report · Dec 07, 2023

Peter,

Are you using the Beta? If so, which build? Release 24.1.0 is now out. It has mono and stereo multichannel functions.

This is a MAJOR step forward, and kudos to staff!

Documentation will lag. "Multichannel audio support" is found in the help for text-based editing. It is currently accurate for 24.0.0 which handled only mono tracks, but not 24.1.0, which now also handles stereo tracks. Also, a problem with Sony FX MXF files appears to be fixed in 24.1.0.

https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/using/text-based-editing.html

This is my current summary of workflow issues. My apologies for it being lengthy, but comments about this were spread over a variety of posts. @Kerstin Ebert @Alexander_DVA Can you comment on any misstatements?

Transcription for Multichannel Source Media

If the file has multiple audio channels, the “Create Transcription for Source Media” Dialogue now shows “Channel Selection” option, with Mix and Channel 1, Channel 2, etc.

This is comparable to the “Generate Static Transcription” Dialogue for a Sequence having an option for “Audio on Track” with Mix and Audio 1, Audio 2, etc.

If an Audio Channel has no dialogue and it is selected, it processed as if it is transcribing, and shows “No dialogue” at completion. In a 3 minute sample, transcription with dialogue took 23 seconds, and a no dialogue transcription took 16 seconds.

If you re-transcribe, it replaces the previous transcription whether it was from the same or a different channel.

Independent transcripts can be produced by:

1 Duplicating the file in PR. Note that the duplicate shows “re-transcribe” as the option and has the same channel transcript as the original file. If re-transcribed to a different channel, the original file keeps its original transcript, and the duplicate now shows the re-transcription with the new channel.

2 Clip -> Audio Options -> Breakout to Mono. For a 4-channel file, this creates 4 clips named [Original name with extension] + Channel + Channel number. For example, for a file with 4 mono channels named “Test File 4 channel.mov”, the breakouts are named “Test File 4 channel.mov Channel 1,” … Channel 2, etc. They all inherit the transcript associated with the original file if one was created. When you use "Re-Transcribe," they correctly do not prompt for the channel, because they are no longer multichannel clips. All 4 can be selected in the Project Panel and Re-Transcribed in one action, and each of the 4 has its correct transcript.

Note that each breakout clip has its original channel information, as confirmed by Modify -> Audio Channels.

Feature Request: a transcription dialogue with the ability to select which channels I want to be transcribed (more than one), creating the breakout with its transcript.

Working with multiple channel transcripts in a sequence, with Channel 1 on Track 1, etc:

With all audio tracks enabled, only the Track 1 transcript shows in the Text panel.

If Track 1 is muted, Track 2 shows, etc. Solo does not have this effect. The only way to show Track 4 transcript is to mute Tracks 1-3. Deleting a section of the audio track allows a higher-numbered track to “show.” Followup: does keyframing volume make a difference? (I don't think so.)

Feature Request: Would a “show/hide” toggle work to pick which transcript to show?

Untranscribed in Transcript tab and dialogue

Note that if one of the audio tracks was not transcribed, and the Transcript View Options has "Untranscribed sources" turned on, the Text tab will show a Transcribe option at the top and in the transcript area, a timecode range and "Source has not been transcribed." If "Untranscribed sources" is off, neither message shows. Whether "Untranscribed sources" is on or off, the text panel shows only information about the "active" track, and nothing about the presence of other tracks that have transcriptions.

In that situation, if you click that transcribe button, it does not open the "Create transcript for source media" dialogue, and you don't get the option to select an audio channel. It is like using auto-transcribe.

Auto-transcribing Multichannel Clips

When using auto-transcription on multichannel clips, the Mix selection is used. This works okay if there are no overlaps of dialogue on different tracks.

Stan

Report · Dec 07, 2023

Thanks for your help. I am not using a beta yet but will check it out. The problem is: as there doesn't seem to be a continuous source clip playback like in FCPx I cannot play through all my clips in the source window. So I have to automate them all to a sequence to preview clips and edit markers. I am not able to alter audio channel settings or transcription settings on a clip level. So I will just delete audio tracks I don't need from every clip in this sequence of source clips. How can I use transcribe or use this sequence for transcription? I read about nesting the sequence but doesn't this impose a lot of other problems?

Report · Dec 07, 2023

To be honest:

I didnt find the right usecase for text based editing yet. If its about creating a script while editing video I would definitely need the ability to add the text for the narrator manually in the script window. But thats not possible, so I need to export the text and edit it in a text editor later on loosing all the ability to text edit my video.

If its used to organize footage, then I would need the ability to highlight parts of the text like video ranges in different colors. But there seems no way to add annotations like markers in the text window.

So I guess the main use is to create captions that I dont really need.

Report · Dec 07, 2023

I do mostly interviews and tutorials of varying lengths. Transcripts are an awesome tool for my workflow, as pretty much I edit by reading a transcript at times. I'll print out the interview, which has timestamps, note the ones I want, then go back to grab those bits.

I don't have to watch the whole thing through while taking notes. I can see immediately if one comment 'here' means this other comment there is now superfluous. That sort of thing.

From what it sounds like from your comments, if I were doing that ... I'd print the transcript of the interview. Note the sections I wanted, and then build the questions for the narrator to fit.

Report · Dec 07, 2023

Thanks. Wouldnt it be great if you could just highlight parts of the transcript with a marker in premiere itself instead of printing everything out, finding those parts in the application and editing then in your sequence? Its such a simple feature: a yellow marker to highlight parts of text.