How long does it take to transcribe an audio file?

• March 13, 2024

An audio recording can be an important source of sometimes hard-to-get information. However, referring to audio files is no simple matter, as we often don’t have the time to listen to the documents over and over again. To make the most of the information contained in an audio recording, the solution is to transcribe it into text. However, manually transcribing an audio file is a time-consuming process. It also requires attention, concentration and a great deal of effort in terms of typing speed. Consequently, it makes more sense to use the services of a professional transcriber. The same applies if you want to create subtitles for your videos. A qualified subtitler will provide you with quality renderings that meet your expectations at affordable rates.

How fast do transcribers type?

In general, transcription work often requires short and rapid completion times. Sometimes clients want the transcription of their video or audio recordings to be completed within a few hours. Therefore, in order to complete their task on time, transcribers must have a fast typing speed with an average of around 70 words per minute, or even more, i.e. 80 to 120 words/minute.

On the other hand, this skill in speed of typing is accompanied by good linguistic knowledge. Transcribers also know how to decipher colloquial accents and avoid punctuation and grammatical errors and typos. Thus, these professionals have an accuracy of around 97% and above for a transcription.

How fast does a person with no transcription experience type?

Typing speed is measured in words per minute or WPM. This is the rate or speed at which a person writes or types words on a keyboard without making typos. Note also that the average word is five (5) characters long, including spaces.

The speed at which a person with no transcription experience types varies from one individual to another. However, according to some studies, the average typing speed of a person with no transcription experience is around 40 words per minute.

How do you measure your typing speed?

There are a number of sites and software programs on the Internet that allow you to carry out online typing tests, often free of charge and in playful form, to determine your raw typing speed.

Technique for learning to type quickly

In the beginning of your training, you need to focus on finger placement and muscle memory. Accuracy is also important, and goes hand in hand with speed to avoid typing errors.

Nevertheless, there are some general indicators that can help you estimate whether or not you’re typing faster. First of all, consider how long it takes you to complete a typing task. If you think you’ve completed the task quickly, this means you’re typing at a fairly fast pace. On the other hand, if you’re looking for the keys on the keyboard to type words, your typing rhythm is slow.

Next, you need to look at the quality of your writing. If you notice many errors, you’re typing too fast. If, on the other hand, your transcription is smooth and organized, your writing rhythm is excellent.

Finally, analyze your comfort level when typing. Note that if you feel you’re typing very fast, it’s often because of stress or that you’re probably anxious. So, to type at an ideal pace, all you need to do is stay calm.

Also, to type faster, position your fingers correctly on the keyboard. Learn to hit the right keys without looking at them, and try to avoid mistakes. With regular practice, your performance will improve in a matter of weeks. Adopt the ideal typing technique and concentrate on precision. The challenge will be to give up your bad habits, but your typing speed will accelerate.

So you need to know how to type with all 10 fingers. To do this, position them correctly on the keyboard. Your 2 thumbs will alternately strike the space key. Starting with your little finger, the other fingers of your left hand should be on the letters Q, S, D, F. The same applies to your right hand, where your fingers should be on the letters M, L, K, J. The secret to progress is for your fingers to return to their starting position. What’s more, your hands don’t move much, so you don’t have to exert yourself when typing.

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How to calculate your typing speed

Calculating your typing speed is fairly straightforward. To practice typing, choose a text such as a newspaper article, a passage from a book or quotations of around a hundred words. Get yourself a stopwatch. Set the timer. Make sure you can start and stop it at 1 minute of typing.

Then start the stopwatch and type as many words as you can, avoiding mistakes as much as possible. When the device indicates the end of the minute, count the number of words or characters you’ve typed.

If you’ve used typing speed testing software, to find out how fast you’re typing, divide the number of characters typed by 5. Note that it’s not possible to use the number of words for this calculation, as some words are quite long. Therefore, 5 is the average number of characters per word. If, for example, you have typed 200 characters, you divide this figure by 5 and you get 40 words.

If you haven’t used software to test your typing speed, reread your text and note any mistakes you’ve made. These include missing punctuation, misspelled words, forgotten spaces and capitalization. Count them and subtract them from the total number of words in your text. If you’ve made 5 mistakes, for example, you have 35 correct words.

How long does it take to transcribe a one-hour audio file?

Transcribing a one-hour audio file can take between 6 and 8 hours on average. In fact, this variation in task completion depends on several factors:

Speech rate:

When talking to several people, each person or individual speaks more or less quickly than the others. Some may even mince their words, while others may be cut off. In such situations, the transcriber types fewer words per minute.

Recording quality:

It can also happen that the microphone has not been placed close to the speakers during the recording. As a result, it is often difficult to understand what they are saying in the audio recording. If the latter is also polluted by background noise, the speakers’ speech is rapid, they speak at the same time or with unintelligible accents, the transcription time of the document can be lengthened. In other words, for a transcription assignment to be completed quickly, the sound quality of the audio recording must be good, not mediocre.

The subject matter:

If the assignment involves the transcription of a highly technical subject and contains vocabulary specific to an industry sector, the job becomes even more complex to carry out. The transcriber will have to do research on the Internet to understand the subject covered in the audio file. This requires extra time to complete the task.

Transcription accuracy:

The customer’s instructions for transcription must also be considered: should repetitions, hesitations, questions and interjections be taken into account? Otherwise, the type of transcription is also a factor influencing the time needed to complete the job. If, for example, the transcription is verbatim, reworked, synthesized or verbatim, and the transcriber has to eliminate tics of language, hesitations, etc., the task is quite time-consuming.

The learning curve for embedding text in video subtitles

Want to add subtitles to your YouTube videos? To do so, you can call on a Subtitler who will deliver a file in SRT extension.

To inlay your text as subtitles, first open your YouTube channel and access the video you want to modify. Click on the subtitle settings on the left and select the “import file” option. It should be noted that sometimes the YouTube platform asks you to determine the main language of your video. At the same time, a new window opens so that you can upload or download the SRT file corresponding to the video. Then click on “Subtitle file”. Your PC directory will immediately appear. Specify in advance whether you want to import your file without or with synchronization data. Once you’ve made your choice, click on “SRT file”, then “Import”.

Finally, YouTube arranges the subtitles according to the timeline you’ve specified. Don’t forget to make adjustments to the subtitles by adjusting the timecodes. You can use the bar around the text to adjust the display duration. Before publishing your video with subtitles, don’t hesitate to view it to check the accuracy and conformity of the subtitling. You can also change the default settings for subtitle display. These settings allow you to change subtitle opacity, color, size and font.

Should I delegate the transcription of an audio document?

You want to transcribe your audio recordings, but you’re not sure whether to carry out the task yourself or delegate it to a professional. Here are the pros and cons of both options.

Transcribing audio documents yourself

You can transcribe audio files yourself. All you need is a computer and headphones. You can use free speech recognition tools or specific transcription software. However, this procedure can be time-consuming if you don’t have good typing speed and are a beginner.

What’s more, some transcription programs are not very accurate when it comes to transcribing technical terms. They even omit punctuation marks, requiring you to listen to the audio recording again, reread the transcribed file and make corrections.

Delegate transcription to professionals

Transcribing video or audio recordings yourself is not always easy. It’s a time-consuming and tedious task. That’s why it’s best to delegate the job to a qualified professional like Sous-titreur.com.

Indeed, a transcriber has the qualities required to carry out his mission successfully. They are patient, adaptable and good listeners, as well as being focused and meticulous. Transcribing audio into text can be difficult. Unintelligible words and accents are challenges that transcribers sometimes have to face. Our professionals use efficient techniques and high-performance equipment to deliver results that meet customer expectations.

One of the essential skills of a professional transcriber is a good general knowledge. In fact, in the course of their work, they are often called upon to transcribe audio documents on a variety of subjects with their own lexicons. At Sous-titreur.com, our transcribers carry out research to understand the technical jargon in an audio file to be transcribed, in order to deliver a quality transcription. They master several languages, as well as the spelling and grammatical rules specific to each one. To deliver quality transcribed files, we carry out a final proofreading to rectify any careless errors.