Manual Transcription / Format of Text File of a Transcript

Prepare a manual transcript

Transcript import supports TXT, DOCX, SRT, and VTT. Use the correct file extension and correctly structured content. A supported extension alone does not show that processing is successful.

Text, start times, and end times are necessary for timed export. After import, make sure that times and speakers are correct. TXT and DOCX contain text. SRT and VTT have their own rules for timed blocks.

Text examples with timestamps

Use these examples as a starting point. Put the speaker before the timestamp if you want a separate speaker entry. Examine the speaker entries after import.

Speaker 1: [00:00:01] First spoken text.
Speaker 2: [00:00:10] Next spoken text.

[00:00:01] Speaker 1: First spoken text.
[00:00:10] Speaker 2: Next spoken text.

00:00:00.100 - 00:00:09.000
Speaker 1:
First spoken text.

00:00:10.000 - 00:00:27.160
Speaker 2:
Next spoken text.

Text without timestamps

Text without recognized times can be imported as text. This does not automatically create timed JSON and VTT export files. Examine the display in the Podigee player. Other apps do not necessarily support text without times.

Examine the import and feed

1. Keep a copy of an existing edited transcript before you replace it with an import.
2. Use the available episode import function and read any error messages.
3. After processing, examine the text, times, and speakers in the editor.
4. Examine the actual <podcast:transcript> links in the published RSS feed and open the files.

The feed only gives JSON and VTT links when the export files are available. Missing or incorrect timing data can prevent both exports. A successful upload does not show that VTT generation is completed or that all apps show the transcript.