In this topic
A transcript contains text that describes the content of audio or video files. You might use a transcript to
Make a text copy of all conversations or events
Divide the media into sections and make notes about each section
Record notes or keywords about specific conversations or events
Make notes about the media in general
In NVivo, transcripts are made up of the following elements:
1 Transcript entry that is made up of timespan and content. You can have multiple transcript entries with the same timespan—for example, you could have one entry for dialog and another for body language.
2 Timespan is the duration of time for a transcript entry. For example, Jane spoke about the new issues from the two minute point to the ten minute point (0:02:0-0:10:0). You can enter timespans directly into a transcript or let NVivo create them in 'transcribe mode'. You can also leave the timespan column blank.
3 Content column (field) contains the transcript text. You can format, code, annotate and link the text in this column.
4 Custom columns (fields) that you can add to the transcripts in your project. They contain additional information that you might want to capture, such as speaker name, setting or whatever suits your research. You cannot manually code, annotate or link the content in custom columns. You can auto code transcripts based on content in a custom column—refer to Automatic coding in audio and video sources.
NOTE You may have a transcript without an accompanying audio or video file—for example, a text-based interview. You can import this type of transcript as a document source.
After you create or import a transcript you can
Add, delete or edit the text in transcript rows
Format the text in the Content column (change fonts, text colors and apply bold, italics or underline)
Code, annotate and link text in the Content column
Filter the transcript to focus on pertinent content
Select an entry and play the associated section of media
Synchronize the media and the transcript—as the media plays the transcript automatically scrolls
Since you can code, annotate and link directly on the media timeline, you may not need a transcript. For example, if you code the timespan 0:20.0 - 0:50.0 at the node conflict, you can see and play this section of the media when you open the node.
Transcripts are useful if you want to include your audio or video sources in Word Frequency or Text Search queries.
You can leave the transcript blank or hide it if required—refer to Filter, sort and customize audio or video transcripts for more information.
You can import an existing transcript from a Word document or a text file—once the transcript is imported you can add, edit or delete transcript entries. You can also create a new transcript in NVivo using the following methods:
Refer to Create audio or video transcripts in NVivo for more detailed information.
Top of Page