Descript Transcription is accurate, fast and provides the foundation for the editing workflows that make Descript such a powerful media creation platform.
While there are a few ways to generate a transcript for your recordings, this article will focus primarily on Automatic (AI-based) transcription. Check out our other articles on White Glove transcription and Importing a transcript for even more ways to add a transcription to your media.
Transcribing a file
While the file transcribes, a window will appear prompting you to add Speaker Labels for the files you've added. If there is more than one speaker on a single file, click Enter Speaker Name, hover over Detect speakers and then select the correct number of speakers to start Speaker Detective.
Multitrack Recordings
If you import multiple files of the same length at once, you'll have the option to create a multitrack Sequence.
Initiating White Glove or Importing a Transcript
If you would prefer human transcription or already have a transcript that you would like to sync, you can drag the file(s) into the Project Sidebar and select More options at the bottom. Learn more about these options by visiting the articles on White Glove transcription and importing and syncing an existing transcript.
Correcting the transcript
AI transcription is great, but it can occasionally make mistakes so the following will help you quickly resolve any spelling, punctuation or capitalization issues you may encounter.
Correct text
When you've located a portion of the script that you would like to correct, highlight the text and then press the Correct button in the popover dialog. Make your corrections in the text box then press Correct or the Enter key to apply the changes.
Even better, Descript will pause when you correct a word during playback and then automatically resume from the point of correction once you're done.
Correct Text mode
You can also permanently toggle Correct Text with the Command + Option + E (Mac)/Control + Alt + E (Win) keyboard shortcut, or in the Edit menu > Toggle Correct Text. This mode is indicated by a green line around the border of the Script editor. Once toggled, you can type to make your transcript corrections, then manually adjust word boundaries if necessary.
Punctuation toggle
You can also quickly adjust punctuation by typing it into the script or holding the W button and clicking a word to alternate between a space, comma and period character.
Capitalization toggle
Similarly, you can hold the Q button and click a word to toggle capitalization on or off.
Transcription Glossary
The Transcription Glossary allows you to specify tough-to-translate words to help improve the chance that they will be translated correctly. Check out our article on Transcription Glossary to learn more.
Speaker Label shortcut
Speaker Detective is great but may not always catch every speaker or format your paragraphs perfectly. If you're looking for a quick way to make a correction, or if you prefer to add speakers manually, click the section of text where you'd like to add a newline / label and press Command + R (Mac) / Control + R (Win).
We also have a whole article in the help center dedicated to working with Speaker Labels if you want to become a Pro so feel free to check it out.
Advanced Tips for even faster transcript editing
If you're looking to get really fast with editing transcripts, check out our article Keyboard shortcuts for quick transcript correction for helpful tips.