We can turn your meeting, seminar, podcast, interview, documentary, presentation, training course, press conference ... whatever! ... into a quality transcript you can use to assist you in your post-production, or for distribution to people who were not able to attend your event in person. Just send us your program. We'll transcribe it and send the transcript to you via email. We can ship hardcopy and/or CD to you at additional cost.

Use the links below to obtain specific information about each topic. 

Media File Formats
Transcript Turnaround
Transcript Refinement
Time Coding
Live Feed Recording

Media File Formats 

We can transcribe your program from various media file formats.

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Transcript Turnaround

We know you're on a schedule. In order to provide you with more flexibility with the return of your transcripts, we provide four services:

• Regular Turnaround service, our most economical rate. Your transcript is returned in 3-4 business days of receipt of program. For our clients on a tight budget this service is our biggest money saver.
  
  If we receive your program after 3:00 PM, the job is clocked in at 8:30 AM the next business day.
  

• Plus Turnaround service, your transcript is returned within 2 business days of receipt of program.
  
  If we receive the program after 3:00 PM, the job is clocked in at 8:30 AM the next business day.
  

• Priority Turnaround service, your transcript is returned within 24 business hours of receipt of program.
  
  If we receive the program after 3:00 PM, the job is clocked in at 8:30 AM the next business day.
  

• Super Rush Turnaround service, our SAME DAY SERVICE (when you need to have your transcripts sooner than later).
  
  Note: your program (maximum length of 2 hours) must be received by 10:00 AM, transcript will be returned by 5:00 PM that day.
  
  If we receive your program between 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM, we suggest instead our Priority Turnaround service to get your transcripts back by the same time the next business day for a lower rate!
  
  However, if we receive your program after 3:00 PM, we will have your transcript returned to you by 5:00 PM the next business day at the Super-Rush rate.
  
  Although we usually can accommodate Super-Rush service at the last minute, advance notice is strongly recommended for this service.

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Transcript Refinement

At Shadow, we use the guidelines below in transcribing your program. You tell us how refined you want the transcript to be as follows:
 

• Cleaned up. This is the best choice for a transcript that is intended to be distributed for reading as opposed to one that will be used for post-production. We eliminate the "uhs", throat clearings, repeated phrases, etc. to improve clarity so that the transcript "reads" easily.
   

• Medium. A transcript refined to this level will contain repeated phrases, self-corrections, etc., but the "uhs", vocal tics, and other non-speech sounds are excluded.
   

• Fine. This is a word-for-word, uh-for-uh, exact replication of the program. Every vocal tic, throat clearing, cough, whatever, will be included in the transcript. This is a good choice for video post-production because the editor can decide whether to include or exclude a segment based on the "quality" of speech without having to view the segment itself.
   

These are intended only as guidelines to indicate the level of refinement we can apply to your transcript. Of course, we will transcribe the program to any level of refinement in between as you request.

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Time Coding

Does your program contain LTC SMPTE time code? If so, include it on the media you send to us and we can include time codes in the transcript. This can help you locate a specific point on your program which matches the text in the transcript. Just the ticket for locating that perfect sound bite from the company president! We can timecode from other input as well.

Here are a few things to keep in mind for electronic time code: 
 

• Keep time code signal on a separate channel on your audio file. (Ex. Audio track on 1 – time code track on 2 or vice-versa.)

• Time code audio levels should be between -10 to +3 dB. Time code levels should not be greater than those of the audio track. 
   

• Keep time code signal and audio volume consistent throughout your recording. A jittery or skipping signal can result in
  inconsistent codes.

Our FAQ page contains information on additional forms of time coding.

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Live Feed Recording

Need to get us your program in a hurry? Give us a phone number to dial into your audio feed and we'll record the program in real time. Since we'll be recording your program anyway, why not have us burn it to a CD for you?

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