Taking timecodes: Transcribe only the part of a long recording you need

Three ways to note the time

Read the recorder’s counter. This is the most reliable. If your recorder or phone shows elapsed time, write down the counter as it stands at the moment that matters. If your phone’s screen locks, change that beforehand.

Write down when you started. If you would rather not look at a device in front of someone, note the clock time you started and glance at the clock at key moments. If the recording began at 14:05:10, something said at 14:47:00 is at about 41:50.

Use the recording app’s marker. Some recorders and phone apps set a marker with one tap. If yours does, try it, but find out beforehand whether the markers can be exported.

At a crowded statement it may be hard to read a counter. Jotting down just the minute is enough; you can cover a minute or two of slack when you choose the range.

The same method helps in meetings and conference talks.

A sample note sheet

Notes from an invented hour-long interview with a mayor might look like this:

Those notes give two ranges, each with a little margin added:

So 15 minutes and 15 seconds of the hour get transcribed. Leave that margin: your note may fall where the question ended, and the start of the sentence should not be lost.

From timecodes to text

1. Under New transcript, choose File, drop the recording and press Continue. Video files go in the same way.
2. On the page that opens, press Choose a range.
3. Write your times in the Start and End fields. You can type 12:30, 1:02:05 or just seconds, as in 75.
4. Once the model is ready, press Start transcription.

Paragraph times count from the start of the file, not from your range. A 12:45 in the transcript is the same moment as 12:45 in your notes, and clicking it takes the player there. The general steps for a file are on the MP3 to text page.

Adding a second range

When the first range is done, enter the new start and end on the same page and press Start transcription again. If you closed the page, you will be asked to choose the file again, because the file never leaves your device.

Editing during the run helps here too: you can correct the mayor’s surname in the first range before the second one starts.

If you have no notes, or they are off

A recording with no timecodes is still useful. Under Settings, set How to transcribe to While listening (with the player): what you hear in the player is transcribed, skipping ahead continues from there, and parts already done are passed over. Skip until you find what you need.

If your notes do not match the recording, the reason is usually one of these:

• You paused the recording. The clock kept going and the recording did not, so times worked out from the clock shift by the length of the pause.
• The device split the recording. Some recorders cut long recordings into several files, and the counter may restart inside one.
• The camera wrote its own timecode. On professional cameras the code on screen may be the time of day or another number. LiveType counts from the start of the file, so subtract where the camera’s code began.
• The recording was edited. Old notes do not apply to a trimmed file, so use the raw recording.

Where this method stops

• Choosing a range is for files only. On streaming platforms and the microphone, text forms as the speech goes on.
• With very long files, your range may be played in real time in the background, depending on your device’s memory. The page tells you when.
• The text cannot tell you what was said in the parts you skipped. A conversation that may turn out to matter is safer transcribed in full.
• It does not summarise, and it does not find the important moments for you. The timecodes are yours to take.

For recording and quote checking, read our interview transcription guide. To keep a source’s voice on your device, see private transcription. Time and plans are on the pricing page.