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Timestamp

Set timestamp format

Use the FTW Transcriber’s timestamp format feature to configure the way time codes appear in your transcripts.

By default, they appear like this: 10:34:27

But the timestamp format feature lets you set the text or punctuation that appears before, after and between the hours, minutes and seconds, giving you limitless flexibility. So you could format your time codes in ways such as this:

10.34.27

10-34-27

10 34 27

_______10:34:27

[10:34:27] [timestamp: 10:34:27]

(h10m34s27)

(timecode 10:34:27)

{10/34/27 – (time)}

…or anything else you choose.

 

To configure your timestamps, click Settings, and go to the section marked Set Timestamp Format. By default, you’ll see this:

timestamps1

…meaning that your timestamps will appear like this:

13:23:34

The first four text boxes are where you can enter the text that you want to surround the hours, minutes and seconds of your timestamps. For example, if you want your timestamps to appear like this:

<13_23_34>

…you would enter this:

timestamps2

Check the “add frames” checkbox if you want to add frames to your timestamps.

What are frames? Film footage is of course made up of a quickly-changing succession of still images, called frames. In high-quality film, there may be up to 25 or 30 frames per second (fps). When including frames in your timestamps, you will need to know how many frames per second the video has. The best way to find this out is to ask the film-maker. Otherwise, if your video displays BITC (Burnt-In Time Codes (pronounced “bitsie”)), you can work out how many frames per second the video has by examining the BITC carefully. The frames figure will be after the seconds figure, and will count up too quickly to be easily read, so you will need to stop and start the video multiple times to find the highest figure that is reached. It is very often (though not always) 24 or 29. A figure of 24 would mean that there are 25 frames per second, because there are 25 numbers between 00 and 24. A figure of 29 would mean there are 30 frames per second.

Once you know the “fps” figure, enter it in the “fps box” and ensure the “add frames” checkbox is checked, then click OK.

You can also use the “fps” box to add tenths, hundredths or thousandths of seconds to your timestamps. To add tenths, enter 9; to add hundredths, enter 99; to add thousandths, enter 999.

Obviously when including frames or fractions of a second in your timestamps, a great deal of precision is necessary to make the timestamps accurate. You will probably need to play the video through in real time and add the timestamps manually using the hotkey, rather than relying on automatic timestamps.

Of the six text boxes in this area of the screen, use the fifth for text that you want to appear after the “frames” figure. For example, to make your timestamps (including frames) look like this (where “12” is the frames figure, and where there are 30 frames per second):

<13_23_34__12>

…you would enter this:

timestamps3

Just above the “Set timestamp format” section, you will see a section titled “Timestamps start from”. Use this when transcribing a video whose timestamps do not start from 00:00:00.

The FTW Transcriber