For the translation of an audio or video file, the first step in the process is transcription. But first we must have an understanding of what to transcribe. It is simply the conversion of an audio or video file to a text file. Though this process sounds simple, it requires some time.
Audio files can come from different sources, for example:
* Recordings of meetings or conferences
* Oral statements
* Telephone conversations
* Lectures
* Interviews
* Focus groups
* And much more!
In general, the time required for a transcript varies according to the project, taking into account certain factors: length of the file, topic, people involved in the conversation, dialogue, background noise, among others. This means that transcribing a biology lecture given by a teacher in a school is quite different than transcribing a poorly taped conversation between two people with few linguistic resources or a declaration where words specific to the particular field are used, but crude or rude vocabulary could also be incorporated.
So if we take into account all these factors, how do you calculate the time required for a transcription? And another important question is how to charge for a transcription?
Roughly, it is estimated that four minutes of transcription are required for each minute of audio. That means that one hour of work is required to transcribe 15 minutes. It is also estimated that 1 minute of audio contains between 120 to 180 spoken words. That is, an average of 10,800 words per hour, provided that the speaker has a “normal” rate of speech. Always take into account the factors mentioned above to calculate the necessary time required for work as precisely as possible.
Once the transcriber is finished, the text is passed to the translator to do their job.
For more information on transcription services from Trusted Translations, visit Transcription Services.
(Spanish version: http://blog-de-traduccion.trustedtranslations.com/la-transcripcion-y-traduccion-de-archivos-de-audio-o-video-2010-08-23.html)
Tags: audio files, conferences, meetings, Transcription, Translation, video files
[...] Versión en inglés: Transcription and Translation of Audio and Video Files [...]
This math doesn’t make sense to me: “It is also estimated that 1 minute of audio contains between 120 to 180 spoken words. That is, an average of 10,800 words per minute, provided that the speaker has a “normal” rate of speech.”
I think you mean an average of 10,800 spoken words per HOUR.
Interesting post, thanks.
as for the rate of speech, it should be “per hour”
“…an average of 10,800 words per minute”
According to Wikipedia,
,
John Moschitta Jr. had the ability to articulate 586 words per minute.
FedEx commercial with John Moschitta
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeK5ZjtpO-M
Sometimes, conference calls can be transcribed live (which is also called ‘documentation’) when the organizers find it appropriate. The names can be taken down so that it will be easier later on to distinguish who’s talking in the digital recording.
That’s 10800 words/h at the peak of 180/minute. Most English speakers cannot keep that up for an hour (without a lot of sweet coffee and a prepared text).
From my experience, however, the French have a higher average wordrate, which can be a headache when a French audio/video support requires an English or German voiceover. …AND the client wants the original French to “peep through” giving even less available target time.
I would be interested to see average spoken wordrate coefficients between a selection of major languages.