In a Tab-delimited text file, information is separated using tabs that represent columns with one record per line. The text has to be converted into table format by exporting it as a Tab-delimited text or Comma Separated Values (CSV) text file. Most transcription software inputs text as plain text and doesn’t support tables. Transcribing text into a table is not as straightforward as text in paragraphs. They are difficult to read and not an ideal choice for downloads. The drawback is that they are not user-friendly. JS and JSON formats also make it possible to look up a transcript from a database of video or audio content. This is useful for interactive transcripts where each word becomes a link to the exact video or audio section where it was spoken. The main advantage of these formats is the unique time synchronization where every word has a timestamp right down to the millisecond. They are the main output used by machine learning transcription software. It is often also optimized for screen readers. The audio or video transcript is formatted with HTML to make it accessible online via a browser. HTML file formats are useful when hosting and embedding videos on your website. Timestamps help to synchronize audio to the video content. The documents are typically in MS Word format.Ī document with an SMTPE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) timecode also comes with frame labeling. The time-stamps can be in seconds, minutes, or hours. They are also easy to read.Īs the name suggests, these files have timestamps against what was said. PDF: Portable Document Formats are locked and can’t be formatted or edited.docx): These are Microsoft Word transcripts that include text formatting. Plain text files are opened using a plain text editor such as Notepad. txt file extension and are stripped of any kind of formatting. Plain Text Files (.txt): These have a.Plain text formats are the most common and uncomplicated type.

There are several standard layouts as explained below. Let’s examine some of the layout choices available. Do you want to make the transcripts interactive or have a playlist search?.Will your website host or embed videos?.Which file formats are supported by the platform?.The choice of the transcription file format will depend on the requirements of each task.

Different word file formats