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Transcription Buddy

(www.transcriptionbuddy.com)

Transcription Buddy Playback Controls and other Features:

When transcribing, Transcription Buddy allows the text editing program, such as MS Word, to remain the active program, during playback. This allows the user to type, at the same time that the recording is played back. Additionally, playback functions such as Pause, Resume, and Rewind, may also be used, without the user getting out of the text edit program. Follow these links for more information about:

• Using Foot Pedals to control playback or,
• Using Hot Keys to control playback or,
• Using the Play / Pause / Play feature that momentarily pauses playback, automatically, throughout playback.
• Variable Speed Playback with automatic constant pitch control
• Support for a number of Audio File Compression methods including Olympus DSS and Truespeech.
• Always-On-Top
• Thin View
• Auto Stepback on Pause
• The ability to imbed bookmarks and associated text, to identify specific points in the audio file
  
  

Foot Pedal Support (USB or Game Port):

Transcription Buddy supports foot pedal control of the playback functions through a USB or game port connected foot pedal. To access the foot control options, go to View=>Options=>Foot Control. In order to use foot pedal support, you must enable this function, by checking the "Enable foot control" box in this Window. You must also have either a game port or USB port foot pedal.

Transcription Buddy supports three foot pedals from three different vendors, including:

• The Infinity Foot Pedal from VEC Electronics,
• The Olympus Foot Pedal, and
• The VPedal Foot Pedal.

If you already have any of these pedals, you may use them with Transcription Buddy.

Users may customize the foot pedal controls according to their individual requirements. All of the standard foot pedals have 3-pedal controls. A large, center pedal is used to Play / Pause the playback. Depress the pedal to cause playback to begin. Release the pedal, and playback will stop. Optionally, the playback can Step-Back on pause, so the typist has a moment to determine where they are in the recording.

The left pedal can either Rewind the recording at a previously specified speed, or jump the recording back, a specified number of seconds. The right pedal can either FF the recording at a previously specified speed, or jump the recording forward, a specified number of seconds.

Hot-key Support

Transcription Buddy also supports Hot-keys to control playback. With hot-keys, a person can control Transcription Buddy playback at the same time that they type text into their word processor.

Prior to using the hot-key function, it must be enabled. To enable this function, go to View==>Options==>Hot-keys==>Enable Hot Keys. Once you have Applied this change, the default hot-keys will become active.  The keystrokes associated with the various playback controls, may be modified by the user. Use the View==>Options==>Hotkeys parameter box to alter the keystrokes.

Once the hot-key function has been activated and the appropriate hot-keys selected, the user may begin working with Transcription Buddy and a word processing program, such as MS Word. To begin transcription, the user should:

• Open Transcription Buddy and select a wav file to transcribe,
• Minimize Transcription Buddy so it doesn't take up space on the desktop,
• Start your word processing application, MS Word for example
• Type Ctrl+Alt+P to begin playback
• Type Ctrl+Alt+U to pause and then resume playback

Play / Pause / Play Feature

The Play / Pause / Play feature of Transcription Buddy allows a user to play a recording and have the playback intermittently pause. This feature allows the typist to periodically catch up to the playback. This feature has three associated parameters. The Playback Duration parameter indicates how long playback should continue, prior to the occurrence of a Pause. The Size of Pause parameter indicates the duration of each pause. The Step Back parameter causes play to begin some seconds prior to the point at which it stopped. All of these parameters are specified in seconds. These parameters are set in the following Window. In this example, Play Duration is set to 15 seconds, the Size of Pause is 2 seconds and the Step Back is set to 1 second.

To set these parameters, go to View => Options => Playback or to Audio => Auto Pause Parameters. To start this mode of Playback, click the Auto Pauses button   on the toolbar, or go to the Audio pull down menu and select Automatic Pauses.

Additional Transcription Features:

Variable Speed Playback with Automatic Pitch Control

Transcription Buddy has the ability to vary the speed at which playback occurs. The software will automatically adjust the pitch associated with the altered speed, to eliminate the high-pitched tones usually associated with advanced play-back speeds. Once a file has begun playing, the Play button changes to a speed button as illustrated here: . As either the double left or double right arrows are clicked, the speed is altered according to the Speed Settings in the View => Options => Playback Window settings. Hot Keys are also available to alter the playback speed. See View => Options => Hotkeys for more information about the Hotkeys controlling playback speed.

Audio File Compression Support

Transcription Buddy can playback all types of compressed audio files. Included with the program is support for Olympus DSS files.

Always On Top

This feature places the Transcription Buddy Window on top of other applications on your Windows desktop. The Transcription Buddy Window will never be "behind" other applications and it will always be seen. Go to the View pull down menu and select Always on Top to activate this feature.

Thin View

This feature presents a very small Transcription Buddy Window that will only use a small portion of the available desktop space. This view has only the most important controls and information. You can enter into Thin View by clicking the Thin View icon on the application taskbar, or you can go to the View pull down menu and select Thin View. You can drag the thin view around on your desktop, by clicking on the first icon on the display.

The view will look like this Window.

Use the expand icon   to return to full view.

Auto Stepback on Pause

There are three separate "Step-Back" options within Transcription Buddy. When used with a pause, each of these settings causes the current point of playback to be reset. This feature allows the last few seconds of the recording to be replayed, so the transcriptionist can "find their place" and resume typing.

• One Step-Back setting is used with a foot pedal. When the "play" pedal is released, and the playback is paused, the playback position may be reset to begin playback from just prior to where the playback stopped. The setting for this parameter can be found in the Window with the other settings for the pedal functions. See View => Options => Foot Control => Set Pedal Functions to set this amount of time to Step-Back.
• Another Step-Back setting is associated with the Play-Pause-Play facility. This automatic facility allows the playback to continually play and pause. The Step-Back setting associated with this feature can be found on the same Window as other Play-Pause-Play settings. See Audio => AutoPause Parameters to set this Step-Back parameter.
• The final Step-Back parameter is associated with the Pause setting that is available on the primary Window. Set this Step-Back parameter on the View => Options => Playback Window.

Imbedded Bookmarks

Transcription Buddy has the ability to imbed bookmarks within a wav file, to allow for comments and allow for easy access of specific points within the file.