Timestamping

Inserting timestamps and speaker IDs is one of the QA's most important tasks, as they both identify speakers and mark the time. You insert timestamps by pressing the Ctrl key (for Windows AND Mac; Cmd will NOT work) along with the speaker number. The time on the stamp will match the time you press the number key, not the Ctrl key. For instance, if you are inserting a timestamp for the first speaker, hold Ctrl, then press the number 1. The second speaker will be Ctrl + 2, and so forth. Click on Hotkeys under QA Guidelines if you need a reminder.

Note how a file will look with timestamps and speaker IDs. Some QAs prefer to add an extra line between paragraphs, which will create a white space between lines. Either way is fine, but be consistent.

Do I insert a space after a timestamp?

No space is needed after a timestamp, although if you prefer to put a space, be sure to be consistent. Most QAs prefer to have the text snug against the stamp.

Paragraph Breaks

Don't forget to stamp paragraph breaks. Every paragraph needs a timestamp (except the [silence] tag), even if it is the same speaker as the paragraph before. In a file in which one speaker is reading off both questions and answers, each question and answer will go on its respective line but with the same speaker ID (since it's the same voice).

Timestamp Order

Timestamps must be in chronological order by second. The milliseconds, however, don't have to be in order, except for certain special styles. For example, this would be incorrect:

But you don't have to obsess over making the S1 stamp here 0.3 milliseconds sooner (barring special styles):

Timing the Stamp

Timestamps are inserted when the speaker's first word is uttered, even if their line begins with false starts, stutters, or filler words that will be omitted from the transcript. In other words, the stamp reflects when someone starts speaking, but the text reflects Clean Verbatim style guidelines. An easy way to remember it is that if it's something that you would transcribe in Full Verbatim, that's when you stamp.

Feedback Words

In Clean Verbatim, feedback words are ignored entirely, both in the text and when stamping (unless you're stamping a First Draft file and the TR included the feedback; in this case, you have to stamp it). If you remove a word as feedback, it doesn't factor into timing the stamp. You would, however, stamp at lead-in words if they were the first utterances for that line. Please see Feedback and Lead-In Words for further explanation.

Tip: Pause to Stamp

It may be helpful to pause the audio to place timestamps to ensure accuracy. As soon as the speaker starts to make a vocal speech noise - not a laugh, sneeze, inhale, etc. - press Ctrl + / to pause. If you miss by a little bit - remember you get up to 2 seconds' leeway, so it doesn't have to be exact - press Ctrl + / again to play, and the audio will skip back a second or two when it resumes. Once you get it paused at the right point, you can insert the timestamp/speaker ID.

This feature is especially useful when speakers interject at virtually the same time. Pause the audio, stamp each speaker on their own line, then press Play to resume. The times on the stamps will be identical, but each speaker will be assigned their respective ID.

Speech Tags

For the tags that represent human speech, the time of the stamp needs to match the first verbal utterance of its respective speaker, regardless of whether anyone else is still talking. In the below example with [crosstalk], stamp S2 at the utterance of Yeah. Do not wait for S1 to stop speaking to time S2's stamp.

Non-Speech Tags

The [laughter], [music], and [applause] tags do not represent speech, so they DO NOT affect when you timestamp, since the time on the stamps represent when human speech begins, not laughter, music, applause, or any other sound. Don't stamp the [silence] tag at all.

[laughter]

This tag never appears on its own line and does not affect the time of the stamp. Even if a speaker bursts out laughing before they start talking, time the stamp at their speech, NOT the laughter. Assume in the below example that S2 burst out laughing at 5:32 but did not start talking until 5:34. The [laughter] tag is placed after the speech which caused the laughter, but S2's timestamp represents when they began speaking, not laughing.

[music] and [applause]

These tags also do not affect the time of the stamp. Assume in the below example that the audio started with 15 seconds of music before the introduction. You still place the stamp to the left of all text, time the stamp at the first verbal utterance, then type the [music] tag followed by the text. Timestamps should NEVER be placed to the right of text within a line, as this will create a new line in the transcript; they are always the farthest-left item.

[silence]

This tag rests on its own line with NO timestamp and NO punctuation. The line following the [silence] tag will have a timestamp - each new paragraph gets a timestamp - even if it is the same speaker:

Filler words in the midst of silence

Remember that, for Clean Verbatim, you ignore any filler words that come in the midst of a long stretch of silence. Mark it with [silence] and pick up again with the next transcribable utterance. This is the only notable exception to the stamp-at-first-speech rule. For Full Verbatim, of course, you'd transcribe that filler!

Deleting a Stamp

You can usually delete a stamp by placing your cursor to the right of the stamp and hitting Backspace. If this doesn't work, simply click on the stamp and press delete when the purple box comes up.

If you accidentally insert two timestamps on the same line, trying to backspace over one will delete them both, and you will need to restamp. Instead, click on the duplicate to delete it but keep the other.

I have a weird stamp I can't delete!

That must be annoying. Follow these steps to get rid of it.