Recording your thoughts, lectures, or other audio sources is all well and good, but maybe you want to memorialize those sounds in written word. There are plenty of tools out there to accomplish this, but thought I would mention here one that recently came to my attention. oTranscribe, developed by journalist Elliot Bentley, is a web app that allows you to import an audio file, open a word processor and type while the audio plays. It will play whatever formats your particular browser can process and has a built-in file converter. Controls are found on your keyboard, which makes it easier to stop, rewind, etc. You can insert time stamps with Ctrl + J or Cmd + J, which will allow you to jump to the insert points. The transcription is stored locally in your browser’s cache, nothing is uploaded. While this means you can’t access the goods from another computer, you also enjoy greater security with respect to your data.
The keyboard stroke controls include the following:
Audio playback
- Esc: Play/pause
- F1: Rewind
- F2: Fast-forward
- F3: Slow down
- F4: Speed up
Text editing
- Ctrl+B: Bold
- Ctrl+I: Italics
- Ctrl+J: Insert timestamp
Note: On OS X, using Cmd instead of Ctrl.
Chromebook / Chrome OS alternative controls
- Ctrl+1: Rewind
- Ctrl+2: Fast-forward
- Ctrl+3: Slow down
- Ctrl+4: Speed up
Pretty cool. Thanks Elliot!
