“Verbatim Transcription” & Edited Transcription: a Somewhat In-Depth Look at the Two
There are two types of transcriptions in the world: “verbatim transcription” and edited transcription. For those wanting to go in details regarding the world of transcription, knowing the difference between those two is pretty much mandatory. Today, we would like to talk about the two types of transcriptions and what do both of them entail.
What is a “verbatim transcription” ?
Verbatim means very accurate, very true to the source. Putting two and two together, you will get something along the meaning of a transcription that is very adhering to the source. This means that there will be no editing involved whatsoever when you are working verbatim.
When people “convert video to text” verbatim, it means that they cannot afford to do an edit of the source material. They must never take anything out or they must never add anything in. The result needs to be the same, period.
Not only that they cannot remove anything, they need to also make sure that every grunt, laugh, background noises, or even mumbling are all included in the transcription. This is why people get paid a lot of money when they are transcribing verbatim. This type of transcription is definitely harder to do when you are not transcribing in your mother language.
What about edited transcription?
Self-explanatory, but that does not mean it is less time-consuming than the verbatim one. While a transcriber can omit certain parts of the source file, that does not mean they can the parts away just to reduce the amount of text that they will have to handle later. They need to be careful not to take the meaning behind the source away. That kind of thing requires skill and an appropriate level of understanding about the source file.
Much easier to do than the verbatim ones, especially when they are working on a job that only has one or two speakers speaking in it (perhaps a monologue or an “interview transcription” job).
Conclusion
No matter the type of transcription requested, you have to be sure to only employ the best transcription service available. One such service provider is Cabbage Tree Solutions (https://www.cabbagetreesolutions.com/).