VideoText workflow guide
One-page freelancer cheatsheet aligning GoTranscript, Scribie, and custom PDF client briefs to editable presets so QA matches invoice-ready deliverables.
Choose Rev, GoTranscript, TranscribeMe, Scribie, or a custom client specification. Each guideline has distinct rules for verbatim level, speaker label format, timestamp intervals, inaudible notation, and maximum paragraph length.
Clean verbatim removes fillers, false starts, and repetitions for readability. Full verbatim preserves all spoken content. Applying the wrong level is the most common single reason transcripts fail marketplace QA — it cannot be fixed without re-reading the source audio.
A single speaker must have exactly one label format from the first occurrence to the last. Mixed formats (JOHN SMITH / John / J. Smith) require a find-and-replace pass across the full document before any other formatting work.
Rev-style: timestamps every 2 minutes or at each speaker change. GoTranscript: no timestamp requirement by default. TranscribeMe: per-speaker-turn timestamps. Paragraph length limits range from 8 lines (Rev) to no limit (some custom clients).
Verify inaudible notation consistency (all [inaudible] or all [INAUDIBLE], never mixed), check bracket format for crosstalk sections, confirm verbatim level is consistent throughout, and validate that paragraph length does not exceed the client's maximum.
Clean verbatim text. Speaker names in CAPITAL LETTERS followed by a colon. Timestamps in [HH:MM:SS] format at 2-minute intervals and at speaker changes. No paragraph longer than 8 lines. Inaudible sections marked [inaudible]. False starts and fillers removed.
Optional full or clean verbatim per client request. Speaker labels in "Speaker Name:" format with consistent capitalization. [inaudible] notation for unclear audio. No timestamp requirement unless client specifies. Paragraph breaks at topic shifts rather than fixed intervals.
Structured document with consistent heading-style speaker labels, paragraph breaks, correctly formatted timestamps, and clean or full verbatim as specified. Formatted for direct delivery — no manual cleanup required before attaching to the client email.
Reduce revision risk before submitting marketplace jobs. A pre-delivery formatting check catches the label inconsistency, timestamp format error, or verbatim level mismatch that triggers a QA rejection and unpaid revision.
Create a consistent formatting baseline across a team of transcriptionists working on the same client account — so reviewers spend time on content accuracy, not fixing label formats.
Turn raw AI-generated transcripts into readable interview documents: speaker structure, consistent punctuation, accurate paragraph breaks, and timestamps that let readers verify context in the source recording.
Page 1: "JOHN SMITH: Thanks for joining us." Page 3: "John: So as I was saying..." Page 7: "Speaker 1: Right, exactly." — All three refer to the same speaker. Label drift of this kind fails QA at every major transcript marketplace.
[00:05:12] on page 2, (00:05:12) on page 4, [5:12] on page 6, and 00:05:12 on page 8 — all in the same document. Most style guides require a single format, and inconsistency triggers automatic rejection on automated QA systems.
"[inaudible]", "[INAUDIBLE]", "[unclear]", and "[crosstalk]" appearing in the same file for the same type of audio problem. Rev requires "[inaudible]" in lowercase brackets. GoTranscript uses a different notation. Neither accepts a mix of styles.
Pages 1–4 are clean verbatim (fillers removed). Pages 5–8 switch to full verbatim (fillers preserved). This happens when an ASR tool applies different post-processing across transcript segments — and it fails QA because the verbatim level is supposed to be consistent throughout.
Clean verbatim by default. Speaker names in ALL CAPS followed by a colon. Timestamp format [HH:MM:SS] every 2 minutes and at speaker changes. Maximum paragraph: 8 lines. Inaudible: [inaudible]. Crosstalk: [crosstalk]. False starts and filler words removed.
Clean or full verbatim per client request. Speaker format "Speaker Name:" with title case. [inaudible] for unclear audio. No timestamp requirement by default (client can request). No strict paragraph length limit. Crosstalk marked with [crosstalk].
Strict verbatim — all fillers and false starts preserved. Timestamps required at each speaker turn. Speaker format "SPEAKER NAME:" in caps. Specific bracket format for technical notation. Paragraph breaks only at speaker changes.
Many agencies specify hybrid rules that don't map cleanly to any standard guide — for example, Rev-style speaker labels but GoTranscript-style verbatim and no timestamps. These combinations must be documented explicitly because the formatter cannot infer them.
Speaker label inconsistency — where the same speaker appears as "JOHN SMITH" on page 1, "John" on page 3, and "Speaker 1" on page 7 — is one of the top automated rejection triggers at Rev, GoTranscript, and most transcript marketplaces. The QA system expects one label format, used identically, from the first occurrence to the last. Even a single deviation can trigger a rejection. Fix: use find-and-replace to standardize every speaker label before delivery.
Rev requires "[inaudible]" in lowercase with square brackets, at the exact point in the text where the inaudible audio occurs. Do not use "[INAUDIBLE]", "[unclear]", or "[???]" — these are not accepted notation styles on Rev and trigger revision requests. For overlapping speech that is audible but unintelligible, use "[crosstalk]" at the point of overlap. Inaudible and crosstalk notations should not be used interchangeably.
If the client has not specified, ask before starting — it is not something to infer from the content type. Clean verbatim removes fillers, false starts, and repetitions for readability; full verbatim preserves everything spoken. Medical and legal transcription often requires full verbatim. Corporate meeting and interview transcription usually requires clean verbatim. Applying the wrong standard means re-reading the source audio to add or remove content — it cannot be corrected through text editing alone.
Rev's style guide sets a maximum paragraph length of approximately 8 lines in the submitted document. If you are writing in a large-font editor view and counting lines visually, the line count in the exported DOCX or PDF at standard font size will differ. The paragraph length check is based on lines in the final exported file at the target font size and page margins — not the line count in your editing view. Export to DOCX and review line count before submitting.
Yes. After transcribing with VideoText, use the style guide formatter to apply GoTranscript-style rules: normalize speaker labels, set verbatim level, add or remove timestamps per the client instruction, and normalize [inaudible] notation. The formatter applies rules to the existing transcript text — it does not re-transcribe the audio. Any sections with audio quality problems still require manual review.
