If you just need a downloadable, written version of your Audio-Video media -- without any features like captions – this is the guide for you. These written versions can be multilingual. If you are interested in more features, check out Transcripts with Timestamps

Your transcripts should follow certain formatting specifications. They should be saved in a plain text file, with the extension .txt. This guide outlines formatting requirements.

You'll upload the transcript in the Mandala Audio-Video editor. Check out the detailed steps at the bottom of the page. 

Transcript Format

You can upload a plain text file of your transcript in .txt format.
Break up your text into segments to make it more readable. You can use blank lines, new lines, or specific characters. We recommend adding a blank line between units. 

Here's an example of a plain text transcript: 

Hello, welcome to Audio-Video.
You can create dynamic transcripts with Audio-Video. 
 
We can help you get started quickly.

Multilingual Transcripts

Mandala recognizes multilingual transcripts. This lets you include multiple languages and translations in one transcript file. You can use these transcripts to make multilingual captions. 

You can separate languages by: 

  1. Putting each language on a new line, OR
  2. Using a sequence of characters to separate languages

Here's an example using / to separate out languages.

Hello, welcome to Audio-Video./Hola, bienvenido a Audio-Video. 
 
You can create dynamic transcripts with Audio-Video./Usted puede crear transcripciónes con Audio-Video. 
 
We can help you get started quickly./Nosotros podemos ayudarle a empezar rápidamente. 

Make sure each language always appears in the same order. In the case above, the English transcript always comes before the Spanish transcript.

If you don't keep language order consistent, Mandala won't split up your languages properly.

Upload Your Transcript

  1. Edit or create a media asset
  2. Click Transcript
  3. Click Choose file 
  4. Open your transcript 
  5. Click Upload
  6. Under “Timecodes” choose the unit delimiter
  7. Under "Languages," choose whether your transcript has one or multiple languages
  8. If your transcript has more than one language:
    1. Enter the “Language Delimiter” 
      • This is the character you used to separate out languages
      • If you used the example above, choose Custom: /
    2. Select your languages in the order in which they appear
      • Remember, you should keep the language order consistent in your transcript
      • In the formatting example on this page, "Language 1" is English, "Language 2" is Spanish
  9. Check your processed transcript at the bottom of the section
  10. Click Save at the bottom of the editor