Scrivener Makes a Good Transcription Tool

Here’s something interesting I’ve been meaning to share: if you already own and use Scrivener, you might want to know that it makes a good transcription tool.

(If you’re unfamiliar with Scrivener, an advanced and extremely flexible word processor, Ryan’s “Scrivener, Scrivening, Scriverastic” is a good place to start learning about it, with Billie’s “Scrivener (Finally Available for Windows!)” providing a good followup.)

An audio or video file could need to be transcribed for a variety of reasons: maybe you’re publishing a text-based version of a lecture or conference presentation; maybe you’re adding captions to a video file (something we’ve written about before); maybe you need a written version of an interview before you start coding the content. As with almost all tasks, there are several different software solutions to choose from, and as the video below demonstrates, Scrivener is one of those solutions.

If the above embedded media doesn’t work for you, trying going directly to the video’s page on YouTube. If you’re interested in Scrivener, then you might also be interested in YouTube user davidmj13’s 36 other videos about the application.

How about you? What are your favorite desktop tools for transcription? Alternately, what are some of your favorite uses for Scrivener? Please share in the comments!