Transcribing clips

This guide will walk you through the process of transcribing audio and video clips in Leapfrog and how to effectively use transcripts in your research projects.

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Where to Find Transcription Settings

You can configure your default transcription settings—including custom vocabulary—in the Leapfrog web app:

• Go to your workspace.
• Open the Settings for your workspace.
• Navigate to the Transcription Settings section.

Here, you can adjust:

• Auto-transcribe on upload: Automatically start transcription when new clips are uploaded.
• Model selection: Choose the transcription model best suited for your audio.
• Language selection: Set the default language or enable automatic detection.
• Redaction: Enable or disable automatic redaction of sensitive information.
• Filler words: Choose whether to include or exclude filler words in transcripts.
• Custom vocabulary: Add unique words, names, or jargon to improve recognition accuracy. Enter one word per line—each will be automatically formatted and saved.

These settings apply to all new clips in the workspace by default, but you can override them for individual transcriptions as needed.

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Prerequisites

• An active Leapfrog workspace.
• An audio or video file ready for transcription.

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Step 1: Create a New Document

To begin, create a new document in your Leapfrog workspace:

1. Open your workspace in the Leapfrog web app.
2. Click the New Document button located in the top right corner of your screen.
3. Name your document and confirm. You will be automatically redirected to the document’s page.

Now you are ready to start adding media files for transcription.

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Step 2: Upload Audio or Video Files

To add media files, use the toolbar in the document editor:

1. In the document editor, click Upload audio or video to get started.
2. Choose the audio or video file you want to upload from your computer.
3. Wait for the upload to complete. Once the file is uploaded, you’ll see a button to start the transcription.

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Step 3: Start the Transcription

1. Click the Transcribe button to begin the transcription process.
2. Configure your transcription settings. You can customize the following options:
   • Redaction: Automatically redact sensitive information, such as names or addresses.
   • Exclude filler words: Remove common filler words like “uh,” “um,” and “mhmm” to produce a cleaner transcript.
   • Language selection: Choose the language of the audio or video file for transcription. You can manually select a language or use Autoselect to detect it automatically.

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Supported Languages

Leapfrog’s Nova-2 general purpose model supports a wide range of languages, including: Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Mandarin - Simplified and Traditional), Chinese (Cantonese), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (US, Australia, UK, New Zealand, India), Estonian, Finnish, Flemish, French, French (Canada), German, German (Switzerland), Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil, Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Spanish (Latin America), Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. Note that specialized models (Meeting, Phone Call, Financial, Medical, Automotive) currently only support English.

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Model Selection

Leapfrog now offers advanced Nova-2 transcription models to meet different needs:

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General Purpose Models

• Nova-2: Latest model with improved accuracy across various audio types. Supports all available languages.
• Enhanced General Purpose: Improved version with better accuracy for general audio. Supports a subset of languages.
• Base General Purpose: Suitable for a wide range of audio inputs. Supports a moderate range of languages.

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Specialized Models

• Meeting: Optimized for multi-speaker meetings and conference calls. Currently supports English only.
• Phone Call: Tailored for two-speaker phone conversations and customer service interactions. Currently supports English only.
• Financial: Specialized for financial terms and jargon in professional settings. Currently supports English only.
• Medical: Specialized for medical terminology and healthcare-related conversations. Currently supports English only.
• Automotive: Tailored for in-car audio and automotive industry terminology. Currently supports English only.

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Supported File Types

Leapfrog supports the following file formats for audio and video transcription:

• Video: .mp4, .webm, .ogv, .avi, .mov, .mkv
• Audio: .mp3, .wav, .ogg, .aac, .webm, .flac

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Example of Redaction

Here’s an example of how redaction might work in a transcript:

Original	Redacted
”Hi, my name is Jane Doe and I live at 123 Main Street."	"Hi, my name is [NAME_1] and I live at [LOCATION_1]."
"My bank account number is 1234567890."	"My bank account number is [ACCOUNT_NUMBER_1]."
"You can contact me at john.doe@example.com."	"You can contact me at [EMAIL_ADDRESS_1].”

Leapfrog automatically identifies and redacts sensitive personal information to protect privacy.

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Step 4: Custom Vocabulary

Leapfrog allows you to add a custom vocabulary to improve transcription accuracy for unique terms, names, or jargon specific to your project. This is especially useful for industry-specific terminology, uncommon names, or acronyms that may not be recognized by default.

• How to use: Enter your custom vocabulary in the provided field in the transcription settings. Add one word per line (no spaces). Each word will be automatically formatted and saved to help the transcription engine recognize these terms during processing.
• Tip: Only one word per line is allowed. Avoid adding phrases or words with spaces.

Example:

Custom Vocabulary Input
Leapfrog
QDA
ethnography
usertesting
Smithson

This feature ensures that your transcripts are as accurate and relevant as possible, even when working with specialized language.

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Step 5: Configure Filler Words

Filler words—such as “uh” and “um”—are common in spoken language, but can clutter transcripts. You can choose to either include or exclude these filler words from your transcription.

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What Are Filler Words?

Filler words are non-essential phrases that people often use in conversation to pause or think aloud. Common filler words include:

• uh
• um
• mhmm
• uh-huh

You can customize your transcription process to either keep these words for a more natural flow or remove them for a cleaner result.

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Example with and without Filler Words

Original	With Filler Words	Without Filler Words
”Uh, so you’re looking for, uh, something specific, um, like a precise model."	"Uh, so you’re looking for, uh, something specific, um, like a precise model."	"So you’re looking for something specific, like a precise model.”

To adjust filler word settings:

1. Enable Filler Words to keep them in the transcript.
2. Disable Filler Words to remove them and improve readability.

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Additional Options: Language Selection

Leapfrog allows you to transcribe audio or video in multiple languages. Simply choose the language in the transcription settings or enable the Autoselect option to detect the language automatically.

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What’s Next?

Once your transcription is complete, you can start analyzing the data by:

• Tagging and coding the transcript to identify key themes and patterns.
• Collaborating with your team to refine your insights.

To learn more about these steps, visit our Tagging and Coding documentation page.

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Now that you’ve learned how to transcribe audio and video, move on to our guide for analyzing transcripts and extracting insights.