Automated Webcast Captioning and Video Search: Quick, Easy, and Inexpensive

1. Automated Webcast Captioning and Video Search:Quick, Easy, and Inexpensive Kevin Erler, Ph.D. Brent Robertson Automatic Sync Technologies www.automaticsync.com/caption June 2005

2. Agenda • Introduction to AST • Captioning Web Media • Backgrounder on Automatic Captioning • A Simple Demo • Video Search

3. Agenda • Introduction to AST • Captioning Web Media • Backgrounder on Automatic Captioning • A Simple Demo • Video Search

4. About AST • AST was founded in 1998; work on our technology started in 1990. • AST is a leading provider of synchronization and audio search tools • Partially funded by the Dept of Education (SBIR program) to pursue automated captioning • All AST technology has been created in-house over the past 15 years

5. About AST • AST provides captioning services for: • Education • Broadcast TV stations • Producers • Caption Vendors • AST can provide captioning for: • Webcasts • VideoTape • DVDs • Broadcasts

6. Agenda • Introduction to AST • Captioning Web Media • Backgrounder on Automatic Captioning • A Simple Demo • Video Search

7. Streaming Web Content • Audio/Video material that is presented through a web interface and that visitors to your site can view on demand. • Normally presented using one of the three popular web media formats: QuickTime, Real, or Windows Media. • May be managed through some type of course management software.

8. Advantages of Web Streaming • Audience reach: you can reach a broad audience that may not always be able to physically attend your event. • Viewer convenience: viewers can watch the content at a time and place of their choosing • Learning Accommodation: allows learners to proceed through the content at their own pace • Cost: provides an inexpensive and convenient media to reach your audience.

9. Why Caption? • ADA Compliance: web video content is subject to section 508 • Universal Access: make your content as usable as possible by as many people as possible • Improving Comprehension: captioning improves comprehension for all viewers, especially for those with English as a second language • Indexing and Searching: captioning allows the video material to become searchable with traditional text searches • Provide Viewers with More Access Options: institutions can improve the quality and range of methods through which viewers can access their products

10. Why Caption? • Compliance! • Accessibility • Improved product for all

11. Captioning Applications • In-class video: content used right in the classroom as part of the teaching material • Distance Education: course content transmitted via television, videotape, DVD, or (increasingly!) the web • Virtual campus tours: web-based video tours of a campus to inform prospective students and parents • Remote Conferences/Seminars: conference presentation and seminars are increasingly archived on the web for later viewing

12. Captioning Applications • Web-based course content: supplemental course content or lecture material presented on a course website • PR / News Service: content generated by the public affairs department • Special events: guest lectures, convocations, letters from the president archived on physical media or the web

13. Streaming Media Are Ideal More flexible fonts, colors, and line lengths. Text in a separate pane.No obscuring the video.

14. Barriers to Captioning • Expensive • Takes time • Increases production complexity

15. Barriers to Captioning • Traditional captioning? • Can cost several hundred dollars per hour • Can take several days to have done • Or, you can do it yourself? • 6 to 12 hours of your time to accurately caption a one hour video with pop-on captions

16. AST’s Goals • Speed • Turnaround time for a submission: about 10 minutes • Much lower costs than manual captioning • Convenience • Simple to use website available when you need it • No special software or tools required • Directly upload your webcast media with no special processing needed

17. Agenda • Introduction to AST • Captioning Web Media • Backgrounder on Automatic Captioning • A Simple Demo • Video Search

18. The AST Captioning Process • Service is entirely electronic; submit your program and receive caption results minutes later • Input is the program media file (.rm, .wmv, .mov, .mp3, etc) and program transcript (.txt), submitted through a web interface • Output is caption files for any of the major streaming players (Real, QuickTime, WMV) • Can also provide captioning for traditional video, and DVDs

19. The AST Captioning Process • The user submits the media file to AST (electronically) • The system • manages the transcription process (if required) • parses the transcript and breaks it into captions • aligns the timing of each caption to the media file itself, • positions each caption according to your instructions, • creates the final caption file for your specific media type.

20. How to? • Fourbasic steps in using automatic captioning: • Record the media file • Obtain the transcript • Submit the files to the AST server • Post the final result

21. Preparing the media file • System can accept .wav, .mp3, .rm, .mov, .wmv, .wma, .ra files directly. • No preparation required for web media. • Simple software extraction tools (free) available for extraction of audio from .mpg (DVD) or .avi files. • For videotape, need to create an electronic copy of the audio. Simply connect the tape player to your computer to extract this recording.

22. Transcription • If you already have the transcript, AST can provide formatting guidelines. • If you have internal transcription resources, have them transcribe the audio to a simple .txt file. • If you wish to use AST’s transcription service, you can skip this step and submit only the media file – the system will manage the process of getting your submission transcribed. • System can also work with your external transcription vendors; vendors can interact directly with AST system.

23. Transcriber Audio forwarded for transcription Producer captures video content Edited transcript to AST Media file sent to AST Webcast video Caption files for webcast AST Overview: Offline Production

24. Where is it appropriate? • Automated captioning can save you significant time and money, and enable you to caption substantially more content. • Automated captioning is suitable for you if: • material is largely narrative with minimal sweetening • program transcripts are available or show can be transcribed • you are captioning archival material (ie: not real time events)

25. Agenda • Introduction to AST • Captioning Web Media • Backgrounder on Automatic Captioning • A Simple Demo • Video Search

26. Simple Demo • Log into secure website

27. Simple Demo • Select the Application Type (Web or Broadcast)

28. Simple Demo • Submit a Program • Description • Text File (if available) • Media File More detail on this in a moment

29. Simple Demo • Get Results Back • Returned via email in about 10 minutes • Subject line: “Caption Results” • Body contains tracking number and other info

30. See Some Results • SJSU: http://www.sjsu.edu/vtour/streaming_media.htm • UCB: http://webcast.berkeley.edu/courses/archive.html?prog=100&group=59 • Apple/NASA: http://ali.apple.com/ali_sites/ali/exhibits/1000919/ram • CSUN: http://www.abletv.net/html/csCSUN2004.html • UW: http://www.cs.washington.edu/education/TVI/ • Ryerson: http://www.ryerson.ca/tour/video.html • VCU: http://worksupport.com/Topics/brown_bag_frieden04.asp

31. Additional Features • Accessing Results and Reports • Use the web for viewing history, retrieving results

32. Additional Features • Help

33. Additional Features • Advanced Settings • Output Files • Font • Character Case • Window Size • Colors • Line Length • Justification • Naming

34. Basically the text transcript with timing information • Can be played separately without the video (except WMP) Caption File Pointer File Video File • Tells the media player to play the two pieces together synchronized • Can be played separately without the captions Webcast Result Files

35. Webcast Result Files • RealMedia • The pointer file is a .RT.SMIL file (a “smile” file) • The caption file is a .RT file • The video file is a .RM file • QuickTime • The pointer file is a .QT.SMIL file (a “smile” file) • The caption file is a .QT.TXT file • The video file is a .MOV file • Windows Media Player • The pointer file is a .ASX file • The caption file is a .SMI file (a SAMI file) • The video file is a .WMV file

36. Webcast Result Files • AST’s Search Data Files • These files are used for populating a web-based Video Search database • We’ll talk about this in the Video Search section Choose as many as you need -- there is no additional cost for more than one output type.

37. Webcast Result Files • What to do with these result files? • Place the pointer file and caption file up on your streaming server where your video file is streamed • You need to ensure the pointer file refers to the correct location, name, and protocol to play the caption and video files. Check with your media expert on location and protocol. • If you select output filename = media filename in the Advanced Settings, then when you submit BIO_07.MOV you’ll get back BIO_07.QT.TXT and BIO_07.QT.SMIL which refers to these filenames

38. Agenda • Introduction to AST • Captioning Web Media • Backgrounder on Automatic Captioning • A Simple Demo • Video Search

39. Video Search • For web media, it is possible to randomly access the media (instead of watching the video from start to finish). • AST’s system makes it possible to perform text-searches on the content. • Powerful benefit for entire viewer community; allows viewers to access material of interest without scanning hours of video. • Once the text of interest is located, viewers can jump to the precise point on interest in the video.

40. Video Search

41. Video Search

42. Search Results

43. Video Search • Consider the benefit of allowing text searching of all of your video content • Extremely cost effective -- the Video Search file is no additional cost when you caption the webcast • Very accurate –- clicking the search result gets you to the precise point of interest

44. Video Search • Visit some deployments: • UC Berkeley:  (needs Real Player 10 installed) • http://rodan.berkeley.edu/ast/vs_search.php • UC Davis:  (needs Real Player 10 installed) • http://urdev.ucdavis.edu/broadcast/newswatch.php • Apple/NASA:  (needs QuickTime Player installed) • http://ali.apple.com/ali_sites/ali/exhibits/1000919/

45. Some parting words… • Our goal is to make captioning accessible: • Convenient • Simple • Inexpensive • Fast • Flexible • While regulations help encourage captioning, compliance can only become universal if captioning itself is made easily accessible

46. Other Resources • Check out UC Berkeley’s press release on webcast captioning: http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/09/20_captioning.shtml • Take a look at AST’s home page for more information: http://www.automaticsync.com/caption • Examine our growing series of “how-to” videos (all captioned!) at: http://www.automaticsync.com/help

47. "AST's captioning has helped us achieve greater accessibility for our online virtual tours of the San José State Campus, especially for our diverse student population. As a media producer, I found AST's interface extremely easy to use, and the results were excellent.  And best of all, the practically instantaneous turn-around is great!" [Bob Reynolds, Academic Technology, SJSU]

48. Kevin Erler (kevin@automaticsync.com) Brent Robertson (brent@automaticsync.com) 1-877-AST-SYNC Visit www.automaticsync.com/caption