How to Insert Quick, Marker-style Snippets

One of our users recently asked if it was possible to insert Final Cut Pro-style markers into their InqScribe transcript. Although InqScribe doesn’t support true Final Cut Pro markers yet, you can create a custom Snippet to quickly insert a short note about a video.

As an example, let’s say you want to note every time the video changes perspective to the second camera. We can create a Snippet that inserts the current timecode, the text “CAMERA 2”, and then the out timecode 1 second later.

Here’s how:

1. Open up your InqScribe transcript and select “Edit > Edit Snippets”
2. In the Edit Snippets menu, click “Add” and enter a name for your new creation. “Marker 1” will do.
3. Select a trigger key for your Snippet. Make sure to set it to an available trigger key (see this article for some suggestions). You could set it to Ctrl-Shift-; or Command-Shift-; if you’re already accustomed to using the Ctrl-; or Command-; shortcut combination to insert timecodes.
4. Enter the following into the Snippet text area and then click “Done”:
   {$time} CAMERA 2 {$time_offset(00:00:01.00)}

Once you press the Snippet’s trigger, it will output to the following (assuming pressed 23 seconds into the video):

If you want to adjust the amount of time the out timecode is “offset” from the in timecode, you can adjust the value in the parenthesis. More Snippet variables are listed in our User Guide here.

WARNING: Watch out for overlapping timecodes. The out timecode of the first subtitle must come before the in timecode of the next subtitle. In the example above, if you have a timecode that’s placed less than a second after the previous one, it would cause timecode overlap. If overlap occurs, you won’t be able to export your transcript properly.

If you have questions about Snippets, or about InqScribe in general, feel free to contact us at support@inqscribe.com. We’re always happy to hear from our users.