When to Expect Results

CaptionSync generates results with different turnaround times. This article describes the different turnaround times for the different services.

Transcription-Only, Production Transcript, or Transcription-Captioning services

Priorities available for Transcription-Only, Production Transcript, or Transcription-Captioning requests:

The following options consider the submission date the one registered in your CaptionSync account, Submit Date column, Status of Submissions page (Pacific time, PT). CaptionSync has several Transcription priorities available (see more information below for the maximum length recommended for requests submitted under each priority): 

• 8 Hour Transcription: you should see your transcript within 8 hours (business days) of the submission time. So if, for example, it was submitted on Friday at 9:16 am PT, it will be done by Friday at 5:16 pm PT. Caption results will follow minutes thereafter.
  NOTE 1: If the request is placed on a Friday, after 4 pm PT, then results are due Monday morning, PT.
  NOTE 2: If the request is placed on a business day before a holiday, after 4 pm PT, then results are due on the following business day, during the morning, PT.
  NOTE 3: If you are submitting Spanish or French content, please see the note below.
  NOTE 4: Our transcribers are US-based, so if you submit 8-hour content in the US overnight hours of business days, we will endeavor to get it assigned and started as quickly as possible, but a transcriber may not be available until the morning, PT. In such cases, we will get your submission started right away in the morning and the 8-hour deadline will begin then.

• 1 Business Day Transcription: you should see your transcript within 1 business day of the submission time. So if, for example, it was submitted on Friday at 3:09 pm PT, it will be done by Monday at 3:09 pm PT. Caption results will follow minutes thereafter.

• 2 Business Day Transcription: you should see your transcript within 2 business days of the submission time. If, for example, it was submitted on Friday at 3:09 pm PT, it will be done by Tuesday at 3:09 pm PT (Monday 3:09 pm PT is one business day, and Tuesday 3:09 pm PT is two business days). Caption results will follow minutes thereafter.

• 4 Business Day Transcription: you should see your transcript within 4 business days of the submission time. So if, for example, it was submitted on Friday at 3:09 pm PT, it will be done by Thursday at 3:09 pm PT (Monday 3:09 pm PT is one business day, Tuesday 3:09 pm PT is two business days, Wednesday 3:09 pm PT is three business days, and Thursday 3:09 pm PT is four business days). Caption results will follow minutes thereafter.

• Tier Two 5+ Business Day Transcription: for our Tier Two service, you should see your transcript within 4 to 10 business days of the submission time. Caption results will follow minutes thereafter.

See also the notes about weekends and holidays.

To check the status of recent submissions, go to Caption/Transcribe -> Status of Submissions. Click the AST ID to see the details of your request. You can see the due date for your request in the Details page:

Also, see our article on selecting the transcription turnaround time, for more information on this.

Maximum Length recommended for each Priority:

The turnaround times detailed above can be affected by the duration of the file and/or poor audio quality. For clean, clear audio, the maximum file lengths recommended for each priority option are as follows:

• 8 Hour Transcription: 60 minutes or less;
• 1 Business Day Transcription: 120 minutes or less;
• 2 Business Day Transcription: 300 minutes or less;
• 4 Business Day Transcription: 480 minutes or less.

If your audio is poor, or if you submit longer files, or if you have special transcriber constraints, the turnaround time may be affected. You can still submit files longer than the recommended lengths, and we will do our best to meet or come as close as possible to the advertised turnaround times, but it may take longer to deliver results.

The above limits refer to the length of a single submission, not the aggregate amount of content submitted at once. However, if you submit a large volume of material all at once, it may also slow down the turnaround time. Because we know you need the results on as close as possible to your original schedule, we will not automatically downgrade your material to a lower service level -- we will do our best to meet the advertised turnaround time, but in large bulk submissions some material may queue waiting for a transcriber and take slightly longer.

Spanish and French Transcription:

Please note that we don't currently offer the 8-hour priority option for Spanish and French Transcription. We would recommend submitting this content as 1-day Transcription, when a faster turnaround is needed. 

Other services

Captioning-Only:

Captioning-Only requests will typically generate results within a few minutes.

Video Encoding:

Video Encoding will typically generate an encoded output in 1-2 hours.

Live Captioning Outputs:

Live Captioning outputs are typically generated within 1-2 business days, after the end of the live event.

Audio Description:

Audio Description requests will typically generate results within 4 business days.

Translation:

Translation requests will typically generate results within 5 business days. See also the notes about weekends and holidays. To check the status of recent submissions, go to Translate -> Status of Translations. Click the AST ID to see the details of your request.

Result Review:

Result Review requests will typically generate results within 1-2 business days (can take longer for non-English submissions). See also the notes about weekends and holidays.

Cinema Certified Result Review:

Cinema Certified Result Review requests will typically generate results within 1-2 business days (can take longer for non-English submissions). See also the notes about weekends and holidays.

Special notes about weekends and holidays:

Since these are not considered business days, for Transcription, Translation, Result Review and Cinema Certified Result Review purposes, your request is considered to be submitted at 12:01 am PT on the next business day. So if, for example, you placed a Transcription-Captioning request at 4:00 pm PT on Saturday, with 1-Day transcription selected as priority, it should be completed by midnight, Monday night, PT.

AST recognizes the following US holidays for Transcription, Translation, Result Review and Cinema Certified Result Review purposes: New Years Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving (plus the day after), and Christmas Day.