B. Transcribe and Time Audio Descriptions

MAGpie can sequence the playback of audio-description sound files for SMIL presentations. Although you canít actually play the sound files from with MAGpie, you may visually simulate where the audio descriptions will play by transcribing the sound file(s) into the editor. Once you assign timecodes to each block of text (and thus to each sound file), you can check your work by playing back these transcriptions from within MAGpie and watching a visual representation of where you sound files will actually play in the final product. Once you are satisfied with your work, you can output your project to SMIL and hear the audio descriptions.

B1. If you are adding audio descriptions to an existing project, open the project file and add a new stream using <Ctrl+N> or STREAM, New Stream.... In the editing grid, move the cursor to the Stream Type row at the top of the grid. Press <F2> and, from the Stream Types window that appears, choose Audio Descriptions and press <Enter>.

If you are creating a new project, follow these steps:

  1. Start MAGpie by choosing the MAGpie icon from the Windows START menu. The splash screen will disappear after five seconds, or you can get rid of it by pressing the <Enter> key.

  2. Open a new project by choosing FILE, New.

  3. In the Project Name text field, give your project a descriptive name or title: for example, "MYFILM with Descriptions." This is not the filename; rather, it's just a description of the project. In the Comments text field, type any special notes you want associated with the project.

  4. Choose the MEDIA tab and locate the media (that is, the video or audio file) you want to describe.

  5. Press the OK button. MAGpie will open the editing grid and display the media in a separate window to the right.

In the editing grid, move the cursor to the Stream Type row at the top of the grid. Press <F2> and, from the Stream Types window that appears, choose Audio Descriptions and press <Enter>.

B2. Play the first description sound file using software other than the media player within MAGpie. Beginning in the first Narration/Notes cell, transcribe the audio into the MAGpie editor in the same manner described in Section I, Part B . Since this transcription is only a reference, you do not need to transcribe the entire sound file. A few words or a sentence will suffice.

B3. Move the cursor to the Audio File column on the same row as the sound clip you just transcribed. Press <F2> and select the sound file itself from the dialog box. Note that this filename now shows in the Audio File column.

B4. Repeat steps B2 and B3 for each audio description sound file. After the description text has been transcribed, position the cursor in the first row of the grid. Press <F6> to begin playing the media and, when it is time for the first audio clip to play, press <F9>. MAGpie will automatically read the appropriate timecode, insert it into the first Timecode cell and move the cursor to the next row. Press <F9> again when it is time for the next description clip to play. Repeat this process for each description. You do not need to insert erasures with the <F10> key as you do in caption streams.

You can control the media player from the keyboard using the following commands:

  1. Pause: F5

  2. Play: F6

  3. Stop: F7

  4. Jog Backward: F11

  5. Jog Forward: F12

  6. Jog Backward by 5 seconds: CTRL+SHIFT+F11

  7. Jog Forward by 5 seconds: CTRL+SHIFT+F12

  8. Sync Player to Stream: F4

  9. Sync Stream to Player: SHIFT+F4

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