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CapsQual is a specialized transcription workstation designed for converting subtitle files into publishable interview transcripts using GAT2 (Gesprächsanalytisches Transkriptionssystem 2) conventions.
- Quick Speaker Assignment: Rapidly assign speakers to subtitle segments using keyboard shortcuts
- Basic Editing: Split, merge, and edit transcript segments
- GAT2 Symbols: Insert conversation analysis symbols for pauses, breathing, and annotations
- Audio Synchronization: Link audio files to transcripts with auto-sync functionality
- Export Transcripts: Generate formatted transcripts in HTML or plain text
- Start a new transcription project by selecting File → New Project or pressing Ctrl+N.
- Open saved projects with File → Open Project or Ctrl+O. CapsQual uses the .capsqual file format.
- Recently opened projects may be opened through the "Open Recent" submenu.
- Save your work with File → Save Project (Ctrl+S) or Save Project As to create a new file.
Add project notes and descriptions via Edit → Project Memo. This information can be included in transcript exports.
- SRT (.srt): Standard subtitle format with timestamps
- JSON (.json): Various JSON formats including token-based and segment-based
- Text (.txt): Plain text files (one block per line)
- TSV (.tsv): Tab-separated values with start/end times and text
Use File → Import → Subtitles to load subtitle files. When importing audio files, CapsQual automatically searches for matching subtitle files in the same directory and offers to import them.
When importing JSON files with token data, you can choose from three import methods:
- One Continuous Block: Import all text as a single segment
- Tokens as Separate Blocks: Create individual blocks for each token
- Auto-segment: Automatically detect pauses and create segments accordingly
Assign speakers using the number keys 1-4 (configurable up to 8 speakers). Unassign with U.
Keyboard Shortcuts:
- Next block: N or →
- Previous block: P or ←
- Jump to unassigned: Click on block in "Unassigned Blocks" list
- Split Block: Space - Opens split dialog to divide current segment
- Merge Blocks: Delete - Combine current block with next block
- Edit Content: E - Open text editor for current block
- Insert Empty Line: Enter - Add blank line for formatting
- Access the symbols dialog with * or the Symbols button.
- Switch between symbols for GAT2, Dresing & Pehl, TiQ and custom symbol tabs using the [Tab] key.
- Custom symbols can be defined in the custom symbol tab. These can also be saved and restored as .JSON files.
- Custom symbols can also be managed from the menu bar (Edit -> Custom Symbols).
Load audio files via File → Import → Audio File. Supported formats: MP3, WAV, OGG, M4A, FLAC.
When importing audio, CapsQual automatically searches the directory for matching subtitle files (SRT, JSON, TXT, TSV) and offers to import them.
Playback Controls:
- Play/Pause: [End] or click ▶ or ⏸ button
- Rewind 5s: [PgUp] or click ⏪ button
- Fast Forward 5s: [PgDn] or click ⏩ button
- Jump to Time: Use the "Jump" button or [Ctrl]+[J] for precise navigation
- Play from segment: Press the "Play from segment" button or [Shift]+[Enter] to start playback from the current segment.
- Adjust speed: Use the mouse wheel on the knob, the buttons or the + and - keys to adjust playback speed (VLC Player needs to be installed for this feature to work!)
- Auto-sync to Audio: Automatically highlights the current transcript block during playback (Using audio controls [PgUp/PgDwn] instead of scrolling is recommended)
- Autopause: Automatically pauses audio when opening editing dialogs
- Progress Tracking: Visual progress bar with time display
Generate transcripts in these formats:
- HTML: Formatted with CSS styling
- Word document: A publication-ready .DOC file
- Plain Text: Simple text format for maximum copy-paste compatibility
- Subtitle file: An .SRT file containing time stamps and speaker diarization
Transcript exports can be customized to better suit one of several transcription conventions:
- GAT2-Transcription: More commonly used in conversation analysis; each segment takes up a line, a mono-spaced font is used, speaker-labels and line numbering follow GAT2 guidelines.
- Dresing & Pehl: More commonly used for semantic analysis; segments are arranged by speaker turns.
- TiQ (Talk in Qualitative Research): Segments are arranged by speaker turns, often used for reconstructive research (especially for group discussions).
Please note that choosing transcription conventions does not alter the transcript content, but only the basic transcript formatting. The choice should be based on whichever format best fits the conventions used during transcription.
Customize your export with these options:
- Line-Wrapping: When enabled, line breaks will be implemented in the exported transcript. Enter the amount of characters, after which line breaks should occur. Enabling "Force character-based wrapping" results in line breaks occurring regardless of words, whereas disabling this checkbox results in line breaks after spaces.
- Include Timestamps: Add timecodes to transcript (when available); these can follow different formats. For custom timestamp formats, the letter-combinations HH, mm, ss and xx can be used to represent hours, minutes, seconds and tenths of seconds respectively. Any other symbols, letters, numbers, characters etc. can be used alongside these to make up a custom timestamp formula.
- Include Diarization (Speaker Labels): Choose whether to include speaker labels (only applicable for subtitle exports)
- Add empty line after every speaker turn: An empty line is added after every turn. Empty lines are handled differently for different conventions. For TiQ, empty lines are numbered, whereas for GAT2 and Dresing & Pehl they are not.
- Project Title: Include project name as header
- Project Memo: Include project description
- Audio File Info: Include source audio file name
Use the preview feature to review your transcript formatting before exporting. The preview shows an approximation of how the final transcript will appear.