Audio Description - How To Edit – 3Play Media Support

Prerequisites

Audio descriptions must be completed prior to being able to edit them

Steps to Edit Audio Descriptions

1. Sign into 3Play Media

Log in to your 3Play Media account at http://account.3playmedia.com

2. Select the File

From the My Files page, select Services: Synthesized Audio Descriptions then Status: Complete to see your completed synthesized audio description files. Click the file name of the completed file you would like to edit.

3. Edit the Audio Description

From the File page, click the AD Edit/Preview button (the pencil icon on the right):

Then click Edit:

Click Edit

The following edit functions are available:

Edit existing text

Click into any text window to edit the existing text. Click the refresh icon to reprocess the synthesized speech and hear your updated description.

The editing interface is highlighted around a text edit box

Nudge the timecode of your description

Click the forwards and backwards arrows to move the timecode of your description by 0.1 seconds at a time. You cannot move a description so it overlaps with another description.
If you nudge a description so it overlaps speech, a red warning will appear.
If the file is Extended Audio Description, the description will lengthen or shorten by .1 seconds at a time to fit in the available space.

The editing interface is highlighted around two arrows that allow users to nudge the timecode by 0.1 seconds at a time

Add new descriptions

To add a new description, navigate to the location in the video player where you want the description to appear. Then, click the blue + icon. A new description text window will be added at the timecode displayed on the video player.

Click the refresh icon to reprocess the synthesized speech to hear the new description.

The editing interface is highlighted around a blue + icon with a tool tip that reads Add Description

Delete existing descriptions

If you want to delete a description, click the red X icon.

The editing interface is highlighted around a red X icon with a tool tip that reads Delete Description

Refresh synthesized speech

Any time a green play icon changes to a blue refresh icon, it indicates that the description has to be synthesized again. Click the refresh icon to play your updated description.
Click the Re-synthesize All button to update all edited texts at once.

Note: The Save and Finalize button must be clicked in order for the changes to be applied.

The editing interface is highlighted around a blue refresh icon with a tool tip that reads Send Edit for Synthesis

Phonetic pronunciation

You may find the following pattern in your descriptions: "[]//". Our describers use this syntax to specify synthesized speech pronunciation. Do not change this pattern unless you intend to change the pronunciation.
Our description editor uses Arpabet for phonetic pronunciations.

The editing interface is highlighted around text that uses the pattern []// to indicate phonetic pronunciation of a word

Search descriptions

To search for a specific word you want to edit, type the word into the Search Descriptions box and click enter.

Extended Tag

If your file was submitted for extended description, you may notice an orange Extended tag. This indicates that the description is too long for the available space in the audio track, and your video will be paused to allow for the full description to be read.

The editing interface is highlighted around an orange button that reads Extended

Overlaps Speech Tag

If you nudge a description into speech, you will receive a red warning and an “Overlaps Speech” tag. We highly recommend reviewing the location of your description before finalizing.

The editing interface is highlighted around a red description with an Overlaps Speech tag

Revert to Original

If you’re unhappy with your changes, you can click Revert to Original. All changes will be reverted to the original description created by 3Play Media.

The editing interface is highlighted around a Revert to Original button

Save and Finalize

Note that if you save your changes and leave the page, changes will be visible in the AD preview but will not have propagated to any output files. You must click Save and Finalize to save your changes and update your audio description output files.

The editing interface is highlighted around the Save and Finalize buttons

Additionally, you can change the voice style of the AD by clicking the Settings button.

A modal will appear where you can select the Speaker you'd like to change to.
Once selected, click Submit.

Note: After clicking Submit, the Re-synthesize All button must be clicked before Saving and Finalizing to ensure that the Speaker change is applied.

4. Download the Updated Description Files

The Synthesized Audio Description will be temporarily unavailable for download and preview until the file has finished reprocessing.

Once the changes have finalized, you can download your updated audio description files. You can also preview your changes with synthesis by selecting the AD Preview button. If you decide that you would like to reject your changes, click Edit > Revert to Original. This will revert your file back to 3Play's original description.