Subject:Transcription Pedal Hardware?

Posted by: JoshL1

Date:3/26/2004 6:39:14 PM

I own Sound Forge 7.0 and I think Acid, along with several other different audio and video softwares. I also have the Sony software MSVEDIT that came with my digital voice recorder.

I do a lot of transcription from these files. I would like to know which foot-pedal hardware I can buy which will work with one of these programs to allow me to do transcription.

Sincerely,

Josh

Subject:RE: Transcription Pedal Hardware?

Reply by: JoshL1

Date:3/31/2004 9:28:35 PM

It seems no one at Sound Forge is interested in supporting this issue or product. Ok.

Anyway, I got this item:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=62041&item=3806560018&ssPageName=STRK:MEBWN:IT

which will work with my Sony Software, if not my Sound Forge Software. Thus far, I've not seen much evidence that either Sony or Sound Forge (I guess there's some connection) are that great with support, so I guess I'm on my own.

Subject:RE: Transcription Pedal Hardware?

Reply by: Sonic

Date:4/1/2004 9:22:06 AM

I'm not sure what you are looking for, as I am not familiar with exactly what a 'transcription pedal' does. Just transport functionality?

FWIW, you can use any MIDI input device and set up MIDI triggers in Sound Forge for a variety of actions. See Options->MIDI Triggers for the list.

J.

Subject:RE: Transcription Pedal Hardware?

Reply by: rraud

Date:4/1/2004 11:07:53 AM

Yep, basically a transport controler pedal, starts, pauses, rewinds, FFs a cassette machine.
Though I have never used one.

Subject:RE: Transcription Pedal Hardware?

Reply by: farss

Date:4/2/2004 4:48:16 AM

Don't know if this will help but the Shuttle devices work with SF and Vegas giving you that functionality but they're hand operated.

Perhaps if we got some better idea of what you're trying to do someone could shed some light on how to go about it.

Subject:RE: Transcription Pedal Hardware?

Reply by: metrazol

Date:4/2/2004 12:53:48 PM

How about get a keyboard splitter and learn to hit the functions with your toes?

Subject:RE: Transcription Pedal Hardware?

Reply by: Rednroll

Date:4/2/2004 6:15:56 PM

"I guess there's some connection) are that great with support, so I guess I'm on my own."

I would guess if you looked for support in the right place, then you'ld have a better chance of receiving it. What part of the forum policy didn't you read when you created your username to post here? I suppose it would be that section, that says the "forums are peer-to-peer support if you need immediate support, please contact our customer service at blahhh..blahh blahhh".

I'ld be interested in giving you support in these forums, but could you please send me my $50/question fee in the mail first. We'll start off with the minimum $200 enrollement fee, which entitles you to 4 free questions and then the $50/question kicks in after that, when you send me your credit card information. Please post that here now, for immediate support and we will answer your questions in the order it was received.

Thank you,
Signed: Your friendly non affiliated with Sony public forum support guide,
Rednroll

Subject:RE: Transcription Pedal Hardware?

Reply by: JoshL1

Date:4/2/2004 10:03:27 PM

Thanks. Both Sony and Sound Forge make it sufficiently difficult to figure out where to go and whom to ask for any help at all that I am unlikely, at that point in the day, to give a damn as to whether the public discussion forums have an FAQ or bother reading it. There seems to be an inverse proportionality between the amount of money I spent on their hardware and software (closing in on $500 if I count my digital sound recorder a few years ago) and what one might regard as a reasonable expectation of a decent public support forum from them (especially given the amount of fancy-shmancy-waste we see put into their web pages).

jl

Subject:RE: Transcription Pedal Hardware?

Reply by: JoshL1

Date:4/2/2004 10:15:37 PM

As I mentioned, this is the item I got:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=62041&item=3806560018&ssPageName=STRK:MEBWN:IT

As another person mentioned, it is a pedal device with basic control features corresponding to what you might expect from a tape machine. A transcriptionist in the past would sit with such a foot pedal, earphones, and a special tape recorder, and use the foot pedals to control the tape while he or she typed.

I do not own such a tape machine. I have a Sony Digital Voice recorder from which I take .msv format files and transfer them to my hard drive. So, instead of traditional casette tapes, modern transcription is now becoming a matter of files on a computer.

Then I process them. Since I have not yet managed to get digital voice recognition to work, this means I have to do manual transcription, listening to the file, starting and stopping it as I am able to type it out. If I don't get a foot pedal, this means I have to constantly stop typing and find the mouse in order to hit the ff and rw buttons on the screen for whatver sound program I'm in.

When I went to research the matter, the fact is that there are plenty of foot pedals out there now designed to work with a computer instead of a tape machine, but that they are either very expensive, or they get very iffy about whether they will work with your sound program. Who the heck wants to spend $90 on a foot pedal to work with Sound Forge and find it only works with Windows Sound Recorder?

I spoke to one place that seemed to specialize in selling transcription products, and the harried person there said that she had researched the matter more than a little, and that in her view, each software maker was more or less responsible to say whether a given pedal would work with their software. I doubt this was entirely true, but I thought I'd ask around for a reasonably priced pedal to go with the software I seem to prefer these days.

FWIW, here is a universal format pedal but it looks like you might be using their software. Anyway, I didn't want to pay $200 for it:

http://www.startstop.com/sst2.asp

(looks like you're using their software)

or:

here is evidence of the cheaper footpedal-to-go-with-which-software problem:

http://www.theprogrammers.com/footpedals.html

This is the one I would have bought as it looks like you can use your own list of software, but I didn't want to spend $200:

http://www.theprogrammers.com/wavp.html#new5.0

Subject:RE: Transcription Pedal Hardware?

Reply by: captn_spalding

Date:4/3/2004 6:49:32 AM

Who is this guy! He thinks he owns Acid? He buys some bogus piece of hardware from ebay, then complains it won't work! He doesn't have time to figure out his hardware, his software, how to use online help or support! ("I bought a transmission from an 84 Yugo and cant figure out how to make it work with my 99 BMW and, damn, BMW aint being anykind of help nor are the BMW owners in my neighborhood!") And imagine! He's got almost $500 invested!! Red, you ain't asking near enough to deal with this kind of guff!

...spalding

Subject:RE: Transcription Pedal Hardware?

Reply by: JoshL1

Date:4/3/2004 7:21:38 AM

1. My guff is not directed at anyone who has responded, or hasn't, outside of a Sony or Sound Forge official employee. I have nothing whatsoever against any of the non-Sony non-Sound Forge people here. It is directed at Sony and Sound Forge, regarding their SOFTWARE, which I own and paid for, and THEIR hardware, and for which they make it remarkably difficult to find a way to ask some simple questions.

Prevention of recurrence of an angry person like myself posting here would involve simply posting of a clear un-missable sign to a forum that is officially monitored by them, or a free help email that is genuinely responded-to by them. The for-pay customer service might be used by me, but some of my Sony purchases have been recent, and shouldn't have to be that expensive to get supported.

2. If you had actually read my posts, my complaint or question has NOTHING to do with the hardware I bought from ebay. I provided that link AFTER the fact, as a COURTESY, in case anyone was forensically interested to see what I was talking about. It will, I'm sure, work fine.

The problem was I had to find it on my own. So, despite the never-ending expensive fluff that Sony is putting into this website, they weren't able to sell me a pedal, or point me to it, or save me the time to research it. I probably would not be upset, but this isn't the first time I've had a bit of trouble getting a question or two answered about my Sony Hardware or Software.

I am sorry for my attitude. I'm just very busy, and Sony this week chose to make work for me rather than make my work easier.

Subject:RE: Transcription Pedal Hardware?

Reply by: Rednroll

Date:4/4/2004 9:51:11 AM

First off, I'ld like to point out to you. It is not Sony's responsibility to know, what every piece of hardware made by every other manufacturer along with their own Sony hardware will work with their software.

Thus, this response from "Sonic", who just happens to be a Sony employee

"FWIW, you can use any MIDI input device and set up MIDI triggers in Sound Forge for a variety of actions. See Options->MIDI Triggers for the list."

So from there, you should look into the particular hardware you purchased and see if it has a MIDI OUT connection on it. If it does, then it probably sends out MMC commands (ie MIDI MACHINE CONTROL) commands, but another thing you need to check. MMC is a standard midi format, so if both devices say they support it, then they should work together. If it does, then the question you should have been asking is "Does Sound Forge recognize MMC commands?" If Yes, then how do I set it up? and here would be your answer:See Options->MIDI Triggers for the list."

You say, you don't have a lot of time, just like we don't have a lot of time to go looking at what you purchased on ebay and figuring all this stuff out for you. We'll try and point you in the right direction, but it's your responsibility to look into the details of how your hardware and software work, and determine if they will work together. Right now, you haven't even told us how this piece of hardware you bought is suppose to connect to your computer to be able to interface with the software. Which tells me, you either don't know, or are relying on us to go out and figure that out for you. Are you complaining about the hardware's support, asking them the same question if your foot pedal will work with sound forge?

I understand you're probably frustrated, because all you want to do is somehow plug in this footpedal and have Sound Forge automatically start working with it. You need to understand, this is a "specialized" setup that not a lot of people are using. So you need to do some reading of how both devices work and then come back with some more "specific" questions to see if they have a chance of working together.

Right now, all of us on this forum are Sound Forge users, and we know a lot about the Sound Forge side, that we can help you with. We know absolutely nothing about this hardware "Transcription Pedal", nor do we have any interest to go research it for you. That is your responsibility. So if you could come back with what connections are on this device, and if it supports MMC, then we can help you out a little more.

Another, thing is that Sound Forge v7.0 has automatic record settings, where it will start and stop recording on set threshold levels. This sounds like for what you're trying to do will actually work better, where you might be able to do what you want without having to hit any foot pedals. You might want to check into that also.


That will be $50, please forward payment to rednroll@hotmail.com