If your transcript appears broken up into one or a few words per line, or if your corrections and speaker labels keep disappearing, this can indicate an alignment issue with your sequence. Descript may also display a red underline in the script and an alignment error icon in the right margin. Hovering over the icon provides more details.

To resolve this:

• Open the sequence editor and adjust your tracks' alignment manually
• If your sequence contains multiple tracks with the same speaker, remove one track from the script via the options menu in the sequence editor. 
  

If the automatic transcript is stuck or not starting:

• Make sure the files you've imported or recorded have been fully processed and uploaded to the cloud. You can monitor file syncing from the app.
• Re-upload the original file using the Replace file tool. This won’t affect content edits and can often resolve failed transcription or upload issues.
• Ensure you have a stable internet connection.
• Check our status page to see if there are any ongoing issues.

If your transcript isn’t accurate, changing your transcription provider may help.

To adjust your transcription provider:

1. Open your App Settings.
2. Select a provider from the Transcription provider dropdown menu.
   
3. Navigate back to your project, then locate your file in the project panel in the right-hand sidebar.
4. Open the file options menu and select Re-transcribe.

You can re-transcribe your media file at any time. This won’t count against your monthly media minutes.

Sometimes, a stereo source file may have significant phasing or delay between the left and right channels. This can prevent proper transcription and result in a blank or inaccurate transcript. Here's how to work around this issue and get your transcription working.

Audio files

1. Open the Project panel on the right side of the editor.
2. In the Files section, click the menu () and select Separate into mono files. This will create two new files based on channel 1 and channel 2 of your file.
3. Preview both channels to determine which has clearer audio, then click the options menu, and select Transcribe. Leave the other file un-transcribed.
4. Once the file has been transcribed, click Insert into script to continue editing in the script editor.

Video files

Video files must be addressed in two separate parts. You'll first need to separate the stereo field of the file. 

1. Open the video in Quicktime or similar, and export it as an audio-only file.
2. In Descript, go to the Project panel and locate the Files section. Add the audio-only file to your project.
3. Click the vertical ellipses to the right of the file's name, and choose Separate into mono files (see steps 3 and 4 in the audio files section above).
4. Preview both channels to determine which has clearer audio, then click the options menu, and select Transcribe. Leave the other file un-transcribed.

This next section will walk you through aligning the transcript/audio to the video:

1. Create a sequence.
2. Add the original video file on one track, and the Mono file you just transcribed.
3. Mute the video track from the properties panel in the Sequence Editor sidebar. This prevents the original audio from being doubled.
4. Click Done to close the Sequence editor.
5. In the Project panel, right-click the Sequence and select Create Composition From File.

Phase prevention

Phasing issues in recorded speech are generally created when two microphones have been used to record a single speaker but one of the microphones was placed at a particular distance away from the source/other microphone.

To avoid an out-of-phase signal, the second microphone should be placed immediately adjacent to the first microphone. Alternatively, you can apply the "3-1 rule":

1. Measure the distance between the first microphone and the source (the individual who will be speaking)
2. Make sure the second microphone is at least three times that distance away from the first microphone.