Tiger Steno: May 2020

First, some history: I've been transcribing for nearly a decade, but for most of that time I didn't have a foot pedal. And when I finally got one, I didn't use it. I only got the pedal so I could be taken seriously when applying for jobs.

Everything I needed was already on the QWERTY keyboard and available to use as hotkeys (my steno stroke translations on this page reference these):

Ctrl+G: Copy Time
F5: Stop
F6: Rewind
F7: Fast Forward
F8: Play Real Speed
Pause: Play Fast Speed
Scroll Lock: Play Slow Speed

Those keys were neat and logical, but they weren't as comfortable I'd like. So I made these AutoHotkey scripts (hotkeys for the hotkeys):

Capslock::
send {F5}
return
; Stop

|::
send {F6}
return
; Rewind

\::
send {F8}
return
; Play

See what I did there? Capslock is rarely used, but is comfortable to hit, so I made that Stop. Play is backslash (another key I wasn't using), and rewind is Shift+Backslash.

I wanted my strokes for Express Scribe control to resemble these AutoHotkey keys.

Play Real Speed
	-LT {#F8} Redundant stroke for -T 'the'.

Rewind
	S-LT {#F6} Redundant stroke for S-T 'is the'.

Play Slow Speed
	ST*LT {#Scroll_Lock}

Play Fast Speed
	ST-LT {#Pause}

Stop
	SKW {#F5}

Basic timecode
	SH-FT {#Control_R(g)}{#Control_R(v)}

AutoHotkey timecode
	SHFT ` On QWERTY my AutoHotkey for a TC (which does more than just Ctrl+G, Ctrl+V) is the key to the left of the number 1 at the top.* This requires that the Express Scribe dictionary is above the Full Keyboard dictionary, and that whatever script you have that transforms that key into your TC is running.

The following interviewer/interviewee strokes require you to set your prefix and suffix in Options > Display > Time Format, like this:

Prefix: COOL DUDES [
Suffix: ]

Whenever you need to include a timecode, which is likely every new speaker, you can hit these strokes to get your TC and have it be properly formatted.

New speaker, without timecode Example: Q:
	SKW-FR {#F5}{^\n^}{-\|}{^\n^}{-\|}Q:{}{-\|} Stops audio, inserts new lines, creates the above sample, and the next word is capitalized.

New speaker with timecode Example: COOL DUDES [00:59:52] COOL DUDE 1:
	SKW-R {#F5}{^\n^}{-\|}{^\n^}{-\|}{#Control_L(G)Control_L(V)}{^\n^}{-\|}COOL DUDE 1:{}{-\|} Stops audio, inserts new lines, creates the above sample, and the next word is capitalized.

You can keep going with the strokes along the bottom row:

SKW-R, SKW-B, SKW-G, SKW-S, SKW-Z

For 15 more available strokes you can use the above five strokes with the asterisk, with the number bar, and with the asterisk and number bar. They're all misstrokes, junk, or undefined.

If you have just a ton of speakers and need more strokes, well, just use the dang QWERTY keyboard with AutoHotkey. I like RAlt+Q, W, E, R, T, Y, A, S, D, F, G, Z, X, C, V, B and LAlt+U, I, O, P, H, J, K, L, ; N, M for hotkeys. AHK script looks like this:

~LAlt & M::
send {enter 2}COOL DUDE 27:{space}
return
; Hit LAlt & M for a new speaker without a TC.

Quick TC Edit: Highlight and Replace
Part 1 of 2

EURPG

{#Home}{#Left}{#Left}{#Shift_L(Left)}{^}

Express Scribe can't change the frame rate of videos like InqScribe can, so if your video is 24 frames per second, your TC will start going out of sync every 10 to 15 minutes. Hitting this will highlight the last number for you to quickly replace.

You might need to edit this translation to match your template. Like if you have frames in your TC:

{#Home}{#Left}{#Left}{#Left}{#Left}{#Left}{#Shift_L(Left)}{^}

Quick TC Edit: Return to Transcription Part 2 of 2
	EUFBL {#End}{#Right}{#End}{^ ^}{-\|} After editing the TC, hit this to return. This will insert a space and capitalize next, so you want to highlight and replace before you start transcribing the dialogue of the new speaker. You might need to edit this translation to match your template.

Miscellaneous Text Formatting Example: Underline
	1K5U6 {#Control_L(U)} This will underline in Word. I don't actually underline in my work, though, so I would use this stroke for something else. This pattern can continue across the whole right-side top row with 1K5U7, 1K5U8, 1K5U9, 1K5UD, so that's room for five wacky things I can do. For more complicated actions such as mouse movement and clicking, leave that to AutoHotkey.

Transform Word Into Tag Example: laugh to [LAUGH]
	HRAF/#W {#Space}{^~\|[LAUGH]^}{#Space} You'll have to make new entries for the tags you want. I got this "wild card" idea from the beauteous Anissa Nierenberger. Unless I misunderstood her, in which case, yes, I take credit for this idea! This also carries capitalization, so don't worry about that.

Test 1

Test 2

Strokes for keyboard shortcuts that don't fit anywhere else.

Shift + Tab key
	12U {#Shift(Tab)} You'll also want this to go back if you're tabbing all over the place for quick, mouse-less navigation. This is where using the number bar to repeat the previous stroke comes in REAL handy.* Reminder: This key without the asterisk is Tab.

Alt + F4 (close window)
	40EUR7G {#Alt_L(F4)} Close window. Originally created to close the window after hitting the Plover lookup stroke. Notice the resemblance to the stroke? You're even using the index finger like you would hit F4 on QWERTY. Reminder: This key without the number bar is the lookup stroke.