Leveraging the company's audio to text transcription engine, Simon Says Assemble enables content creation teams to quickly and easily work remotely on the same story through web collaboration. Users can import and transcribe interview footage and dailies; highlight the key soundbites in the transcript; then easily drag and drop the soundbite text into the desired sequence to create the spine of the story. They can always share, annotate, and sign off in one flow. Existing Simon Says users have immediate access to Assemble via their web dashboard.
When a story is locked, the editor can export the resulting edit decision list to their preferred NLE - Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid Media Composer, Apple Final Cut Pro, and DaVinci Resolve - where the XML automatically re-creates the assembled timeline and seamlessly relinks the media at the correct in and out points. Eliminated is the tedium of scrubbing through audio to find a soundbite, flipping between highlights on a transcript, implementing edit notes, and the back-and-forth of endless exports trying to get signoff. With Simon Says Assemble, the editor is liberated to do what he or she does best: focus on shot selections, pacing, music, and all the creative elements that bring a story to life.
"Teams can now edit, discuss, and sign-off on rough cuts from the web as simply as editing text," comments Shamir Allibhai, founder and CEO of Simon Says. "Transcription was the stepping stone to Simon Says Assemble, which empowers everyone involved in a project to find and order the meaningful parts of the video to create an impactful narrative. Assemble brings down technical and cost barriers and frees the story from the silos of an NLE.”
"I deeply believe in video tech that increases simplicity and efficiency and that when you enable that, you bring in more creators, with their own unique voices, who will push forward the boundaries of storytelling and even the craft itself. Simon Says is grateful to be a part of the workflows of tens of thousands of the most indomitable creative teams on the planet,” Shamir adds.
Simon Says Assemble supports nearly all file formats and codecs and is able to transcribe and translate in 100 languages. The search engine allows users to highlight and reorder soundbites directly in the transcript to add them to the timeline. The transcription can be exported to subtitles, captions, and FCP titles. Metadata including file location, framerate, and start timecode are preserved through to export.
Damien LeVeck, owner/producer of Skubalon, and production partner with major networks including CBS, ABC and NBC, is currently using Simon Says for a documentary. He comments, "Transcription is an invaluable part of any unscripted or documentary workflow. And, as budgets contract, the need for affordable solutions becomes greater. Simon Says is the perfect AI transcription service, not only because of the quality of transcription and low cost, but also because it offers the widest array of integrations with editing applications."
"The recent addition of Simon Says Assemble further streamlines our workflow, allowing our team to send stringouts and radio cuts to editors faster, which enables quicker turnaround on tight deadlines," he adds.
Simon Says offers different subscription options, with cloud and on-premises applications that are suitable for every security requirement. The company's solutions are currently used by companies such as Adobe, BBC, CBC, CNN, Sony, Yale University, Bunim/Murray, Goodby Silverstein, and TED, among many others.
www.simonsays.ai
