Legal video and paper transcripts have moved into the electronic realm, creating a better way to find and extract key testimony from video depositions.
While you could watch hours of footage or read pages of transcript, when you opt for legal video synchronization, everything that you need is just a few keystrokes away.
What is Legal Video Synchronization? Legal video synchronization is a technique where the video footage and the transcript are combined to create a hybrid computer file containing both the video testimony and the court reporter's text transcript.
Video synchronization can be performed after the fact which means that if you already have shot the deposition, you can still benefit from legal video synchronization.
How Does Legal Video Synchronization Save You Time? If you're as busy as most legal professionals, video synchronization allows you to work much more efficiently.
As you know, trying to find a specific section out of hours of video footage is not easy.
Video depositions tend to contain relatively static images, making it difficult to find specific sections because the footage looks the same no matter which section you may be looking at.
If you remember the witness uttering a revealing phrase but are unsure where to find it, you could spend hours scanning through the video in search of this phrase.
However, if you had the video synchronized with the transcript, you'd be able to enter the keywords.
From there, you'd see all instances of the video where those keywords appear - and you'd be able to instantly view those clips and find that revealing testimony.
Just as finding keywords in a long document takes mere seconds, the same is true of finding keywords in hours of synchronized video testimony.
How does Legal Video Synchronization Make You More Efficient? In addition to providing you with the ability to quickly find sections of testimony based on keyword searches, legal video synchronization provides for efficient management of the deposition.
Among the most efficient benefits are: the previously mentioned keyword searches, bookmarking, annotations, and portability.
Being able to bookmark and annotate the legal video deposition is also extremely efficient.
You may want to create bookmarks that correspond to your line of questioning or for each clip that you anticipate needing to extract for your presentation.
Once bookmarked, you can easily jump back to the exact location of the testimony as needed.
Including annotations ensures that you'll never forget your thoughts about specific sections of the video.
Finally, synchronized legal video transcripts are far more portable than paper transcripts and video discs.
Instead of loading your briefcase with bulky files, load your laptop with synchronized video transcripts and enjoy easy access to key testimony no matter where you go.
Everything that you need is at your fingertips - literally - and easy to find.
There's no need to fumble through pages of testimony or arrange for a DVD player and television monitor when all you need is your laptop.
Access to key testimony is a must whenever you're working with legal video.
Video synchronization allows you to quickly search, find, and extract testimony without the hassles of searching through piles of paper or hours of video footage.