Add a missing transcript line to a video in Focus
If automatic transcription skips a sentence, open the source clip in Focus, add the words to its Transcript with start and end times, then search for the phrase across your Library. You can edit the text or timing of an existing line instead.
Illustration of the verified test. These are example values, not an app screenshot.
Add the line, then find it again
Checked in the signed Focus 1.21.1 app for macOS with a synthetic 12-second clip. Menu names below match the English app interface.
- 01
Open the clip's Transcript
In Library, open the source video. In the viewer's right panel, choose Transcript from the panel menu. Open Transcript tools and choose Add segment.
Library → Clip → Transcript → Transcript tools → Add segment - 02
Enter the words and source times
Type the missing sentence. Set Start and End to the point where it is spoken in the original video, then Save. For a line that is already present but wrong, use its Edit control to correct the words or time range and confirm the change.
Text + Start + End → Save - 03
Search the Library and check the source
Open Search and enter a distinctive part of the sentence. Inspect the transcript match, then choose Open in Player and listen around the returned time. The search result may start earlier than the transcript line because Focus includes playback context before the match.
Search → Transcript match → Open in Player
What the test confirmed
The added line “The cobalt lantern waits at 12.” was saved at 00:02–00:05. After a full app restart, the library-wide query “cobalt lantern” returned that exact transcript text. The preview pointed to 00:02, and Open in Player opened just before the line. This verifies one manual correction and retrieval path, not automatic transcription accuracy for other footage.
If you cannot find the line
The sentence is already in the transcript, but the words or times are wrong.
Edit that line instead of adding a duplicate. Correct its text and Start/End time, confirm, then search for a distinctive phrase again.
The result begins before the time I entered.
Check the transcript match time in the preview and listen to the source. Focus can include a short playback handle before the saved line, so the result range may be wider than its source timecodes.
Will this make every missed phrase searchable?
No. This workflow makes the lines you add or correct searchable. Automatic transcription still depends on the audio and selected analysis; verify important passages against the original video.
Try one line from your own footage
Pick a sentence you know is missing, add its source times, and search for two or three distinctive words. Open the result and check the audio.
More on searching spoken words in video