Synced video lets you attach the video of a deposition to its transcript in Casefleet and review the two together. Click any word in the transcript, and the video jumps to that moment. Press play and the transcript scrolls with the witness, highlighting each word as it is spoken.
You do not need a sync file from your court videographer. Casefleet transcribes the audio and matches it to your certified transcript automatically. If you do have a videographer's sync file, you can apply it instead.
⚠️ Synced video is currently in beta. To turn it on for your firm, email support@casefleet.com.
Before you start
The transcript must already be in Casefleet as a deposition (it opens in the deposition viewer with page and line numbers).
Video files can be MP4, MOV, MPG/MPEG, or M4V, up to 8 GB and 5.5 hours each.
If the deposition was recorded in several volumes, you can add one video file per volume. Casefleet works out the order for you.
Transcription minutes for synced video count toward your plan's transcription allowance, the same as audio and video files you upload to a case. See How billing works below.
Adding video to a deposition
Step 1. Open the deposition in the viewer.
Step 2. Click the gear icon in the toolbar and choose Manage synced video.
Step 3. Drag your video file(s) onto the drop zone, or click browse to pick them. Keep this tab open until the upload finishes.
Step 4. Casefleet scans, encodes, and transcribes the video, then syncs it to the transcript. This can take up to an hour for a full-day deposition. You can close the window and keep working; we email you when it is ready.
Step 5. When it finishes, each file shows Synced along with how many transcript lines were matched. Click Open synced view to start watching.
Watching synced video
Once a deposition has synced video, a play button appears in the viewer toolbar. Click it to open the video pane. You can drag the pane anywhere on the screen, resize it from the corner, or minimize it while you read.
Jump to a word. Click any word in the transcript and the video seeks to that moment and plays. Selecting a range of text still creates a citation, exactly as before.
Follow. With Follow on (the link icon in the pane header), the transcript scrolls to keep the spoken line in view and highlights the current word. Turn Follow off to read ahead or look elsewhere while the video keeps playing.
Playback controls. Play and pause, skip back or forward 5 seconds, change speed from 0.25x to 4x, adjust volume or mute, and go full screen.
Now at. The bottom of the pane shows the page and line currently playing (for example, "p. 14:12") and whether that moment falls inside one of your designations.
Multi-volume depositions play as one continuous timeline. Volume boundaries are marked on the seek bar, and playback moves into the next volume automatically.
Understanding sync results
Each video file in Manage synced video shows one of these results:
Synced. The audio matched the transcript well. You get word-level sync.
Synced (with warnings). The video is synced and playable, but the match was less clean than usual, often because of poor audio, heavy crosstalk, or long off-the-record stretches. If you have your videographer's sync file, applying it will give you the most accurate result (see below).
Sync rejected. Casefleet could not confidently match this video's audio to this transcript. This almost always means the file is the wrong video, or the wrong volume, for this deposition. Remove it with the x on the card and add the correct file.
Failed. Something went wrong while processing the file. A Retry button appears on the card, and you do not need to upload the file again. See the troubleshooting section below.
Using your videographer's sync file
If any file comes back as Sync rejected or Synced (with warnings), the wizard offers a second drop zone for a sync file from your court videographer. Casefleet accepts OpenDVT files (.dvt or .xml), the standard format videographers use to map transcript lines to video timecodes.
The sync file replaces the automatic alignment for the whole deposition.
The number of video streams in the file must match the number of video files you added. Add every volume first, then apply the sync file.
Videographer sync files work line by line rather than word by word, so clicking jumps to the start of a line.
If you add or remove a video later, Casefleet returns to automatic syncing. You can re-apply the sync file afterward.
How billing works
Synced video is transcribed the same way as any audio or video file you upload to Casefleet, and the minutes are billed the same way: each video's full runtime counts toward your plan's transcription allowance, and overage applies if your firm has it enabled.
One important difference: the minutes used by synced video do not appear in the live usage totals on your billing page right away. They are added overnight, so you will see them reflected the following day. If you are watching your usage closely, keep this in mind before adding several volumes at once.
A few other details:
Minutes are billed once per video, when transcription completes. Retrying a failed video does not bill again.
Removing a video after it has been transcribed does not refund its minutes.
If your firm has reached its transcription allowance and has not enabled overage, the video will stop at the Transcribing step with a message saying transcription is not available. See the troubleshooting section.
Emails you may receive
Whoever added the video receives one email when processing is done:
Your synced deposition video is ready. Everything synced. The button opens the deposition.
Your deposition video sync needs attention. Processing finished, but at least one file came back rejected or with warnings. Open Manage synced video to review.
We couldn't process your deposition video. A specific file failed. Open Manage synced video for details and click Retry.
Removing video
In Manage synced video, click the x on a file's card to remove it. Remaining volumes are re-synced automatically. Deleting the deposition document from the case removes its videos as well.
Synced videos are attached to the deposition itself. They do not appear as separate files in your case's Sources list.
Troubleshooting
"Unsupported format. Use MP4, MOV, or MPG."
The file type is not supported. Export or convert the video to MP4 (H.264 video with AAC audio is the safest choice). WMV, AVI, and MKV are not accepted.
"Larger than 8 GB."
Re-export the video at a lower bitrate, or split it into volumes.
Failed: the video is too long.
Each file can be at most 5.5 hours. Split the recording into volumes and add each one.
Failed: the video could not be read or converted.
Some cameras and editing tools produce files our encoder cannot open. Re-export as MP4 (H.264 / AAC), remove the failed file, and add the new one.
Failed: transcription is not available for this firm.
Your firm has used its transcription allowance for the period and has not enabled overage. An account administrator can adjust this in your firm's billing settings, after which you can click Retry. Because synced-video minutes post to the usage totals overnight, the allowance may have been reached by videos you added the day before even if the live total does not show it yet.
Failed: the file did not pass our security scan.
Please obtain a fresh copy of the video from its original source and try again. Contact support if it happens again.
A file has been on "Queued" for more than 10 minutes.
A Retry button will appear on the card. Click it. If it keeps happening, contact support.
Sync rejected, but I am sure this is the right video.
Very poor audio or a transcript that differs substantially from what was actually said can prevent a confident match. Ask your court videographer for the OpenDVT sync file and apply it as described above. If you do not have one, contact support and we will take a look.
I do not see "Manage synced video" in the menu.
Synced video is in beta and turned on per firm. Email support@casefleet.com to enable it.
I do not see the play button in the deposition viewer.
The play button appears once at least one video has finished syncing. Open Manage synced video to check progress.
🙋 Still stuck? Email support@casefleet.com with the name of the deposition, the video file name, and the message shown on its card.