Three-minute thesis captions. Keep the right clock.

Start with an approved recorded presentation

Polyglot can transcribe a permitted recording of your three-minute research presentation on an Apple Silicon Mac, let you review the words with playback and export SRT, WebVTT or text. It works from an existing recording. Before importing it, confirm that your event permits AI transcription, separate captions and any proposed translation. If the coordinator supplies an approved captioning service, follow that process.

The University of Queensland’s published virtual 3MT rules require continuous presentation audio and specify how the slide appears. They also distinguish speech-start timing from the video’s title slide. These are rules for that documented virtual format, not universal instructions for every live or recorded competition. The rules do not explicitly grant permission to use Polyglot or add captions.

Keep a short event sheet outside the app: institution, event and round, dated instructions, approved take, slide version, caption language, receiving coordinator and agreed caption method. Retain the organizer’s clarification if the rules are silent. A subtitle file cannot establish that a presentation is eligible.

Separate the presentation clock from the caption clock

Captions must follow the playback time of the complete video the recipient opens. A competition timer may start at another point. Under UQ’s virtual rules, timing begins with the competitor’s speech and excludes the title slide. Do not subtract that title-card interval from subtitle timestamps attached to the full video.

Import the final approved video when preparing a new track. If you start from an existing SRT or WebVTT file, establish which exact video it belongs to before editing. An earlier speech-only export and a later file with an introduction can contain identical words at different playback times.

This fictional timing note illustrates the distinction. It is a manual review aid, not an official timing result or an app-generated competition report. Check the first spoken phrase, a middle phrase and the ending against actual playback; the event coordinator determines compliance.

Fictional round-two timing note
File: research-r2-take04.mp4
Slide: slide-r2-v03

Video 00:00–00:07: title card
Video 00:07: first spoken word
Video 03:03: last spoken word
Speech interval: 2 min 56 sec

Cue heard at video 00:42
= 00:35 after speech begins
Caption uses video 00:42.

Title card later gains 3 sec?
Recheck against the new file.
Do not reuse the old track.

Keep the research claim and the performed words intact

Review the recorded speech rather than pasting the planned script over it. A speaker may change an example, omit a sentence or qualify a result during the take. Correct recognition errors, including missed negatives, but do not rewrite the performance to match the slide or make a tentative finding sound established.

For example, if the recording says “Our pilot suggests a possible effect,” a caption should not read “Our study proves the effect.” A prepared script cannot settle an unclear word by itself. Replay it and ask the presenter when needed. Keep unresolved factual questions in a separate review note; captions should not silently repair a scientific claim.

W3C’s transcription guidance supports faithful wording and review of automatic drafts. Check technical names, numbers, acronyms and the everyday metaphors used to explain them. Expand a term in a companion explanation only when approved; do not insert an unspoken definition into the timed dialogue.

For permitted translation, review the source first and have a competent language reviewer check the research meaning, uncertainty and analogy. Transcription language support and translation targets are separate. A translated track is not evidence that the original presentation met an event’s language requirements.

Review the single slide with captions visible

Play the complete presentation with the intended caption track turned on. Check any point where the static research slide is shown beside the presenter or fills the picture. A caption can be linguistically correct and still obscure the label or visual relationship the speaker is explaining.

Try the receiving player at a narrow width as well as on desktop. Watch the opening, each slide appearance and the conclusion. Check line breaks, reading time, cue clearing and any meaningful sound the caption brief requires. If positioning or additional caption events need work, finish them in an appropriate editor and recheck the exported result.

Do not shorten pauses, splice speech or move slide content merely to accommodate a caption draft when the event forbids those edits. Ask the coordinator for an accepted presentation method. Polyglot does not record the talk, burn captions into the picture, identify speakers, describe the slide automatically or certify accessibility.

Hand over the exact round, video and language track

Export the SRT or WebVTT format that the approved host accepts. Upload and associate it using that host’s own controls. For example, YouTube documents timed-file upload and language selection, but use it only when your event approves that host and delivery method. It also provides its own caption tools; a local editor is an optional preparation workflow, not a required intermediary.

Open the exact link intended for the coordinator using the permitted preview process. Verify the correct take, slide, selected language and beginning-to-ending synchronization. Confirm that the recipient can access the video without expanding its audience. A separately attached text file does not automatically appear as captions in a linked player.

UQ’s virtual rules permit a new presentation between rounds. Treat any rerecording as a new caption source: review its words and timing, even if the script and total duration appear unchanged. Keep the previous round’s files identifiable, record the replacement link and follow the coordinator’s submission route rather than silently changing a judged entry.

Public sharing is a separate permission decision. Confirm presenter, research, slide-image and recording permissions, including any embargo or restricted material. If an approved public version has a different title card or edit, pair it with its own checked track. Local processing does not control access after upload, and Polyglot does not submit competition entries or manage hosting permissions.

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