Troubleshooting Video Quality and Captions

Overview

This guide helps you diagnose and fix common issues with video recordings, caption timing, and caption accuracy in the Teleprompter app. Most problems trace back to audio quality during recording or the script text itself.

Recording Tips for Best Results

Caption quality depends on how clearly the app can hear your voice. Follow these tips for the best results:

Use a Microphone

• Use a dedicated microphone whenever possible. A clip-on lavalier mic, AirPods, or a desk mic all produce significantly better results than the phone’s built-in microphone.
• If using the built-in microphone, hold the phone at arm’s length and speak clearly toward it.
• Wireless earbuds (AirPods, Galaxy Buds) work well and keep the mic close to your mouth without visible wires.

Find a Quiet Space

• Record in a quiet room with minimal background noise. Close windows, turn off fans and music, and avoid recording near HVAC vents or other ambient noise sources.
• Avoid rooms with hard walls and no soft furnishings — they create echo that makes speech harder to process.
• A small room with carpet, curtains, or soft furniture is ideal.

Speak Clearly and at a Steady Pace

• Speak at a natural, steady pace. Rushing through words can reduce caption accuracy.
• Pause briefly between sentences — this helps with caption timing.
• If you stumble on a word, consider re-recording that take. The teleprompter makes it easy to do multiple takes.

Caption Spelling and Accuracy

Captions Follow Your Script

Important: When you record with a script, your on-screen captions display the exact text from your script — not what the speech recognition heard. This means:

• If you see a misspelling or typo in your captions, the fix is to correct it in the script itself, then resubmit your video. You do not need to re-record.
• Names, medical terms, brand names, and other specialized words will appear exactly as you typed them in the script.
• The speech recognition is only used to figure out when you said each word (timing), not what to display.

Proper Nouns and Specialized Vocabulary

Names, brands, drug names, and other proper nouns are extracted from your script and used as hints to the speech recognizer so the timing on those words lines up correctly — even when the recognizer would normally hear them as something else. The captions still display the spelling from your script. If a proper noun consistently lands at the wrong time, double-check the spelling and capitalization in the script and resubmit.

How to Fix a Caption Typo

1. Open My Scripts in the Teleprompter app.
2. Find and edit the script with the typo.
3. Correct the text.
4. Resubmit your video for processing. You do not need to re-record — the updated script text is automatically used when the video is reprocessed.

Caption Timing Issues

Words Appear Too Early or Too Late

Caption timing is determined by matching your spoken words to the script. If words seem mistimed:

• Speak closer to the script. Large deviations from the script (ad-libbing, skipping words, or rearranging sentences) make it harder for the system to line up timing.
• Check audio quality. Background noise, echo, or low microphone volume can make it harder to detect when words are spoken. See the recording tips above.
• Re-record the take. A clean re-recording with good audio usually resolves timing issues.

Some Words Have No Timing

If you skipped a section of the script while speaking, those words will still appear in the captions (because they are part of the script) and their timing will be interpolated evenly between the surrounding words the recognizer did hear. This is normal and usually looks fine in the final video. If a long stretch of skipped words is bunched up too tightly, edit those lines out of the script and resubmit.

Improving Caption Accuracy with Voice Training

If your team uses unusual terminology or your captions consistently miss certain words, complete a Voice Training session in the app. The trained voice profile improves alignment for the speakers it has heard. See Voice Training for Personalized Scripts.

Video Processing Failures

"Processing failed. Please try again."

• Tap Retry in the app. Temporary server issues occasionally cause a single failure.
• If retrying does not work after two attempts, try re-recording the video.
• If the problem persists, contact support@socialcascade.co with your team name and the approximate time of the recording.

"We’re unable to process this video at this time."

This appears after multiple retry attempts have failed. Our team has been notified automatically. If you need the video urgently, contact support.

Troubleshooting Quick Reference

FAQ

Q: Why don’t captions match exactly what I said?

A: Captions are pulled from your script, not from speech recognition. This is intentional — it ensures professional spelling, proper names, and medical terms appear correctly. If you deviated from the script while speaking, the captions will still show the script text.

Q: Can I edit captions after recording?

A: Yes — edit the script text and resubmit the video. You do not need to re-record. Captions are generated from the current version of your script each time the video is processed.

Q: Do I need to re-record if I fix a typo in my script?

A: No. Simply correct the script and resubmit your video. The app always uses the latest version of your script when processing captions, so your fix will take effect without re-recording.

Q: Why do some caption words seem to appear at the wrong time?

A: This usually happens when there is significant background noise, or when you deviated from the script (ad-libbed, skipped sections, or changed word order). Recording in a quiet room and following the script closely gives the best timing results. Voice Training can also help for repeat speakers.

Last verified: 2026-04-18.