How Frazier Simplifies Elisabeth’s Daily Workflow
I've become much faster. I believe I'm accomplishing a third more since making the switch.
Hello Elisabeth, please introduce yourself briefly.
I’ve been describing audio descriptions since 2013. I’m sighted and received my training at BR, where I worked in the classic three-person team: a sighted person describes, one types, and a blind colleague writes the text. My training was incredibly thorough, and I remain grateful to my colleagues for that foundation.
While my primary focus is writing, I also enjoy editing, including for Germany’s only daily show with AD. Series descriptions are a particular passion of mine.
How did you use to work? What was the workflow back then?
It was the Stone Age. I wrote my text in Word, with the VLC Player running on an extra screen. No joke. You had to operate the player and keyboard simultaneously, constantly stopping, typing in the timecode, stopping, writing text, continuing. It was incredibly tedious. And of course, you constantly had wrong timecodes, swapped numbers, and if you changed something in a later pass, you had to manually adjust everything.
How did you then switch to Frazier?
“Marit forced me – and I’m so glad she did!” She kept telling me about a new tool, calling it a game-changer. My initial reaction was dismissive: yeah, yeah, just talk, leave me my beloved Word. Eventually, a project came up where I had no choice. Marit trained me, and I even booked an extra coaching session with her to master it fully. I then “played the same game” with a skeptical colleague. Her first comment afterward? “Why didn’t I do this sooner?”
What immediately convinced you?
The speed. Not having to write timecodes anymore. The waveform feature, which immediately shows where the gaps are, eliminating painstaking guesswork. If I move a block, everything shifts with it in a fraction of a second. That’s what immediately captivated me.
As an editor, another crucial factor is having everything consolidated. I can run the film and concentrate fully on images and text. No more fumbling between two programs; I sit relaxed, viewing a complete film with sound and picture, ready to start immediately.
How has your workflow changed overall?
I’m significantly faster, accomplish more, and it’s far less strenuous. All my projects are in one tool; clients add me directly, eliminating time-consuming uploading and downloading. Plus, there’s the AI voice. I used to record my texts for hours, often ending up hoarse. Now, I simply press play during a run-through, and the AI voice reads, keeping me deeply relaxed.
Did you have a particular “aha!” moment?
Yes, when I finally mastered all the shortcuts. I actually cried when I first started because I have zero technical understanding. But then, at some point, it just clicked; the speed was there, and it simply worked. That feeling of suddenly being able to achieve so much more.
So, no way back?
Never. I genuinely advocate for it now because I truly believe it’s exceptional.