Curating and Annotating Audio Files

This guide assumes your audio files are stored in AWS. To learn how to create integrations with other cloud providers click here.

STEP 1: Import your Audio Files

1

Set Up AWS

Before you can do anything with the Encord platform and cloud storage, you need to configure your cloud storage to work with Encord. Once the integration between Encord and your cloud storage is complete, you can then use your data in Encord.

In order to integrate with AWS S3, you need to:

1. Create a permission policy for your resources that allows appropriate access to Encord.
2. Create a role for Encord and attach the policy so that Encord can access those resources.
3. Activate Cross-origin resource sharing which allows Encord to access those resources from a web browser.
4. Test the integration to make sure it works.

See our AWS integration documentation for a detailed explanation of setting up AWS to work with Encord.

You have the following options to integrate AWS and Encord:

Use AWS UI

Use Terraform

2

Create AWS Integration in Encord

Create an S3 bucket to store your files if you haven’t already. Your S3 bucket permissions should be set to be blocking all public access.

In the Integrations section of the Encord platform, click +New integration to create a new integration.

Select AWS S3 at the top of the chooser.

It is essential you do not close this tab or window until you have finished the whole integration process. If you use the AWS UI for integration, we advise opening the AWS console in a separate tab.

See our AWS integration documentation for a detailed explanation of how to set up the AWS integration.

3

Create JSON file for import

See our documentation on JSON import files for more comprehensive information

Create a JSON file based on the templates provided below. audioMetadata is optional unless you are using a client-only access integration.

The title field is optional. If omitted, the audio file path and name are used as the default title. For example, if the file is located at https://encord-solutions-bucket.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/path/to/my/bucket/song2.mp3, the title defaults to /path/to/my/bucket/song2.mp3.

Key or Flag	Required?	Default value
”objectUrl”	Yes
”title”	No	The file’s path + title
”audioMetadata”	No
”clientMetadata”	No
”createVideo”	No	false

audioMetadata must be specified when a Strict client-only access integration is used. In all other cases, audioMetadata is optional, but including it significantly reduces import times.

Keys / Flags that are not required can be omitted from the JSON file entirely.

4

Create a Folder to Store Your Audio Files

All files in Encord must be stored within folders. Therefore, you need to create a folder before uploading any data to Encord. To create a folder:

1. Navigate to Files under the Index heading in the Encord platform.
2. Click the + New folder button to create a new folder. A dialog to create a new folder appears.

3. Give the folder a meaningful name and description.

4. Click Create to create the folder. The folder is listed in Files.

5

Upload Your Audio to Encord

STEP 2: Curate your Data

Create a collection

A Collection is a container for data units (images or videos) that you can use to group your data units together.

Creation of a Collection involves filtering and sorting your data. Once you have selected a smaller group of images, videos or audio files, create a Collection.

1. Log in to the Encord platform. The landing page for the Encord platform appears.

2. Go to Index > Files. The All folders page appears with a list of all folders in Encord.

3. Click in to a Folder. The landing page for the Folder appears and the Explorer button is enabled.

4. Click the Explorer button. The Index Explorer page appears.

5. Search, sort, and filter your data until you have the subset of the data you need.

6. Select one or more of the images/frames/audio files in the Explorer workspace. A ribbon appears at the top of the Explorer workspace.

   Selecting a video frame selects the entire video. Specific frames from a video cannot be selected.

7. Click Select all to select all the images in the subset.

8. Click Add to a Collection.

9. Click New Collection.

10. Specify a meaningful title and description for the Collection.

    The title specified here is applied as a tag/label to every selected image.

11. Click Collections to verify the Collection appears in the Collections list.

STEP 2: Set Up Your Project

1

Create a Dataset

Once you have a Collection, you can create a Dataset from your Collection.

2

Create an Ontology

We recommend learning about Ontology structure in Encord before creating Ontologies.

Object labels are not supported for audio files. Ensure that Ontologies used for audio annotations do not include object labels.

1. Click the New ontology button in the Ontologies section to create a new Ontology.

2. Give your Ontology a meaningful title and description. A clear title and description keeps your Ontologies organized.

3. Click Next to continue.

4. Define your Ontology structure. Audio files support being labeled with classifications. Do not include any objects in your Ontology.

To add a classification:

1. Click Add classification to create a new classification.
2. Give the classification a name. For example, “Tempo”.
3. Optionally, configure the classification. The default classification type is a text field.
4. Optionally, enable the Required toggle to mark the object as Required.
5. Repeat these steps for as many classifications as necessary.

Configure classifications:

You can configure classifications to change the classification type, and to add classification options to radio buttons and check lists.

1. Click the arrow icon next to an object to configure the classification.

2. Click the classification type to change the classification type. The default classification type is a text field.
3. Click Add option to add an option if you have selected a radio button or check list classification.
4. Enter a name for the classification option. For example, the classification “Tempo” can have the options “Slow”, “Medium”, and “Fast”.
5. Click the Back to parent button to return the Ontology creation view.

3

Create a Project

1. In the Encord platform, select Projects under Annotate.
2. Click the + New annotation project button to create a new Project.

3. Give the Project a meaningful title and description.

If you are part of an Organization, an optional Project tags drop-down is visible. Project tags are useful for categorizing and finding your Projects. Select as many tags as are relevant for your Project.

4. Click the Attach ontology button.

5. Select the Ontology you created previously from the list using the Select button.

6. Click OK to attach the Ontology to the Project.

7. Click the Attach datasets button.

8. Select the Dataset you created previously from the list using the Attach button.

9. Click OK to attach the Dataset(s) to the Project.

10. Click the Load from template button to use a Workflow template.

11. Select the template you want to use and click Load template.

12. Click Create project to finish creating the Project.

STEP 3: Label Your Audio Files

1. Navigate to the Queue tab of your Project.

2. Select the data unit you want to label. The task opens in the Label Editor.

3. From the list of classes on the left side of the Label Editor, choose the classification you want to apply. Classification options appear.

4. For radio and checklist classifications, select the appropriate answer. For text classifications, enter your response. The Add classification pane appears on the right side of the Label Editor.

To apply the classification to the entire audio file:

5. Click Save in the Add classification pane, or use the shortcut N. The classification is now visible on the timeline.

To apply the classification to a specific section of the audio file:

5. Click and drag your cursor from the start to the end of the section you want to add the classification to, or manually enter the start and end timestamps.

6. Click Save in the Add classification pane, or use the shortcut N. The classification is now visible on the timeline.