Glossary
Plain-language definitions of the terms used across VocaSync and these docs.
Terms
- Forced alignment
- Locking a known transcript to its audio to produce exact word- and segment-level timestamps. The words you provide come back unchanged, timestamped.
- Transcription (ASR)
- Automatic speech recognition — turning spoken audio into text. Unlike alignment, it infers the words rather than being given them.
- Speech synthesis (TTS)
- Text-to-speech — generating spoken audio from written text in a chosen voice.
- Translation
- Converting text or subtitles from one language into another, with optional AI refinement and subtitle-aware constraints.
- Workflow / bundle
- A multi-stage pipeline that chains services and is priced as one upfront unit — for example Subtitling or Dub-Prep.
- CPS (characters per second)
- A subtitle readability limit. Capping CPS keeps lines on screen long enough to read comfortably.
- Quality tier
- The quality/cost level of a service — for example Standard versus High Fidelity synthesis, or Standard versus Premium translation.
- Pronunciation map
- A set of overrides telling synthesis how to pronounce specific words, names, or technical terms.
- Chunking
- Splitting long text into smaller pieces before synthesis, controllable via chunking rules (target size, hard limits, heading handling).
- Artifact
- A downloadable output file from a completed project — audio, JSON, SRT, WebVTT, or TXT.
- API key
- A secret credential (prefixed voca_) that authenticates your requests to the VocaSync REST API. Shown once at creation.
- Publishable key
- A scoped, revocable key (prefixed pk_) for read-only public access to a project's artifacts, safe to expose in a browser.
- Webhook
- An HTTP callback VocaSync sends to your URL when a job or pipeline changes state, signed with HMAC for verification.
- Idempotency key
- A client-supplied identifier that lets you safely retry a create request without producing duplicate jobs.
- Presigned URL
- A temporary, signed link that lets you upload or download files directly to storage without exposing credentials.
- Free tier
- A recurring monthly allowance (alignment minutes and synthesis characters) available with a payment card on file.