MAXQDA Timecode Converter

Convert transcript timecodes from MM:SS format to MAXQDA [hh:mm:ss] format with timecodes before speaker names, removing the first line and overwriting files.

Convert transcript timecodes from MM:SS format to MAXQDA-compatible [hh:mm:ss] format, with timecodes placed before speaker identity.

Usage

When the user asks to convert interview transcripts for MAXQDA import:

Convert timecodes in [path] for MAXQDA
把 [路径] 的时间码转成 MAXQDA 格式

What It Does

1. Removes the first line (title/header)
2. Converts timecodes and repositions them:
   • Input: 提问者 00:02 (Speaker MM:SS)
   • Output: [00:00:02]提问者 ([hh:mm:ss]Speaker, no space)
3. Handles hours correctly when minutes exceed 60 (e.g., 65:30 → [01:05:30]提问者)
4. Overwrites the original file

One-Step Conversion Script

perl -ne '
    next if $. == 1;  # Skip first line (title)
    # Remove BOM if present
    s/^\x{FEFF}//;
    # Convert: Speaker MM:SS -> [hh:mm:ss]Speaker (no space)
    if (/^(\S+)\s+(\d{2}):(\d{2})/) {
        $speaker = $1;
        $mm = $2;
        $ss = $3;
        $hh = int($mm / 60);
        $mm = $mm % 60;
        s/^(\S+)\s+(\d{2}):(\d{2})/sprintf("[%02d:%02d:%02d]%s", $hh, $mm, $ss, $speaker)/e;
    }
    print;
' "$INPUT_FILE" > "$TEMP_FILE" && mv "$TEMP_FILE" "$INPUT_FILE"

Batch Processing

To process all .txt files in a directory:

for f in "/path/to/directory/"*.txt; do
    perl -ne '
        next if $. == 1;
        s/^\x{FEFF}//;
        if (/^(\S+)\s+(\d{2}):(\d{2})/) {
            $speaker = $1;
            $mm = $2;
            $ss = $3;
            $hh = int($mm / 60);
            $mm = $mm % 60;
            s/^(\S+)\s+(\d{2}):(\d{2})/sprintf("[%02d:%02d:%02d]%s", $hh, $mm, $ss, $speaker)/e;
        }
        print;
    ' "$f" > "${f}.tmp" && mv "${f}.tmp" "$f"
done

Format Examples

Input	Output
提问者 00:02	[00:00:02]提问者
回答者 01:30	[00:01:30]回答者
提问者2 65:45	[01:05:45]提问者2

Notes

• Original filename is preserved
• First line (title) is removed
• Handles UTF-8 BOM automatically
• Input format: Speaker MM:SS
• Output format: [hh:mm:ss]Speaker (no space between ] and speaker)