And when you've finished, you should know more about:
- The user Interface
- Project files
- Work folders
- Adding videos
- Play panels
- Drawing on a play panel
- Exporting an image to your library
- Saving a project
- Loading a saved project
- Chalk and talk mode
The Basics
The video analyzer has a simple user interface that consists of a media container, a canvas, play panels, playback controls, a functional menu and drawing tools.
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You load a video into the media container
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Then use the playback controls to adjust the timeline.
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And add play panels to the timeline that you draw on.
(there are no limit to the amount you can add)
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When you add a panel, it enables the canvas and drawing tools which you use to draw on the canvas.
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Ok, now you have a basic understanding of how the analyzer works. Let’s look at project files.
Project Files
Project files are data files that the analyzer uses to store information about your session.
When you save a project, the analyzer saves the video link, panel data and canvas layers.
(A single panel is just like a session planner slide that is positioned in a video frame)
So when you open a saved project, the analyzer:
- Loads the video into the media container
- Places play panels along the video timeline
- Draws layers you placed into each panel canvas
Additionally, project files contain data that only the video analyzer understands. So you cannot load them into any other application.
No matter what edition you are using, during your environment build we create 4 main work folders.
These are:
Project, Image, Session and Video, which the analyzer uses project, image and video.
1:The project work folder is where you save all your project files
2:The image work folder is where you export still images of your panels
3:The video work folder is used to load the videos from your catalog.
You can also create as many sub folders as you like, within your work folders.
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You should now have a basic understand of how the video analyzer works, so let's go ahead and create a project.
Creating a new project
You create an empty project workspace by clicking "File" on the top menu and select "new project".
You can call the project file anything you like, then hit "Create"
The first thing you need to do is insert a video into the analyzer, which you have 3 options.
- Import a video from 3rd part host
- Load video from local device
- Add a video from your video catalog
With this in mind, we'll add a video from our video catalog for this project.Important
Due to browser limitations, you cannot automatically attach a local file stored on your device when loading a project.
So when you are working with projects, you need to remember that in order to save the project without any issues. You need to use either your video catalog, or import a video from youtube.
Attaching a video from your local device is used more with the "chalk and talk" feature, which we'll discuss later in the tutorial.
Adding a video to the analyzer
1. Click the "load video from catalog" icon or click "video" on the top menu and select "Load Video"
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This will open a new window showing your video catalog
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2. Navigate to the video you want to use, and double click it or click it once and select "Load Video"
The video should now be added to the analyzer.
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You will see the video length on the bottom right hand corner of the media container.
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And the current playback position time to the right of the length time.
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Now we have a video to play with, let's go ahead and create our first play panel.Notice that you cannot draw on the video yet because we haven't created a play panel.
Creating play panels
To create a play panel, we first need to locate a position in the video where we want to draw over.
We do this by using the timeline slider here:
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1. Slide the control handle along the video to any position of interest
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2. Now add a new panel by clicking the "+" icon on the play panel table.
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A new panel item is created, along with a panel indicator on the timeline.
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Notice that the drawing tools are now enabled as well.
Whenever the timeline is on a panel indicator, the drawing tools will be enabled and the panel is highlighted.
3. Now let’s draw some lines and circles on the panel using the line and circle tools
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4. Once you have the layers on the panel canvas, drag the timeline slider to another position of interest.
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5. Click "Add Panel" icon to add another panel.Notice the drawing tools are disabled again, and no panels are highlighted. This is because the current timeline position is not on an existing panel.
Now draw on the panel again
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6. One more time, let’s move the timeline and add a panel. But don’t draw anything.
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7. This time draw on the panel using the freehand draw tool.
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We can also change the text note on the newly created panel.
8. Click the pen icon on the panel
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9. Type in "Test panel".
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Notice when you click off the panel name, it changes on the header.
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This happens whenever you select any panel.
That's it, you have successfully created some panels and drawn over the video.
Ok, now we've created some analyzer project data, let's flick between the panels and modify some layers.
Switching between panel
You can flick between panels easily by clicking the play panel on the panels table. Or by clicking the panel on the timeline.
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1. Click panel 1
Notice the video positions to panel 1 and shows the layers. Also notice that the timeline has repositioned.
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2. Click the "Selector" tool
3. Reposition a line on the active panel canvas.
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4. Now click panel 2 on the timeline.
Notice that the panel on the play panel table highlights as well.
Let’s now play the video from the start, and watch what happens.
Playing videos
When you play a video, the timeline slider moves along automatically.
And when the timeline reaches a panel indicator, the video stops and the panel is shown.
Looking at the playback controls, we have:
- Rewind
- Set Speed
- Play
- Step backward
- Step forward
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Rewind: sets the player position to the start of the video
Set Speed: brings up the playback speed slider so you can change the playback speed.
Play: Plays the video
Step back: Plays the video backwards in slow motion
Step forward: Plays the video forward in slow motion
1. Click "Rewind" to reset the video position
2. Now click "Play"
Notice that the video plays at normal speed until it reaches the first data panel and stops.
3. Now click "Play" again, and notice the video plays to the next "Play Panel" and stops.
4. Click the first panel, and then click play.
Notice that the analyser plays the video between panel 1 and panel 2.
Now let’s change the video playback speed.
5. Click "Set Speed" to bring up the speed slider.
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6. Drag the speed slider to the left so the speed is shows 0.5
7. Click "Play"
Notice the speed of the video is slower now.
You can adjust the speed slider when the video is playing as well.
You should now have a good understand of how to playback videos at different speeds, and play videos between panels.
Let's export one of the panels to an image and save it to our library.
Exporting frame to library
You can export any frame to your image library, no matter where the timeline position is and what panel is shown.
Let’s export a frame that shows one of our panels
1. Click panel 1 on the timeline
2. Click video on the top menu and select "Export frame" or hold SHIFT and press E on your keyboard.
The image exporter will now open, and render the current frame.
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When the image is shown, you can right click it and save it locally to your device, or save it to your image library on the cloud.
3. Click "Save to library"
Your image library should now be displayed on the screen.
4. Navigate to the folder where you want to save the exported image to.
For the purpose of this tutorial, I’m going to save the image to my tutorial folder.
5. Enter "Tutorial - video frame" in the save image input box and click "Save"
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A message will appear saying the image has been saved. Click "Ok" to close the message.
You can now load the saved image into the session planner or drop it onto your session plans.
You have successfully exported the video frame to your library.
Let's now save the video project.
Saving a project
Important:
When saving your project, you must add a video using either your video catalog, or imported from YouTube or Vimeo.
If you add a video from your local device, then a message will appear saying you need to upload the video to your video hub channel.
To save a project:
1. Click "File" on the top menu and select "Save Project As"
A window will appear showing your project folder
2. Navigate to where you want to save your project, or create a new folder now.
For the purpose of this demo, I am creating a new folder called "Tutorial Videos".
3. Now type in "Video Tutorial 1" in the save project name input box. And click "Save Project".
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The project will be saved and a message will appear. Click "ok".
Loading a project
When you load a project, the video analyser loads the video and play panels associated to the project.
To load a project:
1. Click "File" and select "Open Project"
This will bring up your project manager window
2. Navigate to the project file you want to open, then double click it or click it once and hit the "Open" button"
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The project will be loaded into the analyzer and you will be taken to the first play panel on the video.
You can use the playback controls as before, or switch to any panels you have created instantly.
You can also add additional panels if needed as well.
You should now have a good understanding on how the video analyser works.Important note:
We recommend using smaller videos that you have uploaded to your video channel for the best experience.
If you use a YouTube or Vimeo video in your project then please be aware that we have no control over the speed or how the video is presented, and the experience may potentially be degraded as a result.
There is one last thing I want to show you.
Which is the chalk and talk feature.
Chalk and Talk
The chalk and talk feature is used to draw ad-hoc over videos for quick analysis.
You can simply load a video from any location, including your own device. Then use the chalk and talk feature to enable drawing on the video.
When using this feature, we recommend using a local video as there is no limit to the size it can be.
You don't need to add any play panels for this mode. You simply draw over the video and clear the drawing. Or you can draw over the video while it is being played.
You can even record your session when chalk and talk is active to create quick video streams of your situations.
To use the chalk and talk feature:
1. Load a video from any location.
For this tutorial, I'm going to load a local video. Click the "load local video" button, or click "video" on the dropdown menu and select "Load Local Video"
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The local browse window now appears, where I can select any video by double clicking or clicking it once and select open..
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The video will load into the analyser.
2. Now click the "Chalk and Talk" button
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The drawing tools should now be enabled.
Notice that the chalk and talk button is white, which indicates that you are in chalk and talk mode.
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Now move the video slider to any location and notice that the drawing tools stay active.
You can draw anywhere over the video now.
To clear the canvas, simply click the "clear canvas" button
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And if you want to export a frame with the drawing you have in place, then just click "File" and select "Export Frame" as before.
Note:
You cannot export frames when YouTube videos have been used, due to YouTube security policies.
Finally, to come out of chalk and talk mode, simply click the "Chalk and talk" button again to deactivate.
That’s it, you should have a good starting point on how to get the most out of your video analyzer.
