The creation of multimedia content is possible through the Viewer in a working way called PC a
PC, connected in local mode.
A multimedia content is composed of three elements: a video with or without audio, a document and a graphic board, all three synchronized among them. In general, the idea is to create a professional presentation. The user watches a video where the instructor explains the different positions of the game as they appear on the board of the Viewer. The document contains not only the game and its variations, but it may also include diagrams, pictures, etc..
The Viewer can generate this type of content by recording the corresponding session of the instructor. A typical schedule is as follows:
The commentator enters the PC to PC modelocal connection.
Loads the game to be explained in PGN format, with all the variations needed. The rule is that during recording, you can not modify the contents of this PGN file, but it is certainly possible to show on the board another position not included in it.
Starts recording and starts demonstrating the game aloud, as you would before an audience. While you speak, a video camera, connected to the PC, records the session.
Moves through the game using the method that’s best for you, buttons or clicking with the mouse.
At any time, you use the multimedia elements (arrows, frames, etc.), knowing that what you do, will be included into the recording at that precise moment. When you make a new move, every multimedia annotation is deleted.
At any time you can move the pieces freely on the board as on a blackboard. All these transactions are recorded but in no way they modify the contents of the document. The behavior is similar to drawing illustrations, they are shown at that precise time in the video, but no actions are associated with the document. The general rule is that going to a different move or inside a variation branch, drops any previous illustration that is being currently shown on the board.
At the end of the recording, an HTML page is generated automatically, with the video and the game, both in sync with each other and with the board. When the user opens the HTML page just created, he will see the video playback and the actions on the board exactly as the instructor did.
Recording format.
When you press the record button you have access to a new window to set the technical characteristics of the recording:
You need to specify the sources, which means if the recording contains Audio, Video, both, or neither. The output format (for recording) and the manner in which the recording will be displayed to the user, need also be specified.
Regarding the recording format, the drop-down list "Profiles" shows the different profiles registered in the system. Depending on the physical devices for each PC, some of these profiles might not be valid. When you select one of them, you will receive a message informing you that it cannot be used.
On how to include the recording in the HTML page generated by the viewer, there are two possibilities:
Ventana: Makes the viewer open up a separate window when carrying out playback
Embebido: It is "embedded" in the page itself.
If you check the option "controls", the video player will display the traditional controls to start / stop recording, fast movement, volume, etc. It’s normal.
The option"Partida", when checked, will cause that at the end of the recording, a content of type "Partida
HTML" be generated, that’s to say, an HTML page with an embedded game.
Once the recording options have been set, the app will require the name of the file where the recording will be saved and after that, the recording controls will be shown to the right of the board. Also you will see a small preview window to check what is actually being captured from the video camera (if the recording includes video):
Likewise, the bottom line of the toolbar in PC to PC mode:
Changes to recording mode:
The recording does not start until you press the button At the time, the preview window closes (with some cameras it causes an overload of the system leading to bad recordings with audio problems or similar issues) and the clock starts.
Regarding the pause button , the same used to start recording, that changes it's appearance and funcionality afterwards, you have to be aware that some cameras do not admit that type of behaviour and when you press to pause, what really happens is that the recording comes to an end.
To create a multimedia content, it is not mandatory that it is based on a game, nor necessarily needs a PGN file. You can record content on the fly, as you speak or as you manually enter moves on the board, for example: to teach how to move the pieces.
You do not need a video camera connected to your PC neither. You can even use audio & video that was previously recorded to your actions on the board. You will need to put all parts together later in these cases The procedure is as follows:
When selecting the recording format, uncheck the audio & video selectors, which will instruct the application to record only the actions on the board and the clicks on the document. It will all be saved in a file with extension "vis".
Afterwards, the Viewer can generate a file in XML format, from that recording, using thebutton.
Finally, the XML file is incorporated into the video, which had been recorded by any means. That task is accomplished by a free Microsoft application, the Media File Editor, which is part of the pack "Encoder". This operation is very simple:
Using the File --> menu --> open, you load the video recording and then, using File --> Import File header, the XML file is merged
Probably the first thing we have to do is converting the recording from the video camera into the "Media File" format of Microsoft. This can be done with the Encoder application, mentioned above. This application converts usual video formats to "wmv".
Below is a snippet of an XML file generated by the viewer:
Each entry contains a "temporal mark" , which represents the specific action of the instructor.
To incorporate this sequence of marks to the video of the lecture, it is necessary that the time origin from the Xml file matches the video, ie, the time values contained in the Time parameters associated with each action times are counted from the beginning of the video. This would be the manual assembly process. The normal procedure is to crop the video recording, removing a fragment at the beginning, or make the operation described next.
To facilitate the manual sync, the viewer creates the XML file in two steps. First, the actions of the instructor are recorded in a file with vis extension, for instance: fichero.vis.It is a simple text file, here is one excerpt:
Then, to convert this file to XML, use the button
from the toolbar.
Before converting the vis
file, you can add, by any simple text editor (like Notepad),
a special line that during the process of converting to Xml, will insert a given delay for all the actions that will take place afterwards. For example, to delay all actions in 2.5 seconds (2500 milliseconds), at the beginning of the file the following line would be added:
00000000000000000000;>>#998:2500
The time value may be negative, in which case the actions will be performed before instead of after the mark.
Files.
For each new recording, the Viewer creates several files, all with the same name, as specified by the user, but with different extensions. For example, if you specify the name Corus, the following files will be generated:
corus.vis. A text file with the sequence of actions performed on the board by the instructor.
corus.wmv. The audio / video recording from the camera connected to your PC.
corus.txt. The Xml file obtained from corus.vis, used to synchronize the video with the actions on the board.
corus-m.wmv. The result of superimposing corus.txt on corus.wmv.
corus.htm. The web page with the game and links on each of the moves that are synchronized with board and the video. This page can be edited to include images, change styles, etc
The "content" is composed of only the files corus-m.wmv and corus.htm, the rest can be deleted after the recording.
Editing the recording.
The recording of a session can be published directly. However, it can be improved by editing the generated HTML page, or video, using specialized applications for editing Web pages or video.
Another task that can be done is merging several sessions. For example, you can record an introduction with video, then make explanations only in audio and finally present the conclusions in video.
The scheme of work, typical of a merging of content, is as follows:
Prepare each of the videos of each session, adjusting, if necessary, the beginning and end of the recordings, which can be done with the "Media File Editor" quoted above.
Extract the headers from these videos, with the "Media File Editor". The headers are XML schemas that contain the "marks" that synchronize the video with the board and the document viewer. These headers are necessary to incorporate again the marks to the video resulting from the merge. If you have not cut the videos, then you can use the txt files generated by the Viewer when recording the different sessions.
Merge the videos using the "Encoder", as follows:
Select the "Customize Session" Wizard.
Each of the video fragments is a "Source" and the "Source 1" is the first fragment to merge. Mark the option "File" (in the central area of the window) and then browse to locate the video file.
Press the "Add" button (located at the bottom left of the window). To add the "Source 2", mark the option "File" and look for the file.
Repeat the previous step to complete the files to merge.
For all the "Origins", except for the last, you must select the option labeled "Pasar al origen siguiente" from the dropdown list:
For the last origin, please select "Detener".
In the tab "Salida":
You need only mark the option "Codificar en archivo" and by using the "Examinar" button, specify the path and name of the file. Finally,
there is only one option left, pressing the button "Iniciar codificaci�n" from the main toolbar of the "Encoder".
The headers extracted from each video (or the headers generated automatically by the Viewer while recording the different sessions) are merged through the application "Fusi�n" (download here):
To add headers, use the "Add" button. This button opens the file browser to select a header file. If the selected header is in the same folder as your video file and and both keep the the naming convention cabecera = nombre.txt and video = nombre.wmv, then the box "Duration" is automatically checked. For other situations we must manually enter the duration in milliseconds.
Once you add all headers, in the correct order, press the button "Procesa", select the output file and the headers will be merged in it with the timing marks properly adapted.
The file with the merged headers is imported over the merged video with the "Media File Editor, as described previously
Multimedia content.
local connection.
in PGN format, with all the variations needed. The rule is that during recording, you can not modify the contents of this PGN file, but it is certainly possible to show on the board another position not included in it.
and starts demonstrating the game aloud, as you would before an audience. While you speak, a video camera, connected to the PC, records the session.
At the time, the preview window closes (with some cameras it causes an overload of the system leading to bad recordings with audio problems or similar issues) and the clock starts.
Regarding the pause button 
, the same used to start recording, that changes it's appearance and funcionality afterwards, you have to be aware that some cameras do not admit that type of behaviour and when you press to pause, what really happens is that the recording comes to an end.
button.
