Video Paper Builder - Getting Started

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IMPORTANT NOTICE - There are several major issues with VideoPaper Builder. View our Known Issues page for descriptions of the issues and work-arounds.

There are three basic categories of files you will need to create your VideoPaper: video, image, and text. Place the versions you plan to use as content for your VideoPaper in one folder before creating a New VP. This will make it easier to track versions and to find the corect files on your hard drive. If after reading the following, you need more information on these types of data files, please read our Basics guides.

NOTE to adventurous authors: Files generated by VideoPaper Builder support the use of .swf files, animated .gif files, Java Applets, and other media types. For example, the Slide Show area may be used to showcase animations or interactive media as well as standard still images. See the User Guide for more information.

Video

By the time you are ready to use VideoPaper Builder, you should have a single movie file to work with. The VideoPaper Builder software runs using QuickTime, and installs the QuickTime Viewer automatically. VPB3 generally works best with QuickTime movie files (i.e., moviename.mov), but .avi, .mpg, or .swf files may also be imported. This movie file may include several video segments, and you may have added subtitles, transitions, section titles, and anything else you wish. This video should be compressed to as small a filesize (number of megabytes) as possible, in order for it to run smoothly on a wide variety of viewer's systems. It should be re-sized to fit in an area that is less than one fourth of the computer screen your VideoPaper will be displayed on. The VideoPaper Builder creates HTML framesets sized to accommodate your video; everything else (text, images, etc.) is allotted the remainder of space -- so size your video accordingly. Staying within a width of 360 pixels is generally appropriate.

NOTE: Make certain that the video you plan to use is saved as a self-contained file.

For more information about Video Files, including how to make them self-contained, see our Basics: Video page.

Image

Image files may be used both within the text and in the "Slide Show" section of the VideoPaper. Images inserted in particular sections of text will appear when the viewer chooses that text section from the navigation menu; images used as slides are attached to a particular moment of video and appear in the Slide Show frame when the associated segment of video is viewed. Again, image size is important; keeping your images approximately the same size as your video will help to prevent forcing your viewers to scroll to see the entire image. VideoPaper Builder can help prevent this by re-sizing your images to a particular default size (if you choose to do so.)

All image files should be saved in browser-compatible image formats (.jpg, .gif); however, if you are unable to convert your files to one of these formats, the VideoPaper Builder will also import .pct or .pict files.

For more information about Image Files, see our Basics: Images page.

Text

The text of a VideoPaper appears in sections, as many as you choose. Each of these sections is listed in the Navigational Menu; viewers are able to choose from this menu which pages to read and in which order. Therefore, before generating your VideoPaper, you will need to decide how to structure your paper and where to divide it into pages. Text content may be copied and pasted or typed directly into VPB's text editor. Authors may also wish to import files- these need to be in HTML format ( .htm or .html files.)

However you choose to enter your text, follow the tips below to make working in VideoPaper Builder easier:

Name each section file something short and descriptive; numbering sections in order is generally a good idea. (This is helpful when creating your Navigation Menu.)

Think about what segments of video you will want to be associated with each section or page of text. You may wish to add placeholders where video controllers will be added. For example, "To view Video Segment 3: Classroom Footage, click here:" or any type of indicator you prefer. From within the VideoPaper Builder, you will be able to add [play/stop] controller buttons which will link to chosen video segments.

If you plan to import HTML files: Each separate final text file must be saved with extention .htm or .html. If you are comfortable with HTML, you may wish to add embedded images, hyperlinks to online web addresses, or anchors to references and footnotes. These can also be added within VideoPaper Builder.

Note to MSWord users: If you plan to use the "Save as HTML" option, and have included footnotes in the text of your paper, do not use the "Insert Footnote" MSWord option. If you do so, all your footnotes will be lost upon saving to HTML. Instead, place your footnotes at the end of each section file, or have a separate page file for Endnotes.

For more information about Text Files, see our Basics: Text page.

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Last Update: 07/15/2005 Maintainer: VPB Webmaster (webmaster@concord.org)