11.12 Video dialog

This dialog can be used to configure options for the currently selected video object. Please note that video objects often use hardware accelerated playback which is why they are subject to some limitations: Video objects will always appear in front of all other objects because they are played using hardware overlay. Furthermore, it is not possible to apply layer effects like tint or transparency to video objects at the moment.

The following options can be configured in this dialog:

‘File’

Here you can specify the video file that shall be used by this video object. The video must be in the CDXL format or in any format that you have a plugin for.

‘Playback mode’

This radio widget allows you to set the playback mode for the currently active video object. "Asynchronous playback" means that the video will be started and then the project will continue immediately. "Synchronous playback" means that the project flow will be halted until the video object has finished playing. "No playback" means that the video will not be played at all. You can start playback later by using the corresponding action event.

‘Start time’

This slider widget can be used to specify a timestamp into the video where playback should start. The time is given in hh:mm:ss format. By default, this will be 00:00:00 which means that playback starts at the very beginning of the video stream.

‘Add control buttons to video’

Check this option if you would like to have control buttons (Play, Pause, Stop, Seek) below the video object. If you check this option, you will also be able to set the colors for the control buttons using the widgets below. Note that only non-layered videos can have control buttons (see below).

‘Add full screen button to control bar’

If the control bar has been enabled, this option can be used to add an additional button to the control bar that will switch between windowed and full screen mode.

‘Use software video renderer’

Checking this button will disable hardware-accelerated video playback. This is slower but more compatible. However, it should not be necessary to use this option under normal conditions.

‘Use anti-aliased scaling’

Tick this button to enable anti-aliased scaling in case the video size is changed. This is slower than non-interpolated scaling. Note that this option is only supported when using the software video renderer.

‘Remove video overlay after playback has finished’

If you check this option, the video overlay will be removed immediately after the video has finished playing. This is very useful because videos always appear at the front of the display. They cannot appear behind other layers! They will always appear at the front. Thus, it is useful to remove them after they have finished playing because then you can place other objects in their place. Tick this box to activate such a behaviour.

‘Use video layer (slower)’

If you activate this option, the video will be put on its own layer. This has the advantage that all of Hollywood Designer's layer features can also be used with the video, e.g. transition effects, object filters, transformation, shadow and border effects, and so on. Note, however, that layered videos are slower than non-layered ones so you should only activate this option if you really need it. Also note that layered videos cannot have control buttons (see above).

‘Automatically start/stop playback when layer is shown/hidden’

Starting with Hollywood Designer 6.0, video playback is no longer started/stopped automatically when a layered video is shown or hidden. Earlier versions, however, did so which is why this option was introduced as a compatibility mode. If you activate this option, Hollywood Designer will behave like it did before version 6.0. This option is automatically activated when loading projects created using Hollywood Designer versions older than 6.0.

‘Do not prioritize native video renderer’

For performance reasons, Hollywood Designer will try to use the OS's native video renderer for playback by default. If you don't want that, you can activate this option. Note that the OS's native video renderer will only ever be used for non-layered videos. Videos that have the "Use video layer" option set (see above), will always be played through Hollywood's inbuilt video renderer which is slower but offers more flexibility.

‘Colors’

These widgets allow you to configure the colors of the control bar buttons. They will only be enabled if "Add control buttons to video" is selected.

‘Reset colors’

This button will reset the control bar button colors to default values.