VideoScribe v2

Core Tutorials
Training Manual
Contents

VideoScribe v2 Tutorial 1 – Creating your first scribe 05

This tutorial takes you through all the fundamentals of how to create your
first scribe and how to navigate around the key features of the software.

01 Getting started – Introduction to VideoScribe 06

Open a new project

02 Adding elements – Using library images and text 08

Add an image

Edit animate time

Add text

Reorder the events

03 Saving your project – Save and export options 13

Make a snapshot

Save locally Save online

Export scribe file Import

scribe file

04 Adding audio tracks – Voiceovers and soundtracks 16

Import a pre-recorded voiceover Record a

voiceover in VideoScribe Add a soundtrack

05 Publishing your scribe – Creating and sharing video files 19

Publish to social media

Publish to Powerpoint

Publish to file
VideoScribe v2 Tutorial 2 – Tuning your scribe 21

This tutorial takes a closer look at how you can fine-tune your scribes.

01 Moving around the canvas – Camera position and zoom 22

Move around the canvas

Set the camera

02 Importing images – Bringing your own images 25

Import an image

03 Adjusting scribe timings – Animate, pause and transition 27

View timings information

Adjust timings in properties

Adjust default settings

VideoScribe v2 Tutorial 3 – Enhancing your scribe 30

This tutorial looks at using a range of effects to enhance your scribe.

01 Using effects – Drawing effects and filters 31

Remove the final zoom

Search the image library

Use brush and colour effects

Change fonts

Adjust filter settings

Use copy and paste

Erase an element

02 Moving elements in – Move-in options 39

Change animate method

VideoScribe v2 Tutorial 4 – Bringing your scribe to life
41

This tutorial shows you how to use the morph animate method to create
various movement and transformation effects, as well as changing hands
and backgrounds.

01 Using morph effects – Moving and transforming images 42

Hide elements on the canvas

Make an image move

Make a longer morph sequence

Make an image rotate

Make an image expand outwards

Make an image transform

02 Changing hands – Hands and backgrounds 48

Choose a base hand

Use different hands

Change the background

Appendix A – Scribe timings 51

VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 1

Creating your
first scribe

This worksheet takes you through the

topics covered in VideoScribe v2 tutorial
1 – Creating your first scribe. This will
allow you to work through the tutorial
at your own pace and understand more
fully how to use and get the most out of
VideoScribe.

Go to video tutorial >>

VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 1 Creating your first scribe

01 Getting started
Introduction to VideoScribe Go to video tutorial >>

In this section of the tutorial we introduce the main screens in VideoScribe

and show you how to create a new project.

Open a new project

Once you have registered for a free trial

on the VideoScribe website, downloaded
and installed the software, you can launch
the application on your system:

01 At the Login screen, enter the

same email address and
password you used to register

02 Then click the Login button

This brings you to the Project screen where you will see all your locally saved
projects.

The first item in the list (with the + symbol) is used to Create a new scribe. The
second item in the list allows you to access your Online account (we’ll be looking
at this a bit later on). If you have made any folders, these will be displayed next.
After this, you will see all the local projects you have saved in your base folder.

6
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To sort your projects, use the Sort buttons in the lower left part of the screen.
If you have a large number of projects in the base folder, use the Page buttons
under the list of projects to view more projects.

03 Next click on the Create button to create a new project.

This takes you into the main Edit screen and a new blank project.

Along the top of the window you will see the Toolbar with various buttons. Along
the bottom you will see the Timeline, which is empty for now. The central Canvas
is your main workspace, it is part of a very large whiteboard canvas area, which
stretches out in all directions. You are only seeing a small portion of it here. As
you build your scribe project, you add elements to the canvas. You can move and
zoom to new areas of the canvas as you need to, and use different effects to build
an engaging, appealing video.

Toolbar

Canvas

Timeline
02 Adding elements
Using library images and text Go to video tutorial >>

In this section we show you how to add text and image elements into your
project, and how to position and manipulate them on the canvas.

Add an image

01 Click the Add image button on the left of the Toolbar

This will take you to the Add image

screen. Type keywords into the Search
field at the top to find images, browse
the image library folders with the
Library button or look through your
Recently used images.

You can also import your own images

using the Browse and Web options at
the bottom.

The SVGStudio.com link takes you to

SVG Studio where you will find
thousands of high quality images
specifically created for VideoScribe by
professional artists.

02 Click on the Library button to view and browse the library folders

VideoScribe comes with hundreds of

original images for you to use, so you
can get started straight away. The
images are organised into folders, for
example ‘Arrows’ or ‘Business’. Some of
these folders are only available if you
are online (as indicated), but the base
set will always be there.

It’s worth taking the time to explore the

images provided. You can preview any
of the images by right-clicking (CTRL +
click on a Mac) and selecting Preview
image.
 Note: if you select an image by mistake and it appears the canvas, use the delete
key (Backspace on a Mac) to remove it.

03 Go into the People folder and choose an image

04 Click on the image to bring it onto the canvas

05 Reposition and resize the image

as you like

To move elements around the canvas,

simply click and drag them around.

To resize elements click and drag the

tabs in the corners.

To rotate them just click and hold on

the icon in the centre of the element.

Tip: If you make a mistake when moving, rotating or resizing an

element, use Ctrl-Z (cmd-Z on Mac) to undo the previous steps.

Edit animate time

Now that you have added your first

element onto the canvas, you will see
it appear as an event in the timeline. It
displays as a thumbnail of the image on
the left and, when highlighted, you will
see that it is a Draw event. This means
that VideoScribe will use the default
Draw animate method to introduce this
element onto the canvas.

Underneath this you will see the Animate time for this element. This time (in
seconds) is the length of time it will take for VideoScribe to draw this image. You
can adjust this using the + and – buttons.

01 Next click on the Properties button

 This opens the Image properties screen. We will cover a lot of these options in
later tutorials – for example, the different Animate methods, Brush effects, Colour
effects, Filters and Hands. Try out using the Flip and Rotate controls to adjust
your image and feel free to look at some of the other options now. You can use
the Preview area to see the effect of any changes you make. Below this you will
see the various time settings, for now we will focus on the Animate time. This is
the same time control that we have already seen on the timeline.

02 Change the Animate time to 3.5

seconds (you can do this either
using the + and – buttons or by
clicking on the time itself and
entering a new value)

03 Click the tick button to accept

your changes

Add text

01 Next click the Add text button in the Toolbar

02 Type in your first text message

(we used ‘Need help?’)

03 Click the Colour pallet

button

04 Select a colour you like and click

the tick button

05 Use the + and – buttons to

choose a font and click the tick
button to accept these changes.

06 Resize and reposition this new text element on the canvas as before

07 Select this element in the Timeline to adjust the Animate time

08 Next add another text element using the same steps as above (we used the
text ‘IT systems playing up?’)
09 Resize and reposition this text element so you are happy with it

10 Select this final element in the Timeline and click on the Properties
button to go into the Text properties screen

Again, we will be looking at more of these options later on in this tutorial series,
but you can experiment with some of them now if you want.

11 Click the Alignment button to centre this text

12 Change the Animate time to around 3 seconds

13 Click on the tick button to accept these changes

These three elements now make up your first scene. Continue adjusting these
items on the canvas until you are happy with how they are positioned. Remember,
you can either select the items on the Canvas or in the Timeline.
Reorder the events

The Timeline dictates the order in which the elements will be introduced. To
change this order you can select an element and then drag it along the Timeline
to a new position. Alternatively, if you right-click (CTRL + click on a Mac) the
element in the Timeline you will see various move options.

01 When you are happy with this first scene, select the Play button in
the top right

VideoScribe will preview your project so far. Notice how the camera zooms in on
each item as it is being drawn. Each element has its own camera position which is
set to zoom in on that item by default. We will be looking at how you can change
the camera position for each element in the tutorial 2 worksheet.

12
03 Saving your project
Save and export options Go to video tutorial >>

In this section we will demonstrate how to save your projects locally and online. We will
also show you how to import and export .scribe files. The first thing we’ll look at is how to
take a snapshot of your project.

Make a snapshot

01 Click on the Save button to open the Save scribe screen

02 Next click the Snapshot

button at the bottom of
the screen

03 Once you have selected the

destination folder and typed in a
file name, click Save

This takes a snapshot of your project

and saves it as a PDF file in the location
you specified.

Save locally

Next we will save the project locally.

01 Go back into the Save scribe screen and type in a Scribe name (we used
‘Help IT 1’)

02 You can use the + and – keys to choose a folder (if you created any
already), but we want to click on the Add folder button to create a
new folder

03 Type in a name for the new folder (we used ‘Help IT’) and click on the tick
button

13
 04 Next, in the Save scribe screen, click on the tick button to save the project
locally

05 Click on the Exit button in the top left of the Edit screen to exit your scribe

Back on the Project screen you will now see your new folder listed.

Save online

Next we’re going to show you how you can save your project online.

01 Open your new folder and select your project

02 In the Open scribe screen click on the Cloud button to copy the
project to your online account

Note: This screen looks very similar to the Save scribe screen

03 Next you will see a message confirming your scribe has been saved online,
click the tick button

04 To view your online scribes click on your Online account button (next to the
Create button)

This takes you to your Online account where you will see all your online scribes.
You can save as many scribes as you want online and this is a good way to
backup your projects. You will also be able to access them from any other device
running VideoScribe, e.g. another desktop, or the iPad app.

Export scribe file

Next we’ll look at how you can export your projects to a .scribe file.

01 Click the Back button to return to your local Project screen

02 Go back into your new folder and select your project again, and this
time click on the Export button

14
 03 Select a destination folder, we can keep the file name as it is, and click Save

This creates an external .scribe file which you can, for example, copy to a
memory stick or attach to an email. This is a useful way of sending your project to
someone, or simply creating a backup file.

Import scribe file

Next we’re going to import this file so we can continue working on it (obviously
we don’t need to do this as we already have the project saved locally and online,
but we just wanted to show you how you could do this).

01 Click on the Import button, select the file and click Open

02 Next we need to save this newly imported project locally, so click on the
Save button again

03 You can accept the current name if you like, or you can amend it (we used
‘Help IT 2’)

04 Select the same folder you created earlier (‘Help IT’) and click the tick
button

Tip: If you ever need to save a new version of your project, without
overwriting the original, you can do this simply by going into the
Save scribe screen and changing the Scribe name before saving
locally or online.

15
04 Adding audio tracks
Voiceovers and soundtracks Go to video tutorial >>

In this section we will cover how you can add music and voiceover tracks to
your project.

Tip: There are two ways to approach combining a scribe with a

voiceover – you can either import your voiceover first and then
build your scribe to follow, or you can record your voiceover
once you have already created your scribe. We recommend
recording the voiceover first as it’s easier to fit the timings to your
voiceover than vice versa.

Import a pre-recorded voiceover

01 First click on the Voiceover button

This brings you to the Voiceover

screen. You can import your own
voiceover track using the Browse
or Web buttons. This can be pre-
recorded using audio editing tools such
as Audacity. Remember you’ll need to
save the track as an .mp3 file to use it
with VideoScribe.

Record a voiceover in VideoScribe

The second method involves recording your voiceover using VideoScribe while
viewing your scribe project.

01 Click Record to go to the Record voiceover screen

Here you have the options to select the recording device and chose to Show
scribe on record.

16
 02 Click on the Microphone button to record a test voiceover while you watch
your scribe playing

03 When you have finished recording, click the tick button

The new voiceover track will be saved in your project. You can click on the Play
button to preview your scribe with the added voiceover if you like. To remove
the track –

04 Go back into the Voiceover screen

You will see the new voiceover track featured. This is where you would adjust the
volume of you voiceover.

05 Click the Delete button and then the tick button to remove
the voiceover

Add a soundtrack

Next we will look at how you add a soundtrack to your project.

01 Click on the Soundtrack button

This brings up the Browse music screen. As with voiceovers, you can import your
own soundtrack (.mp3) file using the Browse or Web buttons on this screen.

Alternatively you can choose a track from the library. These tracks are categorised
by their tempo. One dot indicates that it is calm, four indicates a very heavy track.

You can use the Page buttons at the bottom to scroll through the track library,
and the + and – buttons in the bottom left to change the Sort order. Feel free to
preview some of these soundtracks by clicking the Play buttons.

17
02 Once you have found a track you like you can click on it to select it (we
used ‘Jazzla’)

You also have the option to Loop the track here and adjust the Volume if you need to.

03 Click the tick button to save these soundtrack options

04 Next click the Play button to preview your scribe with the soundtrack

18
05 Publishing your scribe
Creating and sharing video files Go to video tutorial >>

In this section we will show you how to create a video file so you can share
your scribe and how to publish your project directly to YouTube, Facebook
or PowerPoint.

Publish to social media

01 First click on the Publish button

This brings you to the Publish your

video screen. To publish directly to
your YouTube or Facebook account,
simply click the YouTube or Facebook
buttons. The process is very straight
forward but you need to input your
YouTube/ Facebook account details.

Publish to PowerPoint

We will now look at how you can produce a PowerPoint presentation featuring
your scribe.

01 First click on the Powerpoint button

VideoScribe will process your scribe then automatically place it into a PowerPoint
presentation slide for you.

02 When the process has finished you will need to choose a destination folder
and file name for the presentation and then click Save

If you now look in the location you specified you will see the PowerPoint file
which you can open to view the video slide. You can easily incorporate this slide
into an existing or new presentation.
Publish to file

Now we will look at how you can create a video file in various formats.

01 Go back into the Publish your video screen in VideoScribe and click
on the Create video file button

This opens the Create video file screen where you can set the format and size of
your video.

02 Select the Format option you

want (we chose Quicktime MOV)

The options you have are Windows

WMV, Quicktime MOV, Screen FLV
and Image Sequence (PNG or JPG).
Image Sequences are useful if you are
planning to do some further editing on
your video using software like Adobe
Premiere.

03 Select the Size you want (we

chose 360 Web/Mobile, but you can use 640 Normal, 720 Standard HD or
1080 Full HD)

04 Leave the video file name the same as your project name, then click on a
folder name if you want to choose a specific folder location for your video
file

05 When you are happy with the video file settings click on the tick button

VideoScribe will create your video file using these settings and you will get a
notification message when it is complete.

06 Click the tick on the Video created screen

07 Lastly you will need to Save your project again and then Exit your project

Please keep this project so that you can use it for tutorial 2. We will be taking
you through how to tune your scribe by setting camera positions, adjusting
the timings and importing your own images.
VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 2

Tuning
your scribe

This worksheet takes you through the

topics covered in VideoScribe v2 tutorial
2 –Tuning your scribe. This will allow you
to work through the tutorial at your own
pace and understand more fully how to
use and get the most out of VideoScribe.

Go to video tutorial >>

VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 2 Tuning your scribe

01 Moving around the canvas

Camera position and zoom Go to video tutorial >>

In the first section of this tutorial we will show you how to move and zoom around
the canvas and also how to set the camera position for each element.

01 Open the project we were working on in the previous tutorial (we called it
‘Help IT 2’ and we saved in a folder called ‘Help IT’)

If you don’t have this project you can download the .scribe file provided for this
tutorial here, and import it as described in the first tutorial. Remember to save the
project locally once you’ve imported it

02 With the project open, click the Play button to preview the scribe
so far

As VideoScribe draws each of the items, the camera will zoom in towards the
element on the canvas. This is the default camera position for new elements.
We’re going to show you how you can set the camera position for individual or
groups of elements so that you can create different scenes in your project. But
first we need to look at how you can move around the canvas and zoom in and
out.

Move around the canvas

You can move around the canvas by clicking anywhere on a blank area of canvas
and then dragging it to a new position. You can do this to position the canvas for
your current scene, and also to move to new areas to start new scenes.

We’re also going to be using the Zoom

and Move canvas buttons in the
bottom left corner of the canvas.

01 Try moving the canvas around by clicking and dragging it

02 Use the Fit all button to bring all your elements back into view

03 Next try using the Zoom buttons (+ and –) to zoom right out and then
zoom right in

22
 04 Click the Fit all button again

Tip: If you have an element selected when you zoom, this item will be
centred. Also, if you hover your mouse over the canvas area you can
use the scroll-wheel to zoom.

We recommend you don’t zoom in or out too far in your scribes. A range from
around 10% up to 1000% should be more than enough. When you need more
space to develop your scribe you should move to a new area of the canvas rather
than zooming.

You can also use the Move canvas buttons to move the
canvas left, up, down and right. These are very useful if you
want to make sure you transition between scenes in straight
vertical/horizontal lines. Once you’ve finished trying out these options use the Fit
all button and then adjust the screen positioning if necessary so that it is how you
want your first scene to be drawn.

Set the camera

01 Now select one of the elements (either on the canvas or in the

Timeline) and click on the Set camera button in the bottom right
corner of the screen

This sets the current screen view as the camera position for this element.
You can use the Clear camera button if you need to cancel the camera
position for an element.

02 Select all the elements, either by holding down the Ctrl (cmd on mac) key
and selecting them individually or Ctrl-A (cmd-A on Mac) to select them all
at once

03 Click Set camera again to set the same camera position for all these elements

04 Click the Play button to preview these changes

This time you will see that the camera stays in the same position while
VideoScribe draws these three elements.

Tip: If you ever need to return to the camera position for one of these
(or any future) elements, select the element and then click on its
thumbnail in the Timeline.
Next we need to move to a new area of the canvas so we can start creating
our second scene.

05 Start by making sure you are exactly on the camera position for the first scene
by selecting one of the first elements and then clicking on its thumbnail

06 Next use the Move canvas up button to push the canvas directly upwards until
you have a new blank screen area
02 Importing images
Bringing in your own images Go to video tutorial >>

In this next section we will look at importing your own images and using them in
your scribe projects.

VideoScribe supports JPG, PNG and SVG images, but we recommend SVG (Scalable
Vector Graphics) images as they contain information that lets VideoScribe know how
to draw them.

For this part of the worksheet you will need to download the Help IT image
files provided for this tutorial here.

Import an image

01 Click on the Add image button and then the Browse button

02 Navigate to the folder where you downloaded the Help IT image files

03 Click on the JPG image, helpit_logo_jpg and select Open

This brings you to the Convert to line drawing screen where you will see several
options. These are different ways that VideoScribe can animate the image, for
example the second option will detect the edges within the image and add the
appropriate line drawing information. We will be looking at these in more detail in
a later tutorial, but for now we will use the reveal option.

04 Select the fifth (bottom middle) option

05 With this image selected and the screen still in our new position, click the
Set camera button

06 In the Timeline, adjust the Animate time for this image to around 2 seconds

07 Now you can make this image smaller and position it in the top left part of
the canvas
08 Also, make sure this image is the last item in the Timeline. If it isn’t, just drag
it into place or right-click (CTRL + click on a Mac) and select Move to end

09 To preview how VideoScribe will draw this image, click the Play
from here button on the item in the Timeline

Notice how VideoScribe uses a reveal effect to draw this image. Next we’re going
to replace this image with an SVG image.

10 Go into Image properties and select Replace image

11 Click the Browse button again and now select the SVG image, helpit_logo_
svg and click Open

12 Still in the Image properties screen, click the Play button in the preview area
so you can see how this SVG image is drawn

This shows you the sort of drawing style you can achieve when you create SVGs
(or when you convert JPG/PNG images to SVGs). To learn how to do this yourself
we recommend you look at our tutorial, Creating your own SVGs.

13 Now click the tick button to accept this change

03 Adjusting scribe timings
Animate, pause and transition Go to video tutorial >>

In this next section of the tutorial we will explain how you can adjust the various
time settings for each element.

View timings information

First of all we’ll look at the timing information provided in the Timeline.

01 Select the first element in the Timeline

On the left and right side of the

element you will see the Start and
End time. This tells you exactly when
this element will start in the Timeline,
and when it will end. As this is the first
element you will see that the Start time
is 0.

Adjust timings in properties

01 Click on Image properties for this first element

Towards the bottom of this screen you will see the Time settings. There are three
different time settings. We have already come across the first of these, the
Animate time. This is how long VideoScribe will take to animate – in this case draw
– the item. Remember, this is also the time we can see and adjust in the Timeline.

Next you will see the Pause time.

This is how long VideoScribe will
pause (without moving the camera)
after it has finished animating this
item. By default this will be half a
second, but you can increase it or
reduce it to zero if you want.
And lastly there is the Transition time. This is the time VideoScribe will take to
transition (move) to the next element. If there is no movement between elements
then this is effectively an extra pause. However, if you are moving from one
camera position to another, it will be the time it takes for this move to complete.
So this might be moving from one scene to the next, zooming in or out, or any
camera movement used in your scribe.

Directly underneath these time settings you will see the Start and End times again,
and the Total time for this element.

You can adjust all of the time settings in half second steps using the + and –
buttons, or you can click on them and enter a new value.

Tip: It is worth noting that you can enter time values to the nearest
tenth of a second. This can be very useful when fine-tuning your scribe
to match the timing of your voiceover and/or soundtrack.

Note: at the end of the fourth tutorial we will give you all the timings to make
your completed scribe fit with the Jazzla track we have chosen.

02 For the first element, leave the Pause time as it is and change the Transition
time to 0

03 Save these changes by clicking the tick button

04 Select the second element and go into Text properties

05 Once more, leave the Pause time and change the Transition time to 0

06 Now go into the Text properties for the third element

07 For this element increase the Pause to 2.5 seconds and increase the
Transition to 3 seconds

We have reduced the pauses between the elements in our first scene, but we
have increased the pause and the transition at the end of this scene (after the
third element).

08 Click the Play button

Notice now that there is a longer pause at the end of the first scene, and that it
takes longer to transition down to our second scene.
Adjust default settings

The last thing we want to show you in this tutorial is how to adjust the default
time settings.

01 First make sure you Save your project

02 Next Exit back to the Project screen

03 Click on the Settings button in the bottom right of the screen

This opens the Defaults screen where

you can adjust the system defaults.
The Auto-save timing option tells
VideoScribe how often you want to
auto-save your project. Setting this to
zero will turn this feature off.

Next you will see that you can adjust

the Default transition time and Default
pause time here if you need to.

You can also change the Default max

draw time. When you add an image or
text to the canvas VideoScribe will give the element an initial draw time based on
its size which you can then adjust for each item. The default is 30 seconds, but
you can reduce this. Note: in the video tutorial we reduced this to 2 seconds to
save some time.

Lastly, you can also adjust the Default image quality here.

03 Click on the tick button to save and exit this screen

As before, please keep this project so that you can use it for tutorial 3. We will
be showing you how to enhance your scribe using the Move-in animate method
as well as a number of other effects and filters.
VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 3

Enhancing
your scribe

This worksheet takes you through the

topics covered in VideoScribe v2 tutorial
3 – Enhancing your scribe. This will
allow you to work through the tutorial
at your own pace and understand more
fully how to use and get the most out of
VideoScribe.

Go to video tutorial >>

VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 3 Enhancing your scribe

01 Using effects
Drawing effects and filters Go to video tutorial >>

In this section of the tutorial we look at different drawing effects and filters you
can use with VideoScribe. First of all we are going to preview the project so far.

01 Open the project we were working on in the previous tutorials (we called it
‘Help IT 2’ and we saved in a folder called ‘Help IT’)
If you don’t have this project you can download the .scribe file provided for this
tutorial here and import it as described in the first tutorial. Don’t forget to save the
project locally once you’ve imported it.

02 With the project open, click the Play button to preview the scribe
so far

Remove the final zoom

At the end of the preview, notice that VideoScribe automatically zooms out to
show all your elements. This happens by default when you preview and also when
you create a video of your scribe. You can turn this option off while in preview
mode so that your scribe video ends on the last camera position you set.

01 Click the Play button again to go back into preview mode and this
time select the Pause button

02 Uncheck the Zoom at end option in the bottom right

Notice that you can also use the Skip buttons while in preview mode
to skip to the next or previous element.

03 Press the Stop button

31
Search the image library

Next we are going to add a few more items to this second scene and look at
some of the effects you can use. First we will use the Search option to search the
image library and find an image to use.

01 Make sure you are at the correct position on the canvas for your second
scene by selecting the Help IT logo image and then clicking the thumbnail
in the Timeline

02 Select Add image

03 Type a keyword search into the Search field at the top of the Add
image screen (we used ‘mug’) and then either press return or click on
the arrow button

VideoScribe will return all the images in the library with that keyword.

Tip: We recommend using keyword search rather than browsing the

library folders as this will find all the related images from across the
full library. Also, if no images are found related to your search term
you will be presented with options to search online resources for
suitable images.

04 Select the image you want to use (we used the yellow mug image)

05 With the canvas still in the correct position, click Set camera for this new image

06 Resize the image and position it where you want it (we made it smaller and
put it in the top right corner)

07 And now click Image properties for this element

08 Try out the different Brush effects

Use brush and colour effects

The Brush option gives the image a

paint brush effect, while Serrated,
Stitch (sew) and Zip change the line
style and also use different drawing
‘hands’. You can also make the image
partially or totally transparent using the
% Solid option.

01 Press Play in the preview area to see the results of your changes

02 Click on the tick button when you have finished looking at these options

03 Next click on Add image again and Search for another image (this time we
used ‘Superman’)

04 Select the image you want to bring onto the canvas (we chose the standing
Superman image)

05 Set the camera to the same position for this element

06 Resize this image and position it where you want it (we made it a bit smaller
and put it under the logo)

07 Go into the Image properties for this image

08 Now try out the different Colour effects

You have the options to make the image Full colour, Outline, Greyscale or
Silhouette. With the Outline and Silhouette effects you can also change the line/
fill colour by clicking on the coloured square in the bottom right corner of the
preview pane.

09 Press Play in the preview area at any time to see the results of your changes

10 Click on the tick button when you have finished looking at these options
Change fonts

Next we are going to look at how you can import fonts.

Tip: Before adding each new element, it’s a good idea to select the
point in the Timeline where you want the new element to appear (it will
be inserted after the selected element).

01 We want to add a text element just after the mug image, so first select this
item in the Timeline

02 Then click the Add text button and type in some text (we used ‘Relax!’ here)

03 Still in the Add text screen, click on the Fonts button

This brings up the Available fonts screen. The highlighted fonts at the top are
the ones that are currently available in VideoScribe. Under this you will see your
system fonts that VideoScribe can import if you need them. To import a font
simply select it and it will import automatically.

It’s important to make sure you have the correct permissions to use a font,
especially if you plan to make a scribe for commercial purposes. You can delete
fonts you have imported using the Delete button. To re-import a font simply click
on it again.
 04 Once you have finished in the Available fonts screen click the tick button

05 Use the + and – buttons here to select the font you want to use

06 Next click on the colour palette button

As well as selecting colours from the colour pallet, you can also enter a Hex code
into the field at the bottom.

Tip: Hex codes are used to identify specific colours and are useful when
you need to match particular colours, e.g. your company brand colours.

07 Type in a hex code (we used ‘2BB673’ to match our Help IT logo colour) and
click the tick button

08 Click on the tick again to add this new text

This new text will now be placed on the canvas, and in the Timeline it should
appear in between the mug and the superman items.

Tip: Each time you add a new element, remember to set the camera.
If you want an element to have the exact same camera position as a
previous item, it’s a good idea to check the canvas hasn’t shifted. You
can do this by selecting the existing item and clicking on its thumbnail
in the Timeline. This will prevent unwanted screen movements.

09 Set the camera for this new element, resize and position as required (we
placed this text just to the left of the mug)

Adjust filter settings

Next we are going to look at how you can use filters. These can be applied to
both images and text, but we will be working with text elements in this case.

01 Go into Text properties for this item and click the Filters button
 This takes you to the Filters screen.
Here you can enhance your text (or
image) using Blur and Glow effects.
You can also adjust the Brightness,
Contrast and Saturation.

Underneath these options you can

also turn on and customise the Drop
shadow, Inner shadow and Bevel
effects.

Feel free to try out some of these options. As you make changes to these filter
settings you can view the effects in the preview area in the top left part of the
screen.

02 Once you are happy with the filter effects you have created, click on the tick
to save your settings

03 Back in the Text properties screen, check the option to Draw backwards

Tip: The draw backwards option is useful if you are using a language
that writes from right-to-left (we are just using it for effect).

04 Click Play in the preview area if you want to see how this text will be drawn

05 Then click the tick to save these options

Tip: If you want additional text to have the same effects and settings, or
be the same size as existing text then it is a good idea to use the Copy
and Paste buttons.

Use copy and paste

01 With the text element still selected click on Copy and then
Paste in the bottom right corner of the Edit screen

You will now have a replica of the original text item with all the same formatting
(and camera position). This new element will appear just after the original one in
the Timeline. You can now move and edit the new text element.

02 Move this new text element to a new position

VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 3 Enhancing your scribe

03 Go into Text properties and select the Replace text option

04 Here you can overwrite the existing text with your new message (we used
‘Let us take IT off your hands’)

05 Click on the tick when you have finished

06 Back in the Text properties screen uncheck the Draw backwards option so
that the text will be written left-to-right

07 You can centre the text using the Alignment button

08 Next increase the Animate time to around 2.5 seconds and also increase the
Pause time to 1.5 seconds

09 Click on the tick when you have finished

10 Now you will need to move this item to the end of the Timeline as we want
it to appear after the Superman image. Either click and drag it across, or
right-click (CTRL + click on a Mac) and select Move to end.

Tip: When copying (or cutting) and pasting in future we recommend

you select the point in the Timeline where you want the new item(s) to
appear before you click Paste. The pasted items will appear just after
the selected element in the Timeline.

We will be back to add some extra animations here in the next tutorial, but for
now we will start work on our third and final scene.

Erase an element

Instead of moving to a new area of the canvas, we will move back to re-visit our
first scene and show you how you can overlay and change it.

01 Move the canvas back up to the first area. You can do this by selecting the
first item in the Timeline and then clicking on the thumbnail

02 Next select the last item in the Timeline so that when we add a new element
it will be placed after this

First we want to make the text in this scene disappear. To do this we are going to
place another element on top of it. 37
03 Go into the Add image screen and search for the keyword ‘Scribble’

04 One of the items returned will be a blank image – click this

Tip: The Scribble out image is very useful for overlaying and hiding
existing elements. This can be used to make items vanish instantly, or
you can use it to produce an erasing effect.

05 Set the camera for this item

06 Position the blank image over the top of the text and resize it so it covers it
completely

To make it look like the items underneath simply disappear, you need to change
the Animate time for the Scribble out image to 0.

07 Try this out and then click Play from here to see what it looks like

08 Now change the Animate time to around 2 seconds and click Play from
here again

This time you will see it gives an erasing effect. In tutorial 4 we show you how
to change the drawing hand in your scribe – there is a hand with an eraser
specifically for use with this effect.

Now that we’ve created this new blank area we can bring a new image into
this space.

09 Go into Add image and find an image of a hand holding a business card
(you can either search for the keyword ‘card’ or look in the ‘Business’
library folder)

10 Bring the image onto the canvas and set the camera

11 Resize and position this image where you want it

This might be a good time to save your work.

38
02 Moving elements in
Move-in options Go to video tutorial >>

In this section of the tutorial we will show you how to use the move-in animate
method. By default each element will be drawn on the canvas by a hand. Move-
in
is an alternative effect where, instead of the hand drawing the item, you can have a
hand slide it into position.

Change animate method

We will use this method to move in the logo image then the business
card image.

Tip: Move-in is a good alternative to draw if you have JPG or PNG

images that won’t draw particularly well. Swapping between the two
will provide a bit of variety.

01 First select the logo image in the Timeline and click on the thumbnail to
move the canvas

02 Then go into Image properties for this item

Here, at the top of the Image properties screen, you will see that the Animate
method is currently set to Draw.

03 Select the Move-in tab

You will now see the Move-in options.

On the left you can select the edge or
corner you want the item to move in
from. By clicking on the line symbol
you can choose to bring in the element
in a straight or curved line.

On the right of this you can use the +

and – buttons to change the effect from Smooth in to Go too far or Bounce in.

04 Choose your preferred settings (we chose an upwards arc from the bottom
right corner with a Bounce in effect)
05 Press Play in the preview area to see the effect of any changes you make

06 Change the Animate time to around 1 second and then click on the tick

Now the Animate time represents how long VideoScribe will take to move the
element into position on the canvas.

If you look at this item in the Timeline

you will see it is now shown as a
Move event. This indicates that this
element will now be introduced using
the move-in animate method.

07 Click on the business card image in the Timeline and again on the thumbnail
to move the canvas view

08 Go into Image properties and again select the Move-in tab

09 This time set the image to come in from the right hand edge and leave the
other move-in options as they are

10 Click the tick button when you are finished editing this item

If you preview this last move-in you will see that, as with the logo, VideoScribe
will use a hand to move the item in. In this case it doesn’t make much sense
using a hand to bring in a hand, so we will be showing you how to change
hands in tutorial 4.

Make sure you save your project so that you can use it for the final tutorial. We
will be looking at using different hands as well as the Morph feature to really
bring your scribe to life.
VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 4

Bringing your
scribe to life

This worksheet takes you through the

topics covered in VideoScribe v2 tutorial
4 – Bringing your scribe to life. This will
allow you to work through the tutorial
at your own pace and understand more
fully how to use and get the most out of
VideoScribe.

Go to video tutorial >>

VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 4 Bringing your scribe to life

01 Using morph effects

Moving and transforming images Go to video tutorial >>

In this section of the tutorial we show you how you can make your image move
and transform using the morph animate method.

01 Open the project we were working on in the previous tutorials (we called it
‘Help IT 2’ and saved in a folder called ‘Help IT’)

If you don’t have this project you can download the .scribe file provided for this
tutorial here, and import it as described in the first tutorial. Remember to save the
project locally once you’ve imported it.

To morph you need both an initial image and a second image, so that VideoScribe
can morph the lines from one to the other. The second image could be a copy
of the first one, in which case you can create a range of movement effects. Or it
could be a different image, in which case you get more of a transformation effect.

We are going to start off by looking at at ways we can animate the mug and the
superman images in the second scene in our project.

02 Select the mug item in the Timeline and click on the thumbnail to move the
canvas to this scene.

Tip: When you have lots of overlapping items on the screen it is useful
to be able to temporarily hide some of the elements on the canvas while
you are editing other items. You can do this using the Hide button
which you will see on the thumbnail for each element in the Timeline.

Hide elements on the canvas

We want to hide the two text elements in this scene so we have space to
experiment with morphing a little.

01 Select the first text item and click on the Hide button on the
thumbnail

02 Repeat this for the second text element in this scene

42
 Notice that the elements are only hidden on the canvas – you can still see
them in the Timeline. Also the icons have changed to a closed eye symbol
to indicate that they are now hidden. Clicking on this button will reveal the
items again.

Tip: You can click on the Reveal all button in the bottom right
corner of the Edit screen to show all the hidden elements.

Make an image move

First we are going to look at how you can make the mug image move around
the canvas.

01 Select the mug and click Copy and Paste so we have two versions of the mug

02 Move the second one across the screen to a new position

03 Now select the first mug again and go into Image properties

We still want the first mug to be drawn, but we want it in outline mode as
morphing only works with the lines.

04 Change the Colour effect to Outline

05 Reduce the Pause and Transition times to zero

06 Now go into Image properties for the second mug and change the
Animate method to Morph

You will now see the Morph options

which tell VideoScribe which image
to Morph from. The images that are
showing are the ones that are already
in the Timeline up to this point –
you can’t morph from an item that
isn’t there yet. You also have the Clear item option. If this is checked then the
original item will be removed when the morph occurs.

07 Select the first mug from the list under Morph from

08 Leave the Clear item box checked

 The Animate time on this screen now represents the time it will take for the item
to morph, or in this case to move across the screen.

09 Change the Animate time to 1 second

10 You can preview this effect by selecting the first mug in the Timeline
and clicking Play from here

11 Press the Stop button to exit the preview screen

You can easily create more complex movement effects by simply chaining
together a sequence of individual morph moves. We’re going to experiment a
little more with this now.

Make a longer morph sequence

01 First select the second mug and copy and paste it again

02 Move this third mug to a new location (we chose to move it out of the
current camera view area)

Tip: It’s worth remembering that you don’t have to have all your
elements appearing within the set camera position. It can sometimes
be useful to introduce an element onto the canvas outside the current
camera view, e.g. so that it’s already there when you subsequently move
to a new scene.

Also, one useful way of repositioning items on the canvas is to select

them and then use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move them.
(You could use this now to move the third mug out of the screen view.)

03 Next go into Image properties for the second (middle) mug and change the
Colour effect to Outline and reduce the Pause and Transition times to zero

04 And then you will need to go into Image properties for the third (last) mug
and change the Morph from option to the second mug (this will be the last
item in the Morph from list)

05 To view this effect select the first mug and click Play from here (press
Stop when you have seen the sequence)

44
 Hopefully this has given you a good idea of how you can use morph to make
images move around the canvas. For our current project we don’t actually want
to move the mug, we want to make it rotate or tip over. So let’s look at how we
do this.

Make an image rotate

01 First we need to select the second mug again and move it back over the top
of the first mug

02 Next highlight the third mug in the Timeline and delete it using the Cut
button (or the Delete key on a PC)

03 To bring back the text elements we hid earlier, click on the Reveal
all button

04 Now go into Image properties for the second mug and change it back to
Full colour

05 Then use the Rotation controls to rotate the image to -90° (a minus number
here indicates an anticlockwise rotation), then change the Animate time to
0.5 seconds

06 Use Play from here to view this rotation effect

07 To make it look more like the mug is tipping over, you need to move
the second mug image to the left side of the first mug

You might need to play about with this a little to get the effect right. You might
also need to reposition the ‘Relax!’ text so it appears next to the second mug.

Make an image expand outwards

Next we’re going to look at another morphing effect that can be used to make
images expand and appear out of nowhere. Again we will need to start by making
a copy of the image (in this case the Superman image), but this time we don’t
want the first copy to be drawn.

01 Create a second Superman image using Copy and Paste

 02 For now let’s select and hide the second image using the Hide button on
the thumbnail

03 Next go into Image properties for the first Superman image and change
this to Outline (you can also change the outline colour here if you want)

04 As we don’t want this initial image to be drawn you also need to take all the
time settings (Animate, Pause and Transition) down to zero

05 Now move this image up so the centre of it is just below the logo image and
then reduce it so that it’s really small

Tip: Remember, if you make a mistake when moving, rotating or

resizing an element, use Ctrl-Z (cmd-Z on mac) to undo the previous
steps. Also, don’t forget you can select an element in the Timeline and
then use the keyboard arrow keys to move it.

06 Now reveal the second Superman image again by clicking the

Reveal button on its thumbnail

07 Position this underneath the logo as you want it, then go into Image properties

08 Change the Animate method to Morph and select the first Superman
image to Morph from

09 Change the Animate time to about 1.5 seconds and preview using Play from here

Tip: You can introduce a spinning effect with Morph by changing the
rotation for one of the images. For one complete rotation during the
morph you need to change the rotation of the second image to 360°
(for two 720°, etc). You can use this effect on its own, or in combination
with a movement or expanding effect.

10 Go back into Image properties for the second image and change the
rotation to 360°, then preview again

Make an image transform

The last morphing example we are going to look at is how to morph from one
image into a different one. We are going to do this using the very first image we
chose in the first tutorial.
01 First scroll the Timeline so that you can see the last (business card) image

Tip: There are several ways to scroll the Timeline back and forth. If you
hover your mouse over the Timeline you can use the scroll-wheel, you
can use the Scroll buttons (< and >) at the start and end of the Timeline,
or you can click and drag any greyed out area of the Timeline to move it
back and forth. Remember, clicking and dragging the currently selected
item will change this item’s position in the Timeline.

02 Select the last element in the Timeline and then click Add image – the new
image will appear after the currently selected item

03 Search for a new image to

replace the initial one here (we
searched for ‘happy’ and selected
this one)

04 Set the camera for this image and

then resize it and place it over the
top of the initial image

05 Next go into Image properties

and select the Morph option

06 Scroll right back to the beginning

of the list of images to Morph
from and select the first image

07 Change the Animate time to about 1.5 seconds. As this is the final element
in our project you can increase the Pause time to around 2 seconds

08 Use Play from here to preview this effect

02 Changing hands
Hands and backgrounds Go to video tutorial >>

In this section of the tutorial we show you how you can use different hands for
drawing and moving in, and also how to change the background paper effects.

First we will look at how you can change the default hand for your project.

Choose a base hand

01 Click on the Base hand

button on the toolbar
E

This brings up the Select hand screen

which lists the different hand options B C
you can use. There are hands holding
various pens, pens that write on their
A D
own, move-in hands, hands that
write behind glass and hands holding
erasers. At this stage we are selecting
the default hand, which will apply to
all the elements in the current project
unless you have a specific hand
selected for a particular element. You
can try out some of these hands now if you like. Once you select a hand you will
see a preview of the new hand. You can also preview your scribe to see what it
will look like with different hands.

02 Select a new base hand to use with this project (we chose the one marked
‘A’ above)

03 Preview the scribe with this new hand

Use different hands

Next we are going to change the hand for some individual elements. This will sort
out a couple of the issues highlighted in the previous tutorial (e.g. using a hand
with a pen for an erasing effect).
 01 Select the first text element in the Timeline (‘Need help?’) and go into Text
properties

02 Select the Hand button at the bottom and select a hand to write this
text (we chose the one marked ‘B’ above)

03 Repeat this for the second text element (‘IT systems playing up?’)

Next, if you preview the logo image move-in you will see it is now using the
new base hand. So we need to change this.

04 Select the logo image and go in and choose one of the move-in hands for
this element (we chose the one marked ‘C’ above)

Now we want to change the scribble out image so that it creates a really good
erasing effect.

05 Select the scribble out item in the Timeline and go in and select an eraser
hand for this (we chose the one marked ‘D’ above)

Tip: Using different hands in your project can really help to make it
distinctive. Notice that we are using hands that will work well together.

The next thing we want to do here is change the business card move-in so
that it comes in with no hand.

06 Select the business card item and go in and select the No hand option
(marked ‘E’ above)

07 Preview these changes

Change the background

In the last part of this tutorial we are going to look at how you can change the
background of your scribe.

01 Click on the Paper button in the toolbar

This opens the Paper options screen.
Here you can, select the background
colour using the Colour pallet, B
choose a vignette effect and choose
one of the available texture effects.
A
There are lots of combinations
that work really well, so feel free
to experiment. Here are a few nice C
examples you might like to try.

If you select the fifth grey down on

the left of the colour pallet (5f5f5f)
with the texture on the middle right
(marked ‘A’ here), you’ll get a great
blackboard effect.

Or try the top green colour (5fbb46) with the top right texture (marked ‘B’) for
a felt effect.

And for a nice corkboard background try the fourth yellow up (fb5b1) with the
bottom left texture (‘C’).

02 Decide which background effect you want for your project (we chose the
very bottom yellow colour with the bottom right paper texture)

You will notice that the Scribble out image now stands out as it no longer
matches the background. So we need to fix this.

03 Go into the properties for the Scribble out image, change the Colour effect
to Silhouette and then change the colour to the same colour as your
background (that’s fcf7c1 for the yellow we used)

This will make it ‘disappear’ again.

04 Preview the full scribe so you can see all the effects you have added

05 Finally, Save and Exit your scribe

You now have a completed test scribe – well done!

Now that you’ve completed the VideoScribe version 2 Core tutorial series you
should be ready to experiment with all the features of VideoScribe. But if you
need any further help then please visit our VideoScribe Help. Here you will
find links to our more advanced tutorials, as well as loads of useful tips and
suggestions to help you really get the most out of VideoScribe.
Appendix A

Scribe timings

One of the final steps in creating a really good scribe is fine-tuning the timings so
that the visuals fit really well with the soundtrack and/or voiceover. One of the main
things to consider is when you want each of the animations or movements to start
and stop.

Here are the timings we came up with for the completed Help IT scribe to make it
fit with the soundtrack we chose (‘Jazzla’). We actually added these just before we
showed the final preview play in the tutorial 4 video.

Element Animate Pause Trans

time (s) time (s) tim

Woman image 1 3.2 0.6 0.0

Text (‘Need help’) 2.5 1.0 0.5
Text (‘IT systems playing up’) Help IT logo 2.0 0.5 1.0
1 1.0 1.0 0.5
Mug image 1 2.0 0.0 0.0
Mug image 2 1.5 0.5 0.0
Text (‘Relax’) Superman image 1 1.0 0.9 0.0
Superman image 2 0.0 0.0 0.0
Text (‘Let us take IT off your hands’) Sribble out 2.1 1.0 1.0
image 2.5 0.5 0.9
Business card image 2.5 1.0 0.0
Woman image 2 3.5 1.0 0.0
2.0 4.0 0.0