Our Telestration tool allows you to add drawings, shapes, and text that can be saved onto your video.
For play-based sports like football, softball, or baseball, you'll be able to add Telestrations from your VIDEOS, SCHEDULES, HIGHLIGHTS, and REVIEWS sections. (Athletes can only add Telestrations to the Highlights they have created.)
In flow-based sports like soccer, basketball, lacrosse, hockey, volleyball, or rugby, Telestrations are only available in the HIGHLIGHTS and REVIEWS sections. You must first create a Highlight or a Review in order to add Telestrations to a clip. (Athletes can only add Telestrations to the Highlights they have created.)
If you need help creating a Highlight, please see this article here.
To create a Review, please see this article here.
Here's how it works:
When the video is paused, you'll see a pen icon show next to your player controls:
Clicking this box will pop up your Telestration options along the left side of your video:
These options include (from top to bottom):
- A "Select" Tool. You can use this to 'reset' your current choice of active telestration, or to allow you to select one or multiple telestrations at once. You can do so by either dragging a 'box' around the telestrations you want to select with your mouse, or by holding down your 'Shift' key and clicking on the telestrations to be selected.
- A Freehand Pencil, used to draw a line on the video via your mouse.
- A Square. Choosing this option and then clicking on-screen will add a square to the video. You can also hold down on the left mouse key to drag and set the dimensions of the Square. Using your "Select" tool to click on the Square(s) you set, you will see a green "G" above the Square which will allow you to spin, move, and/or reorient the graphic. Clicking on it a second time will allow you to drag the corners of the square into any direction, allowing you to create a quadrilateral, trapezoid, or other "custom" shape.
- A Circle. Similar to the Square, choosing this option and then clicking on-screen will add a Circle to the video. You can also hold down on the left mouse key to drag and set the dimensions of the Circle. "Selecting" the Circle via the Select Tool will present a green "G" next to the Circle which will allow you to spin, move, and/or reorient the graphic.
- An Arrow. Choosing this will allow you to add an arrow to your video which will trace any path you assign to it. Click a spot onscreen to set the start point, move your mouse to the point where you wish the arrow to stop or change direction, click again to set the anchor point, and repeat until you have the line you want. Double click to finish the arrow.
- A Lightbulb. Selecting this option will allow you to create a (round or square) "spotlight" around a subject or subjects on screen. Hold down the left mouse button and drag to set the area to illuminate; the rest of the screen will darken slightly to literally highlight your set area(s).
- An "A" - Text. Click this, and then anywhere on the video to open a text box and enter text. The green "G" next to the text box will allow you to spin, resize, and/or reorient the text box. After typing the text you want in your text box, you will need to "close" the text box in order to save it by either pressing the 'esc' key or by clicking your mouse anywhere on the screen outside of the text box.
- A Trash Can - Delete. Using the Select Tool (see above), you can select a single or multiple telestrations to delete.
- A 'Delete All' / Clear Button. This deletes ALL Telestrations on-screen at the time.
- A Checkmark - Save. This saves all visible Telestrations in the frame. The checkmark will turn red when there is an item to save. Any unsaved Telestration will be lost. Please be sure to save your work.
- An 'Undo' button. This will remove Telestrations from the screen, starting with the most recent Telestration you set down (and working its way 'backwards').
Note: Pressing the 'esc' key also disengages the active tool/Telestration you're using.
Settings for your selected Telestration (line color, solid shapes, font size, etc.) can be found in the upper right corner of the screen, and depending upon the type of Telestration chosen, will include the following:
- Line Color. When adding lines or shapes, you can set the outline color.
- Fill Color. You can make the shapes you've added 'solid' by choosing a fill color for them.
- Line Style. When adding lines or shapes, you can set the line quality (solid, dotted, or dashed).
- Text Color. When adding text, you can choose the color.
- Font Size. Small, Medium (default), or Large
- Spotlight Shape. Circle or Square.
Re-orienting your Telestration: You can skew the angle of any Telestration you add by choosing the 'Select' tool (the "arrow" icon), clicking on your Telestration, and clicking and dragging on the green "G" at the top of your Telestration:
To save any Telestrations you've added, you must click the 'Save' button (checkmark icon) before pressing play and continuing on. Telestrations WILL auto-save after a few seconds, but the checkmark will show as red if there is an item to save:
You'll know telestrations are present on clips by the 'picture' icon in the playclips grid...:
...or by the 'teardrop' icon beneath the timebar of the clip:
Whenever a Telestration pops up, the video will stop. Press play to resume watching the video.
There are also options to turn Telestrations on or off, or temporarily pause the video (instead of stopping it completely) that can be accessed in the video player's settings dropdown tab; the 'gear' icon at the bottom right corner of the viewer: