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Add and use video files in your project

You can add video files into your projects and transform them into a rich multimedia experience for your audience. You can either add a video stored on your device or add a video that you record on the fly. You can precisely control your media in a live setting or while recording to ensure your message sticks in the mind of your audience.

Tip: Want to give your project more oomph to keep your viewers engaged? Learn how to add and use audio files in your projects.

You can

Video Basics

  • You can add video files to your project and move them around on the canvas with the  Hand Tool.
  • They have their own recordings that are separate from the project recording. This means that if you add them to a slide and you want them to be present in your project recording, you'll need to record your interactions with them by pressing the main  Record button.
  • Playing, pausing, scrubbing, and changing the volume of video objects will be recorded in the project recording.

Note: Playing audio and video objects while recording will result in an echo effect if you don't use headphones. Alternately, on the iOS version of Explain Everything, you can select the Mute microphone while playing imported video setting under Settings > Record > Microphone. This will get rid of the echo but will also disable your microphone while imported audio or video are playing.

Add an existing video file

  1. From the toolbar, select  Add Media.
  2. From the menu, select  File (or  Existing Image/Video if you'd like to quickly pick a video from your Photos).
  3. Select the location where your video is stored.
  4. Select a video (or videos), and select Import to add it to the current slide of your project.
  5. When adding multiple videos, you can choose to add them to the Current Slide or as Separate Slides.

Tip: You can also add audio files to your project via the drag and drop gesture. Find out how to drag and drop files to your project.

Tip: Check which file types are supported by Explain Everything.

Note: When adding a video file to your project, you can decide whether you’d like to include it in the Timeline immediately or record your interactions with the video later. You can change that behavior in the app’s settings — head to the [icon] Main Menu in the upper right-hand corner > Settings > Editing tab > scroll down to Include video in recording when adding and select the desired action.

  1. From the toolbar, select  Add Media.
  2. From the menu, select  Photo, Video, or File.
  3. Select the location where your video is stored.
  4. Select and choose the video (or videos) to add it to the current slide of your project.

Tip: You can also add audio files to your project via the drag and drop gesture. Find out how to drag and drop files to your project.

Tip: Check which file types are supported by Explain Everything.

  1. From the toolbar, select  Add Media.
  2. From the menu, select  Existing Image/Video.
  3. Select and pick a video file (or files) to add it to the current slide of your project.

Tip: You can also add audio files to your project via the drag and drop gesture. Find out how to drag and drop files to your project.

Tip: Check which file types are supported by Explain Everything.

Create a new video

You can add an "empty" video frame to your project and record the video as you go. This way, you are able to add the video for immediate presentations or feature a video of yourself to personalize your project.

You can

Record a video to use it later

  1. From the toolbar, select  Add Media.
  2. From the Insert New menu, select  Video.
  3. Switch between the front-facing and rear cameras with the  Toggle Camera button.
  4. On the control bar of the video, Select  Record to start recording it.
  5. When you're done, select   Pause to stop recording your video.
  1. From the toolbar, select  Add Media.
  2. From the menu, select  New Video.
  3. Switch between the front-facing and rear cameras with the  Toggle Camera button.
  4. On the control bar of the video, select  Record to start recording it.
  5. When you're done, select   Pause to stop recording your video.

This feature is currently not available in the web version of Explain Everything.

Add a live video of yourself to personalize your project

  1. From the toolbar, select  Add Media.
  2. From the Insert New menu, select  Video.
  3. Select the main  Record button of the project.
  4. Your video will start recording alongside your project recording.
  5. Select the main  Stop button to stop the recording of both the project and the video.

The Center Stage option

If you’re an iOS user with iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation), iPad 10.2-inch (9th generation), or iPad mini 8.3-inch (6th generation), you can make the most of creating a new, live-camera video of yourself by picking the Center Stage option that adjusts the front-facing camera while recording to help keep you and anyone else with you in the frame. Once you add  Video, select the Center Stage button under the video frame on the very left to turn the Center Stage feature on. To turn it off, select it again.

Note: Once stopped, the new video object will become finished. This means that if you want to redo it, it is necessary to rewind back to the point that you want to change and delete the video object, add a new one, and start recording from that point again. Alternately, you can remove the unwanted part of the recording from the Timeline, add a new video there, and remove the new video when the old one appears. It can be tricky to time this correctly though, so we recommend using the first method.

  1. From the toolbar, select  Add Media.
  2. From the menu, select  New Video.
  3. Select the main  Record button of the project.
  4. Your video will start recording alongside your project recording.
  5. Select the main  Stop button to stop the recording of both the project and the video.

Note: Once stopped, the new video object will become finished. This means that if you want to redo it, it is necessary to rewind back to the point that you want to change and delete the video object, add a new one, and start recording from that point again. Alternately, you can remove the unwanted part of the recording from the Timeline, add a new video there, and remove the new video when the old one appears. It can be tricky to time this correctly though, so we recommend using the first method.

This feature is currently not available in the web version of Explain Everything.

However, if you’d like that others can see your face when working collaboratively, you can use a video conferencing app to share your project. Learn how to broadcast and share your Explain Everything screen in a video conferencing app.

Control video objects

Video objects in the project have their own control bars to let you handle them with ease.

You can

Activate the controls

Select a video object with the  Hand Tool to activate its controls. Select the object again to hide them.

Tip The  Play button is always visible on video objects. You can select it with any tool.

Control playback

Select  Play to start and   Pause to stop the playback.

Drag the Scrubber to dynamically seek any time position.

Toggle  Looping to keep the audio/video playing indefinitely, until stopped manually.

Adjust volume

Select the  Volume button, and move the control to the desired level.