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 (well 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.
2

VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 1

Creating your first scribe

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

VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 1

Creating your first scribe

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.
Its 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.

VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 1

Creating your first scribe

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

VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 1

Creating your first scribe

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

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?)

Add text

VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 1

Creating your first scribe

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.

VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 1

Creating your first scribe

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.

VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 1

Creating your first scribe

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 well 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

VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 1

Creating your first scribe

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 were 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 well 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

10

VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 1

03

Creating your first scribe

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 were going to import this file so we can continue working on it (obviously
we dont 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.

11

VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 1

Creating your first scribe

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 its 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 prerecorded using audio editing tools such
as Audacity. Remember youll 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.

12

VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 1

Creating your first scribe

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
volumeof 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.

13

VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 1

02

Creating your first scribe

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

14

VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 1

Creating your first scribe

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.

15

VideoScribe v2 Core Tutorial 1

Creating your first scribe

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.
16