Player Video With BB FlashBack

Player Video With BB FlashBack

The Player window

Use this window to play back and edit your movies.

	Menus Toolbars Timeline Framebar and objects Sound tracks Movie
Gallery

The different parts of the main BB FlashBack Player window:

Menus

The functions on each menu are described in this help file. See the topics inside The Player Main Menu.

Toolbars

The various toolbars provide quick access to some of the most commonly used functions.
For a description of their functions, see topics inside The Player Toolbars.

Timeline

The Timeline, together with the Frame bar, shows the position in the movie of the currently selected or playing frame. The Timeline is marked in either seconds or frames.

Framebar and objects

The Framebar shows each frame of the movie as a selectable rectangle. The selected frame is drawn in red. Selecting a frame causes it to display in the Movie area.
Objects like textboxes and images that you've added to the movie are shown under the Framebar.

Sound Tracks

If your movie contains sound, each sound track is shown as a bar under the framebar. There may be a number of sound tracks.

Movie area

The Movie area fills most of the Player window, and this is where the movie appears as it is played.

Gallery

This area holds textboxes, images and other objects you can drag into your movie. You can also add your own textboxes etc into the Gallery.

Status bar

This is divided into four sections.
The right-hand section shows the total length of the movie. The second-from-right section shows the value of any keys pressed during the recording of the selected frame.
The other two sections display messages to inform a user of the status of BB FlashBack when it is engaged in operations that may occupy a noticeable length of time.

The Timeline and Frame bar

The Timeline

The Timeline shows the entire length of the movie, from the first frame on the far left to the final one . You can jump to any point in the movie by clicking on the Timeline. To help you navigate around, position your mouse over the Timeline to display a thumbnail image of the movie at that point.
It is marked in either seconds or frame numbers. The timeline units can changed with the help of the Timeline Units option under the View main menu.

To 'scrub' with the timeline, hold down the ctrl key while dragging the mouse along the timeline.

The Frame bar

The Frame bar contains a graphical display of each individual frame in the movie, starting with the first frame at the left through to the final frame at the far right. Each frame is shown as a selectable rectangle. Either a single frame or a continuous range can be selected and then modified by an edit operation.
You can regard the framebar as showing a magnified portion of the timeline. Because each frame lasts only a short period of time (1/25th second by default) the Frame bar will typically only show a small portion of your movie.
Clicking on the Timeline selects a point in time and the frame at that point. The Frame bar will automatically scroll to show the selected frame, which is displayed in red.

For more help on selecting frames using the Frame bar see Selecting frames.
For more help with frames see About frames.

More about the frame bar

Shown below is a portion of a Frame bar and Timeline. The Timeline is marked in seconds.

The frame bar is drawn in a number of strips, to show Zoom-Pan effects, mouse clicks and keys pressed in a particular frame.

How to show or hide the Frame bar and Timeline:

1. On the Player menu bar select View.
   
2. Check or uncheck the menu items for Timeline and Frame bar to show or hide those items.

Viewing Objects

When you add an object like a textbox or image to the movie, it is represented by a bar in the 'Objects' section.

In the above, a textbox appears, then an image.

The duration of the object is represented by the length of the bar.
Double click the bar to open the Properties window for that object.
Click and drag the bar to change the point in the movie where it appears.
Click and drag the end of the bar to change its duration.

Viewing Zoom-Pan effects

The example image above shows a Zoom-Pan effect. A Zoom-Pan effect looks like this in the framebar:

The effect starts in the frame marked with a 
 and ends in the frame marked with a 
See About Zoom-Pan effects to learn more about this feature.

Viewing mouse activity

The middle slice of the frame bar shows mouse activity.
If the frames in this bar are coloured blue, this means that the mouse cursor is hidden in these frames. For more on hiding the mouse, see Hiding the mouse cursor.
The position of the dot is an indicator of where the mouse pointer is in the frame. The colour of the dot indicates whether it was moved or clicked:

	Gray	The mouse was not moved.
	Black	The mouse was moved.
	Red	The mouse was clicked.

Viewing key presses

See the help topic Viewing key presses for more information on this feature.

Webcam / Picture-in-Picture Video

BB FlashBack can show picture-in-picture video within the main screen recording.
You can record an attached webcam while recording the screen, and this webcam video will appear picture-in-picture when you open the recording in BB FlashBack Player.
Or, you can import an FLV, AVI or WMV video file to be used as picture-in-picture video.

For more help on recording webcam video, see Recording webcam video.

How to import a video file as picture-in-picture video

1. Select the frame where you want the video to start.
   
2. Select an item in the WebCam / Picture-in-Picture Video submenu of the Insert menu.
   
3. Select a video file. It will be imported as picture-in-picture video at the current frame.

Note: because of the huge number of codecs available, not all AVI files can be imported successfully.

WebCam Video Display Modes

You can display webcam video in the movie in one of two ways:

• In its own window
  In this mode, the webcam video is shown in a window with its own title bar. This window can be moved anywhere on the desktop, independent of the main BB FlashBack Player window.
  When in this mode, the webcam video will not be included in exports.
  
• Embedded in the movie
  In this mode, the webcam video is shown in a frame inside the movie. It cannot be moved outside of the movie. The frame colour and thickness can be set via the webcam video properties window.
  When in this mode, the webcam video will be included in exports.

Or you can hide the webcam video completely. Use the 'Show webcam video' item on the View menu to show and hide the webcam video window.

How to set the mode of the webcam video:

1. Double click the webcam video window to show its Properties window.
   
2. Select a mode on the Properties window.

Editing Webcam Video

Webcam video is shown in a separate bar in BB FlashBack's framebar display. This enables you to include or exclude Webcam video in selections and therefore have edit operations act on it or not, as preferred.
Toggle the selection of webcam video by clicking its header on the right:

The Player Main Menu

The Movie menu

The items on this menu are:

	Play	Starts playback or continues when paused.
	Playback Speed	Sets playback speed to x4, x2, normal, 1/2 or 1/4 speed.
	Forward	Moves to the next frame.
	Back	Moves to the previous frame.
	First Frame	Moves to the first frame in the movie
	Last Frame	Moves to the last frame in the movie
	Prev Marker	Moves to the previous frame containing a marker.
	Next Marker	Moves to the next frame containing a marker.
	Prev Mouse Click	Moves to the previous frame containing a mouse click event.
	Next Mouse Click	Moves to the next frame containing a mouse click event.
	Loop	Check this option to have the movie play continuously in a loop.
	Pause on	There are 4 sub-items on this menu item: Pause on Mouse Clicks: Check this option to have the movie pause playback on every frame that contains a mouse click. Pause on Markers: Check this option to have the movie pause playback on every frame that contains a marker. Pause on Text boxes: check this option to have the movie pause playback on every frame that contains the appearance of a Text box. For more help on Text boxes see About Text boxes. Ignore Pauses in Movie: check this option to ignore any pauses that may already have been inserted into the movie. For more information on adding pauses to movies see Inserting a pause in the movie.
	Goto Frame	Enables you to jump straight to a particular frame or point in time in the movie.
	Search for Text	Use this option to jump to the frame where some specific text is drawn in the movie. It can be used to search for the text drawn in window title bars, so you could use it to find the frame where an application appears. The Edit menu Items on the Edit menu: Undo Undoes the previous edit operation, rolling back to the state before that edit. Redo Redoes a previously undone edit operation. Select frames Enables selection of frames between two frame numbers. Select all frames Selects all frames in the movie. Select inactive frames Selects 'inactive' frames adjacent to the current frame. Inactive frames are frames with no mouse, keyboard or screen activity. Delete Frames Deletes one or more frames. For more help see Inserting and deleting frames. Crop Frames Cuts the movie down to the currently selected frames, deleting all unselected frames. Insert Frames Inserts a new frame after the currently selected one. For more help see Inserting and deleting frames. Merge Frames Merges a number of frames into one. For more help see Merging frames. Bring to front Moves the currently selected textbox or image in front of all other objects in that frame. Bring forwards Moves the currently selected textbox or image 'up' in the ordering of objects layered on top of the movie. Send to back Moves the currently selected textbox or image behind all other objects in that frame. Send backwards Moves the currently selected textbox or image 'down' in the ordering of objects layered on top of the movie. Copy Object Copies a selected object (textbox, image, highlight or button) to the BB FlashBack clipboard. Select an object by clicking it in the movie area. Paste Object Pastes any previously Copied object into the current frame. Object Properties Edits properties of the currently selected textbox or image. Delete Object Deletes the currently selected textbox or image. Delete WebCam Video Removes the WebCam video stream from the movie. Edit ZoomPan Shows the ZoomPan properties dialog on which you can edit the transition speed. Enabled if a zoompan object is created in the selected frame. Delete ZoomPan Deletes the zoompan. Enabled if a zoompan object is created in the selected frame. Pause Graphic Check this item to have a pause graphic displayed whenever the movie reaches a pause point, at a textbox or image. The sub-items allow you to specify the graphic used and where it is positioned. Set Pause Graphics. Allows you to select a graphic file that will be displayed whenever the movie is paused during playback. Set Default Pause Graphics. Sets the pause graphic back to the default supplied with BB FlashBack. Set Pause Graphics Position. Allows you to set the position that the pause graphic will appear in. Markers Current Markers list: This is a list of all of the markers in the movie. Selecting a marker from this list will jump straight to that frame. Delete: Shows a sub-menu containing the names of each of the markers in the current movie. To delete a marker, select it from this sub-menu. The Insert menu FlashBack Movie Inserts a FlashBack (.FBR file) movie at the current frame. Text Adds a text box, which will appear at the currently selected frame. For more help on Text boxes see About Text boxes . Marker Adds a marker to the current frame. For more help on markers see Using Markers in Movies Image Adds an image to the current frame. For more help on images see Adding Images. Arrow Inserts an arrow into the current frame For more help see Adding Arrows Button Adds a button to the current frame. For more help on buttons see Adding Buttons Highlight Adds a highlight to the current frame. For more help see Adding Highlights. Sound Adds a sound file as a new track, starting at the current frame. For more help, see Sound Editing Basics. Watermark Adds a watermark image to the movie. For more help see Adding a Watermark Pause Adds a pause to the current frame. For more help see Pauses. WebCam / Picture-in-picture video Allows you to import an FLV, AVI or WMV movie file as a picture-in-picture or WebCam video. Video File Inserts a video file into the movie, starting at the current frame. For more help see Inserting Video Files Blur Inserts a blur effect into the movie. For more help see Adding a Blur Effect Mouse Clicks Inserts a mouse click event at the selected frame. The View menu Timeline Shows or hides the Timeline. Frame bar Shows or hides the Frame bar Status bar Shows or hides the Status bar Toolbars There are 4 sub-items on this menu item to show or hide the Edit, File, Player and Clipping toolbars. Timeline Units There are 2 sub-items on this menu item to select the units displayed in the Timeline: seconds or frames. Timeline thumbnail Selects the size of the thumbnail movie frame displayed when the mouse is over the timeline or frame bar.   KeyLog Displays the KeyLog window, which shows all keystrokes recorded in the movie. See Viewing Key Presses. KeyBar mode Selects between 2 modes of displaying the keystrokes: Raw: shows every keystroke in the frame it occurred. Sentence: groups keystrokes together as words Movie Size The sub-items on this menu item control the displayed size of the movie: 25%-100%: By default a movie will be displayed at 100% - the original size. It can be shown at a smaller size by selecting an option of less than 100%. Other: This option shows a dialog box where you can enter any percentage size for the movie to be displayed at. Fit Movie to Window: Select this option to increase or decrease the size of the movie to fit into the BB FlashBack Player window as it is currently sized. Fit Window to Movie: Select this option to increase or decrease the size of the BB FlashBack Player window so that it fits to the current size of the movie. Full Screen Selecting this option to have the movie area occupy the entire Windows desktop, with the toolbar positioned above it. All other parts of the Player interface are hidden. Full Screen View Sets which parts of the user interface will be visible in Fullscreen mode. By default only the timeline is visible. By checking items in this submenu, you can make the framebar and toolbars visible. Auto-scroll There are 3 options in the Auto Scroll submenu: None: Select this to turn Auto-scrolling off. If the movie is larger than the movie area, you may need to scroll manually to see everything of interest. Mouse in center: Select this to have BBFlashBack scroll the movie area to keep the mouse in the center. Mouse near center: Select this to have BB FlashBack scroll the movie area to keep the mouse near the center. View PC information Movie files recorded by BB TestAssistant include information about the PC that recorded the movie. Select this menu item to see that information. View external log files Displays logfiles generated by external programs - only available for movie files recorded by BB TestAssistant. View Movie in Separate Window If you have multiple monitors, select this option to have the movie shown fullscreen in a non-primary monitor, and the toolbar, framebar, timeline and other controls on the primary monitor. Switch WebCam Mode WebCam can either be shown in a separate window or embedded in the movie. Use this menu item to switch between the two modes. See Viewing and Editing WebCam Video. Show WebCam  Video Use this item to toggle WebCam video visibility. The Movie menu The items on this menu are: Play Starts playback or continues when paused. Playback Speed Sets playback speed to x4, x2, normal, 1/2 or 1/4 speed. Forward Moves to the next frame. Back Moves to the previous frame. First Frame Moves to the first frame in the movie Last Frame Moves to the last frame in the movie Prev Marker Moves to the previous frame containing a marker. Next Marker Moves to the next frame containing a marker. Prev Mouse Click Moves to the previous frame containing a mouse click event. Next Mouse Click Moves to the next frame containing a mouse click event. Loop Check this option to have the movie play continuously in a loop. Pause on There are 4 sub-items on this menu item: Pause on Mouse Clicks: Check this option to have the movie pause playback on every frame that contains a mouse click. Pause on Markers: Check this option to have the movie pause playback on every frame that contains a marker. Pause on Text boxes: check this option to have the movie pause playback on every frame that contains the appearance of a Text box. For more help on Text boxes see About Text boxes. Ignore Pauses in Movie: check this option to ignore any pauses that may already have been inserted into the movie. For more information on adding pauses to movies see Inserting a pause in the movie. Goto Frame Enables you to jump straight to a particular frame or point in time in the movie. Search for Text Use this option to jump to the frame where some specific text is drawn in the movie. It can be used to search for the text drawn in window title bars, so you could use it to find the frame where an application appears. The Sound menu Add New Sound Track Add a new sound track. Add Sound Add a sound file to the selected frame. See Adding and Recording Sound into a Movie. Record Sound Record sound into the movie. See Adding and Recording Sound into a Movie.   Mute Sound Mute the selected sound. Increase Sound Volume Increase the volume of the selected sound Decrease Sound Volume Decrease the volume of the selected sound Volume Level Processing Two functions to equalize volume in a movie: Make multiple clips have the same loudness (normalization) Even out the volume in a clip (Compression) See Volume Level Processing for more help. Remove Noise Removes background noise from the audio. See Removing Noise. Fade Clip In/Out Fades the volume of the selected clip in and/or out. See Fading Sounds In or Out. Split Sound Clip Split the clip into 2 or 3 clips at the selected point. See Merging and splitting clips and tracks. Merge Sound Clips Merge selected clips into one. See Merging and splitting clips and tracks. Merge Sound Tracks Merge selected tracks. See Merging and splitting clips and tracks. Copy Sound Copy selected sound. See Sound editing operations. Cut Sound Cut selected sound. See Sound editing operations. Paste Sound Paste sound. See Sound editing operations. Sound Options Sets the default playback device and how MP3 sounds are edited and exported. See The Sound Options Window. The Effects menu Apply ZoomPan and Cropping Effects ZoomPan and Cropping effects can either be unapplied, so you can edit them, or applied, so you can see how they change the appearance of the movie. Add ZoomPan Adds a ZoomPan effect to the current frame. Add Transition Adds a Transition to the current frame. It will create a transition from the previous frame to the current one. Set Cropping Rectangle Allows the user to position and resize the cropping rectangle. Play in Cropping Rectangle Restricts movie play back to only show what is within the cropping rectangle. Make Cropping Permanent Permanently alters the movie so that it only contains what is within the current cropping rectangle. Highlight Cursor Set the mouse cursor highlight properties - the size, colour and opacity of the circle that surrounds it, and whether clicks are highlighted with circles.   Display Invisible Keystrokes Automatically creates textboxes showing 'invisible' keystrokes like function keys. See Displaying Invisible Keystrokes for more help.   Start/End Titles Adds 'titles' - text and/or image on a solid background at the start or end of the movie. See Start and End Titles for more help The Tools menu Items on the Tools menu: Player Options Sets the sound playback device, whether BB FlashBack automatically checks for updates and other options. For more help, see The Player Options window. Recording Options   Shows the Recorder options window. For more help see The Recorder Options window . Extract FBR from EXE Export Takes an EXE exported from BB FlashBack and extracts and saves the FBR file it was originally exported from - EXE exports contain the FBR file. Convert AVI file to FlashBack movie Opens an AVI movie and converts it to a FlashBack (.FBR) movie file. For more help see Converting AVI files to FlashBack movies. The Actions menu Hide / Show WebCam in selected frames Sets webcam visibility in selected frames. Mouse Cursor submenu: Bring cursor to front Puts the mouse cursor in front of other in-movie objects such as textboxes and images. Send cursor to back Put the mouse cursor behind other in-movie objects. Hide cursor in selected frames Hides the cursor during movie playback for those selected frames. Show cursor in selected frames Shows the cursor in the selected frames if it has previously been hidden. Re-record mouse cursor Enables you to re-record mouse movements. In selected frames For the whole movie For more help on this function see Re-recording the mouse cursor. Smooth Cursor Movements Corrects mouse movements for a selection of frames so that it move smoothly from its position in the first frame to its position in the final frame of the selection. For more help see Smoothing mouse movements. Reset mouse action images Uses the default or your own custom animations in place of mouse action animations saved in the movie. See Mouse action animations for more help. Cropping submenu: Set Cropping Rectangle Allows the user to position and resize the cropping rectangle. Play in Cropping Rectangle Restricts movie play back to only show what is within the cropping rectangle. Make Cropping Permanent… Permanently alters the movie so that it only contains what is within the current cropping rectangle. Movie Speed submenu: Speed up selected frames Use this option to speed up playback of part of the movie by a selectable factor. Slow down selected frames Use this option to slow down playback of part of the movie by a selectable factor. Select Inactivity submenu: Define Inactivity Allows you to define an 'inactive' section as the absence of annotation, mouse movements and/or key presses. Select Next Inactive Section Selects the next inactive section from the current frame. Select Previous Inactive Section Selects the previous inactive section from the current frame. Delete all Inactive Sections Deletes all inactive sections from the movie. The Help menu The items on the Help menu: BB FlashBack Help Displays this help file. Support BB FlashBack includes functions to allow you to report problems with the application to Blueberry Software. Enable/Disable logging auto-run - switches on internal logging for BB FlashBack. Report Problem to Blueberry - displays a wizard which directs you through the process of sending a problem report to Blueberry. For more help see Reporting Problems. Buying BB FlashBack Pro Not displayed once purchased. Has 2 subitems: Buying a licence - displays help on buying a licence Buy BB FlashBack Pro - opens a page on the Blueberry website where you can buy a licence online. Enter/review licence key Displays a window where you can enter or review the licence key and owner name given to you by Blueberry to fully licence BB FlashBack. Check for update Checks for a newer version of BB FlashBack. If one is found, you will be given the option to download and install it. About Displays the About box, which displays the BB FlashBack version numbers, shows email and web links for support and allows you to enter a licence key.