The Teleprompter, Action Area, and Tickmark Ruler

The Teleprompter and Action Area are scrollable areas where you build your show. Enter your script in the Teleprompter and drag and drop actions into the Action area to create your sequence of events.

Feature

Description

Teleprompter
window

Where you enter and edit text for your script or outline. Also where you read the text aloud as it scrolls up the screen while rehearsing or recording. The controls for the Teleprompter can be found on the Director tab. To learn more about using the Teleprompter, see Using the Teleprompter and Scripts.

TickMark Ruler

This is a multipurpose element:

  • It's a timeline: The tick marks on the right side indicate time in the show, which provides a convenient reference for moving Action Trays to the desired positions. The distance between the tick marks changes as you adjust the scroll speed, reflecting how that action stretches and compresses time.

  • It's the Recording Status Indicator: The stripe running down the center of this bar turns blue for segments that have been recorded.

  • It's a scroll bar: When your mouse point is over the bar, it turns to a hand icon. Clicking and dragging vertically scrubs the show with much finer control than with the scrollbar along the right side of the Action Area.

Action Area

Where you place and arrange Action Trays that contain your Media, such as pre-recorded videos, audio, camera input and effects. Actions scroll up the Action Area with the words in the Teleprompter while rehearsing or recording.

To move up and down the show manually, drag the scroll bar up and down.

To quickly move to the top or bottom of the show, right-click the scroll bar and select top or bottom.

To quickly move one Action Area Page down or up, right-click the scroll bar and select page Up or Page Down.

Action Trays

The container for Action and Media files etc. The contents and placement of a tray determines what happens and when. For more information see Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Action Trays.

  • To quickly move an Action Tray and every tray below it, click the top tray, hold down the Shift key and drag the trays up or down.
  • To move a tray and selected trays above it, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard select a Tray and any tray(s) above it. Release the Ctrl key and drag the Action Trays up or down.
  • Smart Position an Action Tray. Right-click on the left handle of the Action Tray and select Smart Position Next Action from the pop-up menu.

Enhanced Action Tray Controls

  • The Time Tab. The time tab displays the exact position of a tray. Slide the cursor over any part of a tray to display the blue time tab.
  • Overlap Trays. Drags trays on top of each other to achieve closer timing.
  • Collapse Trays. Action Trays can be made smaller to accommodate closer timing. To collapse trays, right-click a tray and select Collapse Tray from the pop-up menu. Drag the collapsed trays as close as you like.
  • To expand collapsed trays, right-click the tray and select Expand Tray from the pop-up menu. To learn more about these features, see Rapid Fire Action Timing.

Actions
(aka, Effects, Transitions)

The left side of the Action Tray can contain an Action, such as a video effect, that determines how the Media in the right side of the tray is introduced to the video. For instance, if the Action is a Dissolve, the incoming Media will dissolve in as the preceding Media dissolves out. Add an Action to a tray by dragging an Action icon from the library to anywhere in a tray. To learn more, see Adding Actions and Effects.

  • Preview an Action by double-clicking it.
  • Replace an Action by dragging and dropping another Action icon over the top of the first one.
  • Delete an Action by right-clicking the tray handle and select Delete Action. The entire tray will be removed.
  • Cut an Action to be pasted later by right-clicking the tray handle and select Cut Action. The entire tray will be cut.
  • Copy an Action by right-clicking the tray handle and select Copy Action.
  • Paste an Action by right-clicking in the Action area and selecting Paste Action.

Media

The right side of the Action Tray holds the video, audio, or graphic file that goes with the Action. When you see a Camera icon here, it means that this Action will contain live video from your currently selected Video Input Device. You can replace the Media in the tray by dragging a new Media File onto the Action Tray. For more information, see Media Inputs.

  • Preview Media by double-clicking it.
  • Add Media to a tray by dragging a Media icon from the library into the right side of the tray.
  • Replace Media by dragging and dropping another Media icon over the top of the first one.