how text prompts work - digi-libris

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how text prompts work

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With digi-libris Reader mobile text prompts can be added “by hand” or easily edited using digi-libris for Windows professional.

Text prompts are plain text files (UTF-8) with two columns separated by a tab character. The first column holds the position in seconds from the start of the video (no decimals) and the second column contains the text to be displayed.

They are normally attached to the video by the producer or content provider as part of a pre-loaded library or a bulk download offering using the electronic library exchange format.

It works in preview mode as well as with downloaded and streamed or linked media without infringement of copyrights.

Content providers offering such help to their audience will advise their readers to search for and download the free digi-libris mobile app on the Google Play Store for use on Android tablets and phones. Desktop versions for Windows, Mac and Linux can also be downloaded from this site.

There are several options to produce localized versions of videos

Original Production	Shooting the video again in each language with actors that speak the language
Postproduction with new voice	Record and replace the voice track for each language
Postproduction with subtitles or captions	Create versions with localized subtitles and/or caption
Text prompts only	Leave the video untouched and just build a voice overlay file for each language that synchronizes automatically with the images. Added advantage: The original video is not modified and if legally linked to a remote source, the copyright is not infringed.

The cost factor often determines the production method used but the last one is definitely

·         by far the least expensive
·         and the fastest to roll-out, can be produced by an individual usually in less than an hour
·         does not become part of the video itself but it is added at play time
·         can be added to locally stored and linked videos, thus avoiding copyright infringement.

Text prompts can easily be added and are normally attached to the video by the producer or content provider either as a dMeta^[1] bundle or as part of a bulk download offering using the electronic library exchange format^[2](elxf). Alternatively text prompt files and videos are stored in the same directory.

The work and the translation has, of course, to be performed or supervised by someone who speaks the language.

For our examples we used existing videos downloaded from the web for which we did not have access to the original voice texts, so we

· sent them to an online service that extracted the text and returned a file with some timing tags

· corrected the English text as it had some difficulties with scientific terms and background music

· got the English text translated using Google Translate (while not perfect, at least it helps understanding the action or context)

· corrected the translations mainly for syntactical or aesthetic reasons

· modified the time line by comparing and synchronizing it with the sound track of the video using digi-libris Reader professional.

[1] dMeta stands for data + metadata bundle and allows to package documents or any other digital assets together with metadata, attachments (including text prompts) and links for distribution. These are simple zip files anybody can open and any enabled software tool (e.g. digi-libris Reader) can read to automatically classify its content in the users’ knowledge base.

[2] The electronic library exchange format (elxf) has first been proposed by Bizgraphic in 2016 as an open format.
Just as PFD and MP4 have become the de facto standards for text books and tutorial videos, this provider agnostic format for eLibraries allows for

·         bulk downloading, i.e. is suitable for large collections of documents and any other kind of digital assets
·         previewing before downloading and comparing offerings from various content providers
·         just adding links (to avoid copyright infringement), not recommended for off-line use
·         translations of titles, descriptions and/or abstracts into any other language
·         video overlays of voice transcripts in multiple languages (text prompts in foreign languages)
·         incremental publication of updates and additions
·         automatic classification in users' personal knowledge base for rapid re-finding.

digi-libris Reader is a non-tech personal organization tool for today’s multitasking user who works and lives in a digital world.

This is metadata centric software for the automatic organization of your catalogue of documents and collection of things.

Mix documents and data sets of any type, photos, music, videos and web links in a single list, see vital attributes at a glance. You can also add physical or virtual items manually.

It is free and it is very easy to use: Just drag a file or a web link into the main window and it will automatically be classified.

for more information please contact the digi-libris hotline