asterpix

Creating

The Asterpix hypervideo browser allows users to create and view interactive video.

Step 1: Select a video from the web to convert into an interactive video.

1. Click the 'Add Video' button in the upper right of any page. Note: You need to log in to create an interactive video.
2. Search the web for the video you are looking for. Enter search keyword(s) and click 'Find Video'. If you want to find your videos on a site such as Youtube, enter your username on that site in the search box. If you know the exact video URL, you can also paste it into the search box.
3. Browse the search results to find the video you are looking for. Click on a video thumbnail image in the search results.

Step 2: Enter video information.

Enter or modify video title, description, category, and tags. Click on the 'Go to add notes' button. The video will open in the Asterpix hypervideo browser, and it is ready for annotation. See Fig. 1.

Fig. 1: Opening a video in the Asterpix hypervideo browser

Step 3: Add notes to create interactive hotspots in the video.

You can make hotspots around objects in the video by adding notes to any object. Hotspots make your video interactive by enabling viewers to navigate the video or get more information on objects of interest. Hotspots also enable viewers to directly link from specific objects to other videos or websites. Hotspots track the object even as it moves around in the scene, and until it leaves the scene.

1. Click on the play button to start the video.
2. Select an object by clicking anywhere in the video screen.
3. Resize and reposition the selection box around the object. You can resize the box by dragging the sizing handle in the lower right corner. You can reposition the selection box by dragging the box to the desired position.
4. Add a description, a URL link, and tags in the note box and click 'save'. See Fig. 2.

Fig. 2: Adding notes to a selected object

The URL link allows viewers to navigate directly to other videos or specified websites when they click on a hotspot object.

You can create additional hotspots in the video to complete your interactive video.

Linking to other videos from a hotspot

In addition to creating links to external websites, you can also link from a hotspot to another video. Viewers can then navigate across videos within the Asterpix player in browser-like experience. Follow these steps to attach a video link to a hotspot:

1. Determine the video you want to link to and open it in the Asterpix hypervideo browser (see steps 1-2 above).
2. Copy the video URL link*
   
   You can get the video URL by:
   • Clicking in the browser URL field
   • Clicking the 'more' button to the right of the video description and then clicking in the URL field
   • Right clicking on a video thumbnail in popular video lists, related videos, or Asterpix search results
3. Paste the URL into the hotspot note URL field (See Fig. 2 above).

* Note: You can also link from a hotspot in one video to a hotspot selection in another video. To copy a link for a hotspot, first navigate to the hotspot. Then right click on the selected object and select "Copy permalink to clipboard". See Fig. 3.

Fig. 3: Copying hotspot link