What do I need to create VidViewer exercises?
What do I need to create VidViewer exercises?
The VidViewer package, which provides:
These files are available from the VidViewer download page.
In addition, you'll need:
Macintosh:
Windows:
How much does VidViewer cost?VidViewer and FrameCounter are free; they may not be distributed on a commercial basis. Our project was funded by a Chancellor's Instructional Technology Grant to the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
However, we do ask that you consider our project "feedbackware:" please let us know what you like about the template, what needs improvement, and how you have used it. Comments and suggestions are always welcome and may be sent to Curt Ford at curtf@email.unc.edu.
I want to include the multiple-choice questions, but not the fill-in-the-blanks
exercise. Can I include certain exercises and leave others out?
Yes. The only really essential support file is a movie/sound clip.
If you choose not to include the script.txt file, the script button will be dimmed. Similarly, if you choose not to provide a glossary.txt file, the glossary button will be dimmed and the vocabulary quiz will not appear in the menu.
If you do not include text files for the multiple choice questions or the fill-in-the-blanks exercise (questions.txt and cloze.txt), these sections will not appear in the menu.
If you do not include an introduction.txt file, a generic message will be shown in its place.
How do I use a sound file?Save your file as a sound-only QuickTime movie. Note that frame numbers for sound files and video files from the same source will differ greatly. If you create a set of files for a video clip and later decide to replace it with sound only, you'll need to run the sound file through FrameCounter and adjust the numbers in questions.txt and cloze.txt accordingly.
Why are my video files so big? Is there a limit on the size of a file
VidViewer can show?Digital video is very data-intensive; uncompressed video can take up hundreds of megabytes per minute. Compression schemes can greatly reduce file size, but even compressed clips can still take up 15 to 30MB per minute (for 320x240 window size at 15 frames per second).
VidViewer has been tested with good results on clips of 80MB, but performance may vary with the amount of RAM and hard disk space on your users' computers.
If file size is a concern, using sound files may be an alternative for some projects. For example, a video clip of just over 2 minutes (320x240, 15 frames per second) can take up 33MB, but extracting the sound track from the video clip results in a sound file of just 1.3MB.
For more information on video compression, we suggest you visit the site of Terran Interactive at www.CodecCentral.com.
Can I use the same text file for both Mac and PC versions of VidViewer?If you are using the ERUnivers TR font (Cyrillic) designed for this project, yes. This free True Type font has an identical layout in Macintosh and Windows.
For Western or Central European languages, VidViewer supports Helvetica and HelveticaCE on the Macintosh, and Arial and Arial CE on Windows. Unfortunately, some of the diacritics in these fonts are mapped differently on different platforms. Before distributing your text files you should be sure to check them on both platforms by viewing them through VidViewer.
What about copyright?We strongly encourage you to consult your institution's policies on copyright and academic usage. The makers of VidViewer cannot be held responsible for any copyright violations incurred while using VidViewer.
For additional information, you may wish to consult the following resources:
Computers and Copyrights: Bibliography
Yale University's Copyright Resources Online