Knowledge Base

The Videos Window

The Videos window is present when scoring offline from video files. If scoring data from more than one video file, additional Video windows appear on screen.

Video Properties

Right-click the video image and choose Properties. The properties panel shows details about the video file such as frame rate, resolution, and file size. Video Codec and Audio Codec show the file formats read from the video file. Filter Details shows the filters and codecs used to play back the video file.

Customizing the Videos Window

• Dock/Undock Videos – Right-click the video and choose Undock. This option is not available if you have only one video; in that case double-click the title bar instead. The video is then displayed at 100% size and can be moved to a second monitor for a better view. To dock a window back, right-click and choose Dock.
• Turn Audio On/Off – Click the speaker symbol on the top right corner of the Videos window for a specific video file. If your observation has audio files, you can mute their sound by clicking the speaker symbol in the External Data and Audio window.

Switch Between Video Files

One video file is positioned on the right part of the window, and the remaining files on the left part. Click one of the video files on the left to display it as the main video on the right. Drag the margins of the separation bar between the videos to adjust the size. You cannot deselect your main video in the Videos window; you can only deselect the smaller ones on the left side. To deselect the main video, first click a smaller one on the left to make it the main video.

Manage Media Files

Visualize Audio Waveforms from a Video File

1. Open an observation.
2. Click the Import Video button on the toolbar.
3. Select the video file and select Visualize Audio.
4. Click Open. The audio from the video file is converted and the audio waveforms are displayed in the External Data and Audio window. Up to two channels (Left and Right) are visualized. If the video contains more channels, only the first two are visualized.

Replace a Media File

1. Open the Independent Variables List (Setup > Independent Variables).
2. In the Video or Audio column, click the ellipsis button in the cell corresponding to the observation for which you want to replace the media file.
3. Select the new media file and click Open.

Remove a Media File

1. Open the Independent Variables List (Setup > Independent Variables).
2. In the Video or Audio column, right-click the cell corresponding to the observation for which you want to delete the media file.
3. Select Delete and click OK to remove the file from the observation. The media file is not deleted from the hard disk.

Media File Notes

• If the video was already in the observation, open the Independent Variables List, click the button next to the video file, select the Visualize Audio option, and click Open. Then re-open the observation.
• The title of the audio waveforms plot from video is Video File (dB). Contrary to audio files, the audio waveforms from a video are not an independent variable.
• Audio waveforms from a video file are shown when the corresponding video is also shown. To select or deselect a video file, choose View Settings > Video Files > Show Video and select the file.
• To mute audio from a video, click the speaker icon in the External Data and Audio window or in the Videos window.
• To remove the audio waveforms from your observation, remove the video file.
• The number of media files you can use per observation depends on your The Observer XT license.
• The number of videos you can play back smoothly simultaneously depends on your computer.

Observations with Multiple Event Logs

Observations and Event Logs

While you carry out an observation, events and comments are logged in what is called an Event Log. The data from your whole observation are stored in one event log. If you import event data from an external program, like FaceReader emotional expressions, or event data from an eye tracker, these are imported as separate event logs. Furthermore, Pocket Observer files and files from certain plug-ins, such as the questionnaire tool Noldus uASQ, are also stored as separate event logs within your observation. So one observation can contain more than one event log. But you cannot add events in The Observer XT to the imported event logs.

Video files are also part of an observation. Similarly, if you import external data, those are part of an observation as well, although they are stored in separate files.

Manage Observations with Multiple Event Logs

Import Event Logs into an Observation

1. Export the event logs as ODX files. See Export Observational Data in File Management.
2. Open the observation, and click the Import Data button, then choose Import Observational Data.
3. Select The Observer XT Data File (*.odx) from the Files of Type list, and open your file.

Note: If the ODX file contains more than one observation, only the event logs from the first observation are imported. To make sure that each ODX file contains one observation, select Create Separate File Per Observation when exporting the event logs.

Check That Data Are Imported Correctly

1. Choose Analyze > Visualize Data and select your observation.
2. Check that the event logs are properly aligned, and that the data you want to analyze fall within the white area. The left margin of the white area is Observation Start Time. The right margin is Observation Stop Time. Make sure that all your data fall in this interval.
3. If the alignment is not correct, re-open the observation and click the Offset button to adjust the time between event logs. See Synchronize Data Sets.
4. If some data fall outside the white area, change the observation's start time and duration.

Note: If you cannot select your observation, you may have a data profile active that does not contain your observation. Also make sure that no intervals are defined in your data profile. See Select Data for Analysis.

Source: The Observer XT 17 Help - Carry Out an Observation, Noldus Information Technology