Knowledge Base

Visualize Data

When you visualize data, The Observer XT produces plots in which events are displayed against time. Video files and, optionally, visualized audio from video, and imported external data, are also displayed and synchronized with the observational data.

To open the visualization choose Analyze > Visualize Data. You can play the videos together with the plots. The red hairline represents the current position in the video files.

Make a Visualization

Aim

To visually inspect your observation and play back the video with the annotations.

Prerequisites

• You carried out at least one observation.
• Your observations contain scored behaviors.

Procedure

1. If you created data profiles (see Select Data for Analysis), make sure the correct one is highlighted in the Project Explorer.
2. Choose Analyze > Visualize Data. Alternatively, when you want to visualize only the observation that is open, click the Visualize Current Observation icon in the toolbar. The video in the visualization then opens at the timestamp that was selected in the Event Log.

Result

The Visualization window opens. See The Visualization Explained in Detail.

Notes

• If your coding scheme contains no behaviors, you cannot make an event plot. In that case you can only visualize video, audio and external data.
• If you cannot visualize an observation, possibly the observation contains errors. Your observation is marked with an error symbol in the Project Explorer. See Correct Event Log Errors Manually in Carry Out an Observation. Alternatively, the active data profile does not contain data for that observation. Check the Results box in your data profile whether your selection contains data.
• If you see you need to synchronize the different data files, click the Open Current Observation button to re-open the observation and change the offset. See Synchronize Data Sets.

The Visualization Explained in Detail

Aim

To explain what is shown in each visualization window.

Prerequisite

You opened a visualization (Analyze > Visualize Data).

The Visualization Windows

The visualization has the following windows:

• Event plots
• Videos
• External data and audio plots
• Playback control window

Event Plots

The visualization displays event plots for each event log, subject and observation. These plots contain colored bars for state events, narrow vertical bars for point events and colored dots for Instantaneous Sampling data.

See also:

• Visualize Events
• Visualize Comments

Videos

Videos are shown if you observed offline from video, or if you imported videos into your observation.

See also:

• Observation Source in Set Up Your Project
• Import Media Files in File Management

The number of videos you can display simultaneously in the Visualization is limited to eight, unless your license allows more than four videos per observation. To select other videos than shown by default, choose View Settings > Videos > Show Video and specify which videos to display.

External Data and Audio Plots

Each audio stream and external data file is displayed in a line plot. An observation can only contain external data if your license includes the External Data Module. If you do not see such a plot type, choose View Settings > Show Audio or Show External Data.

See also:

• Visualize Audio
• Visualize External Data

Playback Control Window

See The Playback Control Window for an explanation of all playback control buttons. If you do not see the Playback Control window, choose View Settings > Playback Control.

When you play the video, the hairline in the event plot moves synchronous with it. Also imported external data or audio streams play back synchronous.

General Notes on Visualization

• The visualization shows the data selected in the active data profile.
• The hairline in the plot corresponds to the current position of the event log. The hairline is fixed in the middle of the plot area.
• When you select intervals, these are shown on a white background. The non-selected intervals are shown semi-transparent, enabling you to see the excluded data in these intervals.
• Transparent gray areas indicate the time that is not part of the observation. This is also the case for the time that a live observation was suspended.
• When there is an offset between the start of an observation and, for instance, external data, the excluded data are shown in the transparent area.

Visualize Events

General

The visualization displays event plots for each event log, subject and observation. These plots contain colored bars for state events, narrow vertical bars for point events and colored dots for Instantaneous Sampling data. When you hover with your cursor over a colored bar, a tool tip shows the behavior name, the modifiers scored (if applicable), the comment (if free text was entered for that event line) and the duration (for state events).

Merged Events

Merged behaviors are visualized under a new group Merged Behaviors. The modifiers of merged behaviors are not visualized. Merged modifiers are visualized under the behavior, with the name of the merged group.

See also Merge Data.

Time Bins

If you defined intervals and time bins, then time bins are visualized per interval.

See also Select Regular Intervals.

Numerical Modifiers

Numerical modifiers are shown as one colored bar with the name of the modifier group. The height of this bar is 20 pixels. The numerical modifier values are indicated by the height of the darker-colored area within the bar. By moving the hairline over a bar you can see the exact value of a numerical modifier after the modifier name on the Y axis.

The values that are scored are categorized. For instance, you defined a range from -50 to 50 and coded the following 10 values: -50, -35, -20, -15, -5, 5, 10, 15, 25, 40. Each category gets a height of 2 pixels. So, for the value of -35, a bar height of 4 pixels is used. If you have more than 20 categories, some categories will get the same bar height.

See also Modifiers.

Multiple Result Containers

If your Data Profile contains more than one Result container, intervals and time bins are shown in the corresponding plot.

See also Create Groups of Data.