Demo

How to Use This Resource

Toolbox (Left) Text
Your first toolbox option provides a collection of commenting and note making elements for adding to the stage. These are a quick and useful feature for making visual comments on a clip being played.

Adding a Bubble
To use a Bubble simply click and drag from the bottom panel to create an instance of it on the stage. Then add your text.

Adding a Note
Just like with Bubbles you can add a Note to stage and then add your text. First you should enter a title for your note in the white box. Notes can be customised to point to any direction by clicking anywhere along their black border and dragging to create a point. Once you have finished editing your Note click the forward facing arrow next to the title to hide its main content and save space on your stage. To edit the main content simply click this arrow again to expand it.

You can add as many Bubbles or Note instances to the stage as you wish; however we recommend that you don’t overcrowd the stage. Click the cross in the top-left hand corner of the bubble or note to remove it from the stage.

To resize the dimensions of a Bubble or Note; click and drag on the grey arrow in the bottom-right hand corner beneath it.

Formatting text
You can format the look of text by using the Size, Type and Colour sections of the bottom panel.

Pen
The Pen Tool is located in the Text Panel and has a choice of thin to thick output styles. To change the pen’s output colour use the colour section to select from the palette. To erase all of the pen marks from the stage click on clear pen located beneath the Pen Tool panel.

Toolbox (Left) Colour
This toolbox feature provides the ability to adjust picture settings of the film clip playing on the stage. This is particularly useful when combined in use with the Text toolbox so that the film picture doesn’t conflict visually with content overlaying it.

From the Colour Panel you can adjust Colour, Brightness, Contrast and Saturation to your preference. Select the black & white checkerboard to switch the film clip to black and white. Select the sepia colour for a vintage style film appearance.

 

To reset the picture settings at anytime click on the circular arrow which is located in the top-left hand corner of the Colour Panel.

Toolbox (Left) Spotlight
The Spotlight can be used to highlight a certain area of the film picture to the audience. To use it toggle the on/off button inside the Spotlight Panel. You can alter its position size and brightness by adjusting the settings within this panel. Altering the brightness changes how transparent the area surrounding the spotlight is. Moving the Brightness slider towards the cloud makes this area less transparent until it is completely black.

Toolbox (Left) Sound
To add your own sound tracks to an active film clip first ensure that you have imported or recorded the required sound clip/s either by using the Import function or the Sound Recorder function. You can have up to three separate tracks; one for music, one for sounds and one for speech. Each track can be toggled on/off and is volume controllable by using the slider controls on the adjacent right to the tracks.

Toolbox (Left) Sound Recorder
The sound recording panel allows you to make customised sound files, which can then be saved inside the My Library feature of Picturacy. To use the sound recorder function you must first ensure that your PC has a working microphone.

Before starting a recording you need to enter a unique name to identify your sound file once it has been saved inside the My Library feature of Picturacy. To start recording sound choose the Record button from the Sound Recorder Panel. To playback your recording immediately after it has recorded click on the Play button. There is a maximum capture time of 20 seconds.

You can also adjust the volume and channel of sound inside the Sound Recorder Panel by clicking and dragging the sliders as required.

Toolbox (Left) Storyboard
Picturacy provides you with the opportunity to produce your own storyboard of images that you have saved inside the My Library feature of Picturacy. Simply click and drag your saved images from the My Library into a free position on the time strip.

See page xx for more information about importing images to My Library from external and internal sources of Picturacy.

To alter playback speed per image; choose from the given range of 0.5 – 4 seconds in the Speed dropdown box.  You can control the playback from the buttons inside the Storyboards Panel. These controls include Previous (go to previous image), Play/Pause (play or pause playback) and Next (go to next image).

To restart playback; click on the Reset button. If you wish to remove a single image from the storyboard click on Clear Frame; alternatively click on Clear All to erase the entire storyboard. Save the storyboard in its current state by clicking on the save button located directly next to it.

If you’d like to have a printed copy of your storyboard for reference or perhaps to distribute to an audience then click on Print Storyboards located in the Storyboards Panel. If your printer is installed correctly you should then be presented with a printer dialogue to specify print settings and then print.

You may need to refer to your printer’s manufacturer if you incur difficulty using your printer.

Toolbox (Left) Camera
Using the camera tool you can capture a photograph and have it directly saved inside the My Library feature of Picturacy by using the Screen Grab function. To use the camera tool you must first ensure that your PC has attached a working webcam or video camera; and that you have enabled Flash Player access permission in the settings window of Picturacy.  Select the settings button in the bottom-right hand corner to bring this window up. Start the camera by clicking on the camera icon. To stop using the camera click once again on the camera icon.

Toolbox (Left) Screen Grab
The Screen Grab function can be used throughout the use of Picturacy to capture an image and save it to My Library. Simply click the screen grab icon on the left-hand panel to capture an image of the active element on stage. Whatever is visible on the stage will be captured in this image including added text and pen marks.

Toolbox (Left) Clear
Use the delete icon on the left-hand panel to clear the stage of any active content including film clips and images.

Toolbox (Left) Print
Use the print icon on the left-hand panel to print the current contents of the stage. A print preview image will then appear which you need to click on to proceed to the print dialogue window.

Toolbox (Left) Import
Use the import icon on the left-hand panel to import files into My Library from your PC. Accepted file types for Picturacy are JPEG, GIF, PNG, MP3, AVI and WAV.

Media Bank
The Media Bank is your central resource for dragging and dropping film clips directly onto the stage area. Once you have chosen a film clip and placed it on to the stage then hover over it to reveal the play bar and volume control. Use the drop down box to directly select a clip for playback on the stage.

Text Box
This function is available from the bottom left-hand corner of the stage. Use this for placing a text caption above the stage contents such as a film clip. Should you wish to capture a still of the film clip including the caption then use the Screen Grab function. When entering text you also have the option to alter its size by using the drop-down box located in bottom left-hand corner of the stage.

My Library
This is where both your internal and external files are stored for Picturacy including images, sounds and music. There are a number of ways to add files to your library by using Screen Grab, the Camera Tool, the Sound Recorder tool or the Import tool.

Before placing an image onto the stage ensure that you have removed any active content including film clips and images from the stage by clicking on the delete icon located in the left-hand panel.

You can remove files from My Library by clicking and dragging them over to the wastebasket icon. To remove the entire contents of a library section; image, sound or files click on Clear.