Video screens
Use the timeline to place steps at the right moment in a recorded take, add zooms and pans, loop a stretch while a step waits, and follow a take through processing.
A video screen plays a recorded take of your product inside the tour. It's the best fit for flows that move: a report building, a drag and drop, a page loading its data. The tour pauses the take at each step, so the viewer gets the motion and the explanation together.
You're in the right place when a tour has a video screen and you want to time its steps, frame its camera moves, or understand what happens to a take after you record it.
How does a video screen play?
In the tour player, the take plays from the start until it reaches the time of the first step. It pauses there and the step shows. When the viewer moves on, the take plays on to the next step's time, and so on to the end.
A video screen with no steps plays the whole take, then the tour moves on.
Steps on a video screen always play in time order. Their order in the storyboard doesn't change that, so move a step on the timeline to change when it plays.
Where do video screens come from?
A video screen is a recorded take, made with the ShowPilot Capture extension:
- With Video chosen as the capture type in the extension. See Capture with the extension.
- From New tour → Recording a video, which opens your app with the extension set to record. See Create a tour.
Once a take is in your library, add it to any tour with Add screen, like any other capture.
What happens to a take after you record it?
When you save a take, ShowPilot processes it in four stages. Open the take in Tours → Captures to see where it is. The page shows each stage as it finishes:
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| Uploaded | The take is saved to your library. |
| Transcribed | Everything you said while recording is turned into text, with the time of every word. |
| Scenes cut | The take is split into scenes. When the extension logged your clicks during the recording, the page says "Event log captured", and the scenes are cut on your clicks. |
| Storyboard drafted | ShowPilot writes a storyboard from the scenes and what you said: chapters, and a panel for each moment worth a step. |
The page says which stage it's waiting for, and updates when you refresh.
When ShowPilot builds a tour from a processed take, each drafted moment becomes a step pinned to its time on the timeline. Stretches where nothing moves can play as a still frame instead of video.
What you say while recording matters. The transcript feeds the drafted storyboard and the step text, so narrate the take the way you'd explain it to a buyer.
What's on the timeline?
Select a video screen and the timeline appears along the bottom of the canvas.
| Part | What it does |
|---|---|
| Previous step / Next step | Jump the playhead to the step before or after it. With no step in that direction, it goes to the start or end. |
| Play / Pause | Plays the take on the canvas. |
| Mute / Unmute | Turns the take's sound on or off in the builder. |
| Scrub bar | Click or drag anywhere on it to move the playhead. |
| Step blocks | The bar is cut into blocks at each step's time, labelled with the step's title. A block of 3 seconds or more shows its length. With no steps, one block reads Full take. |
| Step chip | The icon at the start of each block. Select it to open that step. |
| Camera lane | The strip under the blocks, showing every zoom and pan. |
| + Zoom | Adds a zoom at the playhead. |
| Minimize | Shrinks the timeline to a slim bar with play and scrub, giving the canvas more room. Expand brings it back. |
How do you add a step at the right moment?
Find the moment
Play the take and pause, or scrub, to the frame where the step belongs.
Add the step
Select Add step. The menu heading shows the time, such as "Adds to Reports at 1:05". Choose Guide, Lightbox or Link.
Draw its anchor
For a guide or link, click and drag a box around the area on the frame. Video screens are footage, so there are no elements to click.
Save it
Fill in the form and select Add guide, Add lightbox or Add link. The step appears as a new block on the timeline.
How do you change when a step plays?
Open the step, by selecting its chip on the timeline or its row in the storyboard. While the form is open, scrubbing the timeline moves the step with the playhead. The scrub bar's hint says so: "steps pin at the playhead while editing". Stop on the new frame, then select Save changes.
With a step open, selecting another step's chip moves the playhead to that chip's time rather than opening the other step.
How do you add zooms and pans?
The camera lane holds two kinds of move.
| Kind | Looks like | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Step camera | An outlined span reading Zoom · step or Pan · step | Belongs to a step and lasts as long as that step. Set it in the step's Camera section. Selecting it opens the step. See Step settings. |
| Free camera move | A solid block reading Zoom 4s or Pan 4s | Lives on the timeline by itself, with its own start and end, whatever the steps are doing. |
To work with free camera moves:
| To | Do this |
|---|---|
| Add one | Move the playhead and select + Zoom. It adds a four-second zoom there, framed on the middle of the screen. |
| Move it | Drag the block along the lane. |
| Shorten or lengthen it | Drag either edge. A move lasts at least half a second. |
| Frame it | Select the block. The playhead jumps into it and a frame appears on the canvas. Drag the frame to aim it and pull its corners to size it. |
| Remove it | Select the block, then select the ✕ on it (Remove camera move). |
The frame on the canvas only shows while the playhead is inside the move. Scrub outside it and the frame goes away.
Use a step camera when the zoom is about what a step says. Use a free move for camera work between steps, such as easing in on a chart while the take plays.
How do you loop part of a take while a step waits?
By default the take pauses while a step shows. Loop video segment replays a stretch instead, so the screen keeps moving while the viewer reads. It suits steps on moments such as a loading chart or a live feed.
Turn it on
Open the step and go to Settings. Turn on Loop video segment.
Choose where the loop ends
Under Loop boundary, choose At next step to loop from this step's time to the next step's time. Choose Custom time to end it somewhere else.
Set a custom end
For Custom time, type the end in Custom end time (seconds), or select Set on timeline, scrub to the frame you want, and select Confirm.
Test it
Your video screen works when:
- You select Preview and the take pauses on each step at the right frame.
- Each step's box sits over the right part of the frame.
- Zooms start and end where you set them.
- A looping step replays its stretch until you move on.
Troubleshooting
| Issue | What to check |
|---|---|
| Steps play in a different order from the storyboard | Video steps always play in time order. Move the step on the timeline. |
| A step moved when you only meant to look around | Scrubbing with a step open retimes it. Close the step before you scrub to browse, or select Cancel to put it back. |
| The frame for a free zoom isn't showing | Select the move's block. The frame only shows while the playhead is inside the move. |
| A take's page still shows a stage waiting | Refresh the page. If it stays stuck for a long time, record the take again. |
| Scenes don't line up with your clicks | Check the take's page for "Event log captured". Without the click log, scenes are cut from the footage alone. Clicks are logged in the tab you start recording from, so click through that tab. |
| There's no Loop video segment option | It only shows on steps on a video screen. |
FAQ
Can I trim or cut a take in the builder?
No. The builder doesn't edit footage. Steps pause the take where you need them, and Loop video segment can hold on a stretch.
Can I add a pan on the timeline?
Not with + Zoom, which adds zooms only. For a pan, set Pan in a step's Camera section.
Can I edit the text on a video screen?
No. Video screens are footage. Capture the screen as HTML if you need to change what's on it. See Edit what's on a screen.
Does the sound from my recording play in the tour?
No. Takes play muted in the tour player, and the Mute button only affects the builder. For spoken words in the tour, use step voiceover or tour narration. See Step settings.
Can I use the same take in more than one tour?
Yes. A take is a capture in your library. Add it to any tour with Add screen, and each tour gets its own steps and camera moves on it.
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