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FAQ

Step 2: Adding Bubbles | FAQ

1. How do I add Bubbles?
In the PLYcreator™, click on “Add Bubble” (it might take a moment). The video will pause and you will see a Bubble appear on your video. You can now add text or a hyperlink to the Bubble and control its appearance (color and transparency).

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2. How do I save my Bubble?
Once you are finished creating your Bubbles, simply click outside of the Bubble and the Bubble will automatically be saved.

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3. How do I change the type of Bubble?
When creating a Bubble a small tool bar will appear near your Bubble. If you do not see the tool bar, simply click on the Bubble you want to change and the tool bar will become visible.

The left button ‘sub’ on the tool bar enables you to create subtitles (see FAQ #15 below on how to create subtitles). The middle three buttons on the tool bar gives you the option to select other types of Bubbles, such as a commentary, thought or speech Bubbles. The right button on the tool bar allows you to delete the Bubble.

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4. Can I change the direction of the tail of a Bubble?
Of course. The tail of each bubble has an orange dot. Simply place your mouse on the dot (note: your cursor will change to a four-directional arrow), click on the dot and drag it to where you'd like the tail positioned.

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5. Why are there different types of Bubbles?
All the Bubbles that are available on Bubbleply.com are based on those used in comics. Including:

  • Speech Bubble
  • Thought Bubble
  • Commentary Bubble

There's also a button to allow you to create subtitles. See FAQ #15 below for more details on how to create subtitles.

If you would like to send us your version of a Bubble please email [email protected]

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6. Can I add more than one Bubble?
It wouldn’t be fun if you couldn’t. Each time you want to add a bubble, simply click on the ‘Add Bubble’ button. You can add several bubbles to the same frame, as well as adding throughout the entire video.

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7. How can I add another Bubble?
Once you have finished creating your Bubble and have clicked outside your Bubble, you can press the play button to continue the video. To add another Bubble, simply click the ‘Add Bubble’ button; the video will pause and a Bubble will be appear on the screen ready for you to add your text. You can add as many Bubbles as you like.

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8. How can I align all my Bubbles?
Under the ‘Add Bubble’ button is a ‘Show Grid’ button. This will open a grid over your video to help you determine how you would like to position your Bubbles. Simply click ‘Hide Grid’ to turn it off.

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9. Can I add a hyperlink?
Sure you can. In fact, there are two ways to add a hyperlink.

1. You can add a link to the bottom of any Bubble you create. When creating a Bubble, a control panel will open under your video in the PLYcreator™. Click on the left tab called ‘Link’ to start add your hyperlink. Next to the word ‘Link’, type the actual URL you want people to visit. You can change how your link appears in the Bubble by changing the text in the Display line.

When a hyperlink is clicked, the movie continues playing with your link opening in a new browser.

Example Link: http://www.bubbleply.com
Display: bubbling


2. You can make a specific word (words) or different words hyperlinked in the text of the Bubble. After you write the text in your bubble, click on the left tab in the control panel called ‘Text’ and then highlight the word (or words) in your Bubble you want to create the link for. You can do this for as many words in the text Bubble that you want. In the control panel, type the actual URL you want people to visit and then click on ‘Link selected text to this URL’ (just below the address box) and the highlighted text will become a hyperlink.

To delete a hypelink from a word, highlight the word with the link and click on the ‘Delete link’ button (just below the address box) and that specific link will be deleted.

You can also add a hyperlink to either the Bubble (#1) or specific text (#2) in the Bubble by using the mouse right-click menu. In the edit mode, click on the Bubble to which you want to add a hyperlink and right-click on the mouse. You can add a hyperlink to the Bubble by choosing the ‘Create link on Bubble’. To add a text hyperlink (not available for image or clip art Bubbles), choose the ‘Create link on selected text’ option. You can also delete the links you created using this menu (note: when deleting a hyperlink in the text, highlight the text by dragging your mouse over the hyperlinked text, then move your mouse to the edge of the Bubble until you see a four-directional arrow and then right-click on the mouse and choose the  ‘Delete link on selected text’option.

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10. How can I change the timing of a Bubble?
When creating a Bubble, a control panel will open under your video in the PLYcreator™. Click on the left tab (top button) called ‘Timing’ to control the start, end and duration period of your bubble. The default setting for each bubble is 3 seconds. You can change the start, end and duration time by clicking on the arrows.

Note: When you change the time on one timer it will automatically adjust the others.

Example:

The current time is: start 00:00:04, duration 00:00:03, end 00:00:07
If you change the duration to 00:00:07, then the end will automatically change to 00:00:11

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11. Why does the timer not move in precise seconds?
This is one of the limitations of working with flash. The encoding of an FLV file does not allow the viewer to always choose a specific point in time. If this presents a problem, simply add your Bubble to the next point of the movie that the player allows.

The BubblePLY.com development team is working to improve this capability.

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12. Can I change the size of the Bubble?
Yes. Around each Bubble you create are positioning dots (at the corners and centered top and bottom). Click on any of these dots and drag your mouse to resize the Bubble to your desired size.

Note: Once you move your mouse to a positioning dot, your cursor will change to a two-directional arrow. When the arrow appears, click to resize the Bubble.

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13. How can I move my Bubble?
Move your mouse to the Bubble you want to move and click and drag the Bubble to a new location.

Note: Once you move your mouse on top of the Bubble, your cursor will change to a four-directional arrow (when the cursor is located in the text area, it will appear as a regular cursor). When the arrow appears, click to move the Bubble.

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14. Can I duplicate my Bubble?
Yes. There are currently two ways that you can copy and paste a Bubble.

1) Select the Bubble you want to duplicate and click on the Copy button (found in the tool bar next to the Bubble). Then simply click on Paste button to duplicate the Bubble on the same frame, or continue playing the video and click the “Paste Bubble” button (found below the “Add Bubble” button) or slide the timer to the desired point and click a “Paste Bubble” button (found either on the tool bar or below the “Add Bubble” button).

2) Select the Bubble you want to duplicate and right-click your mouse and choose the ‘Copy Bubble’ option. Then simply right-click on the mouse and choose ‘Paste Bubble’ to duplicate the Bubble on the same frame, or continue playing the video or slide the timer to the desired point and right-click on the mouse and choose ‘Paste Bubble’.

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15. What special effects or text effects can I add to my Bubble?
When creating a Bubble, a control panel will open under your video in the PLYcreator™. Click on the left tab called ‘Bubble’ to add effects to your Bubble. Currently, we offer a wide selection of colors to change the color of your Bubble background. You can also create a Bubble outline by changing the ‘Outline Width’ (creates a border of varying sizes around the Bubble), change the Transparency of the Bubble background from 0% (full background) to 100% (completely invisible) and add a Bubble shadow (or remove the shadow) by checking the ‘Bubble Shadow’ box.

Click on the ‘Text’ tab in the control panel to change the font size and color of the text or to make your text bold or italics. Currently, we offer a wide selection of colors to change the color of your Bubble text.

You can make any word of text in your Bubble a different size, different color, different link and with a different effect. Your limitation is your own creativity.

You can reset the text to the default text size and effects by clicking on the ‘Reset Bubble text format’ (just below the address box) in the ‘Text’ tab.

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16. Can I animate my Bubble and make it move over the PLY?
Sorry for the long explanation to follow, but we wanted to try to make this feature as clear as possible, since it's probably the most complicated one. Animated Bubble Demo

After you add a Bubble, you will notice 2 buttons in the Bubble toolbar: one to ‘Animate Bubble’, the other to ‘Remove Animation’. By clicking on the ‘Animate Bubble’ button, a small animation menu toolbar will appear and so will a small help bubble which briefly explains how to animate your Bubble.

In this toolbar, there are several elements:

  1. Show Help: This box is checked automatically. By un-checking the box, the help bubble will disappear or reappear. If this is checked, the help bubble will appear every time you create an animation Bubble (un-check the box to close the help bubble permanently). You can also close the help bubble by clicking on the Close button at the top right corner of the help bubble but this will only close this instance of the help bubble - it will reappear the next time you add an animation to a new Bubble.

  2. Curve: This default is un-checked. By checking the box, you will notice that the animation path line on the Bubble becomes curved and two red handles appear.

  3. Bubble/Tail/Both: Choose the part of the Bubble that you want to move.
  1. Bubble: By choosing the Bubble, only the Bubble will move along the path and the Tail point will remain fixed (great for when you want to have the Tail point to something static on the screen and just want to move the Bubble).

  2. Tail: By choosing the Tail, only the Tail will move along the path and the Bubble will remain fixed (great for when you want to have the Tail point move along with something on screen but want the Bubble to remain fixed).

  3. Both: By choosing Both, both the Bubble and the Tail will move along the path.

Ok, so now that you understand the elements, how do you create an animation path, you might ask?
You will notice that a line appears when you pressed the ‘Animate Bubble’. This is your movement or animation path. The default is set to appear as a straight line at the top of your Bubble with the path's Start Point at the top left corner of the Bubble and the End Point to the right.

To change the path, simply move your mouse to either the Start Point (shown as a green triangle) or the End Point (shown as a 'T' turned sideways) - your mouse will change to a four-directional arrow to move either point.

You will also notice a red pulsing dot. This indicates what point will move along your animation path. So, if you've chosen the Bubble or Both to move, the red pulsing dot appears on the top left corner of the Bubble and that part of the Bubble will move along the path. If you've chosen the move the Tail, the red pulsing dot will appear at the Tail point to indicate that the Tail will move along the path.
The Bubble will move at a defined speed such that it will move along the path the entire time of the Bubble time length. So if your Bubble length is set to 3 seconds the Bubble will move along the path in three seconds (a shorter path means faster, a longer path means slower). If your Bubble length is changed to 10 seconds and the animation path is the same, the Bubble will move slower such that it will take 10 seconds (and not 3) for it to move along the entire path.

Simply play around with the animation path to get your desired result. You can preview the movement by pressing the ‘Preview’ and then change the path accordinly. Once you're satisfied, click ‘Apply’ and your animation path will be saved. If you press ‘Cancel’, the animation toolbar will disappear and if you didn't apply your animation path, it will have disappeared. If you did apply the animation, ‘Cancel’ only closes the animation toolbar and if you re-enter the Bubble, the animation you created will still be there. To remove the animation entirely, click on the ‘Remove Animation’ button on the Bubble toolbar.

A few more things (yes, we know it's long, but we've spent alot of time to get this right and we wanted it to be as simple but as effective as possible).

If you want the Bubble to move along a curved path, check the Curve box in the toolbar. You will notice that the path changes from a straight line to a curved one. Also, two red handles appear (one at the Start Point of the path, the other at the End Point). Move your mouse to the either end of the handle (your mouse will change to a four-directional arrow) to move the handle. You will see that my moving any end of a handle, the curved path changes. Change the handles to achieve your desired curved path.

Last thing to note, due to limitations of Flash, you can not watch the video while changing the animation. What does that mean? You will need to use trial and error to get the best result by creating the animation, applying it, watching it while the video plays and then changing things as necessary (click back into the Bubble to re-edit the animation). You can however, move the time scroll bar - the triangle found at the bottom of the player a few frames at a time (again due to the limitations of Flash, some Flash files jump a few frames while others jump many frames) to see how your path will appear as the backdrop of the video changes. This way you can get an rought idea of what appears on the video as the video plays and you can adjust the animation path abit more accurately. We know this is not an ideal solution and we are constantly trying to improve our product.

We hope you enjoy this animation feature as well as all our others and as with any comments about our product, if you have any suggestions, please e-mail us at [email protected].

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17. How can I create subtitles for a video?
When creating a Bubble a small tool bar will appear near your Bubble. If you do not see the tool bar, simply click on the Bubble you want to change and the tool bar will become visible. Click on the left button ‘sub’ to create subtitles.

How does it work? Simply type your the text you want to appear as a subtitle and the text will be automatically positioned as subtitled text. You can change the timing of the Bubble (see FAQ #10 on how to change the timing of a Bubble), but the other Bubble options (‘Link’, ‘Bubble’ and ‘Text’) are disabled in the subtitle Bubble.

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18. Can I add an image to the PLY?
Yes. You can simply add an image by clicking on the “Add Bubble” button and choosing the image icon from the toolbar. A window will open up that will allow you to choose a picture from your computer (the image format should either be a .jpg, .jpeg, .gif or .png). BubblePLY will import the picture as a Bubble and create a default size. You can then resize the image, add a link for the image or change its transparency. You can also copy and paste the image to the same or different frame in the PLY (See FAQ 14 about duplicating a Bubble).

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19. Can I add animation to the PLY?
Yes. We offer a Bubble type called ‘Clip Art’. We've created several clip art animations which you can add to your PLY. Click on the ‘Clip Art’ bubble option from the tool bar (after clicking on the “Add Bubble” button and choose the clip art icon). A list of available clip art will open up to choose from. You can then resize the clip art, add a link for the clip and add a Bubble Shadow. You can also copy and paste the clip art to the same or different frame in the PLY (See FAQ 14 about duplicating a Bubble).

We are constantly adding more clip art to our menu. If you have suggestions of clip art that you'd like, please e-mail us at [email protected].

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20. How do I move to the next step - Getting a Link?
Simply click the ‘Done Editing’ button on the top right of the player. All of your Bubbles will be saved and ready for you to embed, view or share with others.

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21. How can I keep track of all the PLYs and Bubbles I have added?
Register! The process is very simple and only takes a few seconds. If you created PLYs before registering from the same computer, they will be saved and ready for you to view from your new account.

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22. How can I duplicate (clone) an entire PLY I’ve created?
As a registered user, go to ‘My Account’ and click on “My PLY list”. From there, choose the PLY that you want to duplicate (or clone). Then in the PLY properties, you will see a link to create a Clone. A clone duplicates a PLY and all the Bubbles in that PLY. The new PLY will be named: Copy 1 (or 2 or 3, etc..) of Original Ply Name (you can change the name of the new PLY by going into its PLY properties). This new PLY will be a completely new PLY and any change you make in the original or clone will not change the other. This gives our creators an easier way to personalize a PLY they created by changing a few things here or there rather than recreating the PLY from the start.

Remember to clone a PLY you must be a registered user (username and password only).

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23. Can I edit and or delete a Bubble?
If you are not registered, you can only edit or delete a Bubble while still in the editing mode (before you click the ‘Done Creating’ button). If you are registered you can always visit your account to see previous PLYs and have access to features such as edit and / or delete.

You can delete your Bubble by clicking on the ‘X’ icon from the Bubble toolbar or alternatively, click the Bubble you want to delete and right-click on your mouse and choose the ‘Delete Bubble’option.

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