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ADENAcademy · In-Depth · Lesson 5 of 6

Create, upload, set up, and use graphical elements, themes, and transitions on AREC

This lesson explains how to create, upload, configure, and use overlays, backgrounds, themes, transitions, and custom startup and pause images on AREC Media Stations.

Creating, uploading, setting up, and using various graphical elements, themes, and transitions on AREC Media Stations

As we mentioned in In-Depth Lesson 1 “Review of the Online Director Page”, the recording and streaming output of Media Stations – mixed video – consists of a number of elements: layouts, overlays, and backgrounds.



Overlays are elements that are in front of layouts and backgrounds. Usually, overlays are used for logos of organisations/companies/institutions, nameplates and titles of speakers/presenters/teachers, important announcements, advertisements, and other kinds of information. Current AREC Media Stations (e.g. LS-410/LS-310/LS-210) support 10 standard overlays. Special overlays – such as the Online Director’s Textual overlay and Date/Time overlay – do not count.


Layouts are in the middle layer of mixed video. Layouts determine the number of video channels (and thus, video sources) in a mixed video. Layouts also determine how the video channels are positioned in a mixed video and their size. They are covered in In-Depth Lesson 6 "Editing layouts on AREC Media Stations".


Backgrounds, as the name suggests, are in the back of a mixed video. Usually, backgrounds are used for adding colour schemes, designs, and various visuals matching the organisation/company/institution style, advertisements, logos (that may be covered by video channels), and other kinds of information. Current AREC Media Stations support 20 backgrounds.



Managing overlays and backgrounds



To access all available overlays and backgrounds of a Media Station, open the “Administrator” → “Video” → “Theme” page. By default, AREC Media Stations feature a few premade overlays and backgrounds, and allow users to create and upload more. If you are looking for more premade overlays and backgrounds, they can be downloaded from our website www.a-dena.com → “Resources” → “Firmware & Resources”. To delete an overlay or background image, first select it, then click “Delete” and “Confirm” to apply.


Uploading new overlays and backgrounds


To upload an overlay or background, simply click the “+” sign in the line under “Overlay” or “Background” respectively and select the image you want to upload. Only images that satisfy the following requirements can be uploaded on the latest models:


Overlays: images must be .png. To show on top of layouts and backgrounds without blocking them, they should be transparent. Their resolution can be any from 1x1 to 3840x2160. If an overlay’s resolution is lower than the mixed video, the image will not be stretched. Meaning, if the mixed video resolution is 1920x1080, a 500x500 overlay image stays within 500x500 pixels on a 1920x1080 mixed video canvas.


Backgrounds: images must be .png. Their resolution can be any from 160x120 to 3840x2160 pixels. Images should not be transparent; otherwise, they will have a forced white background. Backgrounds will be adjusted to match the mixed video resolution if it is different. Meaning, if the mixed video resolution is 1920x1080, a 500x500 background image will be stretched to fill the 1920x1080 mixed video canvas.


Creating overlays and backgrounds


While advanced background and overlay images may take a significant amount of time to create and require professionals, it is easy to create or modify a basic image to use on a Media Station. For this example, we will use Windows Paint.


To create an overlay or background in Paint, first, open the application and set your image resolution. Ideally, your resolution should match the mixed video resolution to make it easier to calculate where the video channels would be. For this example, let’s set the image resolution to 1920x1080. Click “File” → “Image properties”, set “Units” to “Pixels” and type 1920 under “Width” and 1080 under “Height”.


Setting up image resolution


Next, if you want the overlay image to be transparent, remove the background by opening “Layers” and clicking “Hide background”.


Background images are not meant to have transparency effects and so there is no need to click “Hide background” when making them. To make an image non-transparent, make sure to click "Show background" in the "Layers".


Hiding background in Paint


Showing background in Paint


Now that the canvas is ready, use Paint tools to draw or insert any image and write text. When you are finished, click “File” → “Save as” → “PNG picture”. Give the file a name and upload it to the Media Station as we described earlier.


Editing overlays and backgrounds


To edit an existing overlay or background on your computer, right-click it and select “Open with” → “Paint”. Overlays and backgrounds that are downloadable from our website www.a-dena.com → “Resources” → “Firmware & Resources” all feature 1920x1080 resolution and correct transparency settings, allowing you to focus on adding names, titles, and other information. If you are using third-party resources, make sure to double-check image resolution and transparency parameters.



Themes


Combining overlays, backgrounds, and layouts


Overlays, backgrounds, and layouts can all be controlled and switched together using “Themes”. Current AREC Media Stations support up to 50 themes simultaneously. To create a theme, click the “+” sign in the line under “Theme”. This will open a theme creation menu. Specify a name for this new theme, overlay, layout, and background to use. The theme preview in the top-left corner shows how the combination looks together and can be used to adjust overlay/background positions.


To delete an existing theme, select it and click "Delete" → "Confirm".


Theme configuration example


All newly created overlays, backgrounds, and themes can be controlled using various control methods available in AREC Media Stations that we described previously, e.g., in In-Depth Lesson 3 “Controlling and Scheduling AREC Media Stations” and In-Depth Lesson 1 “Review of the Online Director Page”.


Making transition/pause themes


Themes are also a convenient way of accessing the zero-channel layout. This layout does not display any video sources, but it can be used with any overlay and background image combinations. This allows you to create custom transition/pause themes. This layout is the first in the list of layouts available to you during theme creation.


Such themes have an advantage over the regular “pause” function of Media Stations: while no video sources are displayed, audio sources will still work (unless they are muted), allowing the user to continue engaging the audience, similar to a podcast.


Enabling date and time overlays


“Date/Time overlay” is another type of overlay that is supported by AREC Media Stations. It is placed on top of regular overlays and can be used simultaneously with them. As the name implies, this overlay displays the current time and date. The time it shows follows the time settings of the Media Station (configured under “Date and Time” on the “Administrator” → “System” → “General settings” page).


Toggle “On”/”Off” to enable or disable this overlay, change the format it displays the time and date in under “Format”, change its text colour under “Color”, and set its font size under “Size”. Lastly, you can change the overlay’s X/Y position by dragging the X/Y sliders. X position 0 places the leftmost corner of the overlay on the left edge of the mixed video, and Y position 0 places the top of the overlay on the top edge of the mixed video.


Adding smooth transitions


All current AREC Media Stations have a configurable fade out / fade in transition effect. It is found under “Smooth Transitions” on the “Administrator” → “Video” → “Theme”. Toggle “On”/”Off” to enable or disable the transition and set its duration with a slider (0.5s-5s).


This transition effect applies whenever an overlay, layout, background, or a theme is changed. The original elements fade out and are replaced by fading in, newly selected overlay / layout / background / theme elements.


Adding custom initialisation and pause images


It is also possible to change the images that are used when AREC Media Stations turn on and when the recording or streaming is paused. To do that, open the “Administrator” → “System” → “General settings” page of your Media Station.


Boot-up images must be .png and smaller than 3 MB. Pause images must be .jpg and their colour mode must be set to RGB. Note that CMYK colour mode prevents the Media Stations from displaying images properly.


Importantly, pause images can be changed while the device is recording or streaming.


That concludes the lesson. You can now test your knowledge and understanding by answering the questions on the lesson's form and watching the linked videos before moving on to the next lesson.


After you submit your answers on the form, make sure to click "View Scores" to see whether you answered correctly. You will also receive an email at the address you used when starting this lesson, containing your answers and a "View Scores" link.



Training Videos


Training Video – How to create Overlays and Backgrounds



ADENA Hacks


Please read these ADENA Hacks on our website:

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