ADENA Hack: How to use layouts for more effective presentations and conferencing?

Layout is an essential feature of all AREC Media Stations. All our models come with a number of preconfigured layouts that can be used to quickly set up the devices for all sorts of usage scenarios. However, to make the most of layouts, you may want to customise them for your specific case. You can do so easily through either the Online Director web interface or the Layout Editor app, both of which we have explained in the previous ADENA Hacks. 

In this post, we will use the Layout Editor app to show you a few ideas that you can try with your own Media Station.

Content source parameters: X: 0, Y: 12.50, W: 75, H: 75. Letterbox aspect ratio.

First source parameters: X: 75, Y: 12.50, W: 25, H: 75. Fit to height aspect ratio.

When you want to display your computer content and have a clear image of the presenter, e.g. for presentations and webinars, you can try this very simple layout. Its advantage is in how efficiently it uses the available space and maintains clean proportions. It leaves you enough space to add logos and backgrounds on the upper and lower thirds without impacting your content or presenter visibility.

For example, here is how we use this layout:

Like the source clarity, but need more space for messages? Consider making a few slight changes to this layout:

Content source parameters: X: 1.25, Y: 17.50, W: 72.50, H: 72.50. Letterbox aspect ratio.

First source parameters: X: 73.75, Y: 17.50, W: 25, H: 36.25. Fit to height aspect ratio.

This layout’s advantage is in the free space under the first source. As all AREC Media Stations allow uploading 10 overlays and 10 backgrounds, and, in some models, up to 20 each, you can use this space to display all sorts of elements: logos, advertisements, announcements, product images, upcoming speaker photos, textual overlays generated through the Online Director web interface, and more. The extra bit of space on the left can be used to wrap your content in a frame for emphasis or to fit your organisation’s style. Here is an example:

Need to show more than 2 sources, but the concept suits you? Here is another idea you can try:

Content source parameters: X: 17.50, Y: 27.50, W: 65.00, H: 65.00. Letterbox aspect ratio.

First source parameters: X: 2.50, Y: 2.50, W: 25.00, H: 25.00. Letterbox aspect ratio.

Second source parameters: X: 72.50, Y: 2.50, W: 25.00, H: 25:00. Letterbox aspect ratio.

When you have two presenters, or when there is a product that you want to be visible during the presentation, consider creating a layout like this. It gives priority to content and leaves enough canvas space to fill it with useful information: logos, topics, URLs, speaker and product names, and more. Here is how we use this layout:

And most importantly, you can implement all of these layout ideas and more simultaneously on your AREC Media Station! Combine them with overlays and backgrounds, switch between them easily using themes, and make your videos stand out.

If you’d like to know more about layouts, overlays, backgrounds and themes, we invite you to check out the following ADENAcademy lessons, all available for free:

• Level B, Lesson 9 - Overlays and backgrounds on AREC Media Stations, part 1 - how to upload and create them

  
  

• Level B, Lesson 10 - Overlays and backgrounds on AREC Media Stations, part 2 - how to mix them into themes and overview of theme 

  
  

• Level B, Lesson 11 - Import and export of configuration on AREC Media Stations and the Layout Editor App tutorial

And, as always, if you have any questions or want to know more about AREC and its features, please contact us at www.a-dena.com and we will be happy to assist you!

New ADENAcademy Lesson - Recording Conferencing with AREC

Dear ADENA Partners, have you tried our free training course, ADENAcademy? It explains A to Z of AREC and RADA products, and now it has become even more complete with a new lesson dedicated to recording conferencing audio on AREC Media Stations.

We cover three ways of bringing your conferencing software audio into AREC and participating from the computer running this software. This new lesson also comes with 3 videos that walk you through setting up all of these methods. Take a look at it now on our website here or directly through this link.

ADENA Hack: How to record videos on a USB drive with AREC without changing the file system?

All AREC Media Stations can save videos on USB drives. To be used for storage, the drives must first be formatted through the station’s “Administrator” web interface. The station changes the drive’s file system to “Ext4”, which is a typical file system for Linux OS. However, it is not natively supported by Windows or MacOS. This means that you cannot use the same drive interchangeably between an AREC station and a standard computer without changing the file system and consequently erasing all files on this drive. Changing the file system is not necessary if you plan to export the videos, but it requires the video to be saved on a storage beforehand since exporting simply copies the recorded file. Currently, the LS-US2 Media Station is the only one that can record directly on USB drives without changing their file system.

LS-US2

KS-CC1

To use this feature, go to the station’s “Administrator” web page, navigate to “Video” -> “Recording”, and enable the “Record to USB” option. KS-CC1, although not technically a Media Station, also has this feature and it can be enabled in the same way through its “Administrator” page. With the “Record to USB” mode enabled, the station can save files directly on USB drives as long as the drives are using an accepted file system, such as FAT32, NTFS, exFAT, Ext3, or Ext4, and have sufficient space. Please note that when “Record to USB” is enabled, the station will not save individual video sources and the files will only be stored on the USB drive. If you need individual video sources, or you need copies of the recording, you will have to use other storage modes.

If you want to learn more about the other storage options available on AREC and how to set them up, check out our free ADENAcademy training course, specifically Level B, Lesson 7: “Storing and backing up recorded videos with AREC”. For further information about AREC devices, please contact us at www.a-dena.com and we will be happy to answer you.