Overlay Features

Overview

This article provides a comprehensive overview of the video overlay features designed to significantly enhance your video analysis and presentation capabilities. These tools allow for dynamic annotations and visual aids directly on your video content, making your insights clearer and more impactful.

Overlay Menu

To begin utilizing these features, simply click the Show Overlay Menu button. This button is positioned in the bottom left corner of the Video Player panel.

Once the Overlay Menu is active, you will discover a variety of tools, each crafted to serve a specific purpose in your video annotation workflow.

Text

The Text feature enables you to add a custom text box directly onto your video. To create a text box, simply click and drag. Once created, you can type in your desired text, reshape the box to an appropriate size, and drag it to its optimal location on the screen. 

The Properties menu offers extensive customization options for your text, allowing you to adjust the font, size, and orientation. You can also refine the visual appearance by changing the outline color, fill color, opacity, or the text color itself, ensuring your messages are presented clearly and effectively.

Play Diagramming Tools

These specialized tools are indispensable for diagramming plays, illustrating movements, and providing clear visual explanations directly on your video.

Cut Line Tool

To use the Cut line tool, first select the tool, then click on the video to mark the starting point of your line, and finally drag to its desired end point. While lines are initially straight, they can be effortlessly transformed into curves by selecting the red dot located in the middle of the line and dragging it in the direction you wish the line to bend. If you would like to return to a straight line, double-click the red dot in the center.

For situations requiring an angle rather than a smooth curve, a simple right-click on the line, and select Properties from the dropdown menu. Here you can switch the line type from curved to angled. Furthermore, this properties menu allows for detailed customization of the line type, color, and thickness, ensuring your diagrams are both accurate and aesthetically pleasing.

Complementary Line Tools

In addition to the Cut Line Tool, the Screen Line, Pass Line, and Handoff Line tools are also available. These tools operate with the same intuitive functionality as the Cut Line Tool, providing a consistent and efficient experience for various diagramming needs. These are all visually customizable in the properties menu,

Line Tool: Simple Divisional Lines

For straightforward divisional needs, the Line Tool allows you to draw a simple straight line. This is particularly useful for segmenting the court or screen into distinct areas, aiding in spatial analysis.

Shape Tools

The shape tools provide the ability to draw circles and rectangles on your video, to highlight specific areas. Select a shape from the toolbar, click and drag the shape on the video, then utilize the various points to stretch and adjust the shape to your desired proportions. 

The Properties menu offers comprehensive customization for these shapes, including adjustments to the outline thickness and color, line type, fill color, and opacity. This ensures that your highlighted areas are both precise and visually distinct.

Spotlight Tool

The Spotlight Tool is an excellent feature for drawing immediate attention to a particular player or area within your video. By clicking and dragging, you can create the base of the spotlight around your target, which will then project a conical spotlight from above. 

Should you prefer a less dramatic effect, the properties menu allows you to remove the cone, leaving just an oval spotlight. Additionally, you can adjust the fill color and opacity of the spotlight.

Images

The Images tool offers the flexibility to incorporate external images from your device directly into your video. To add an image, simply click the Image tool, select your desired file, and it will appear on your video. Once placed, you can easily adjust its size and position by clicking and dragging, seamlessly integrating external visual content into your analysis.

Stickers

Stickers offer a quick and efficient method for adding helpful imagery to your video. This collection includes visual markers such as Player Numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), tactical indicators X1-X5, and common sports equipment representations including circles, balls, and cones. 

You have full control over their presentation; their size can be easily adjusted by clicking and dragging, and their outline color can be customized through the dedicated properties menu to match your specific visual requirements.

Customizing Your Overlay Toolbar

The overlay toolbar is customizable, allowing you to tailor it to your individual preferences and workflow. By right-clicking on any tool, you gain access to options that enable you to rename it, remove it from the toolbar, or set its default properties. This ensures that each time you access a tool, it will be configured precisely to your liking. 

You can also add to your toolbar by clicking the Add Overlay Tool Button located on the right, selecting from a list of available tools to add. Additionally, you have the ability to create multiple instances of the same tool on your toolbar, each with its own distinct set of saved customizations, significantly enhancing efficiency for varied analytical tasks.

Telestration

Live telestration transforms your video player into a temporary chalkboard, offering an immediate and intuitive way to annotate during playback. When the Overlay menu is closed, you can simply click and hold your cursor over the screen at any point. This action will instantly pause the video, allowing you to draw directly on the screen. These spontaneous drawings are temporary, disappearing after a few seconds as video playback resumes. This dynamic feature is available for use whether you are reviewing individual clips or entire timelines, providing a fluid and responsive annotation experience.