Tips & Tricks

NB Added in date order with newest Tips & Tricks at bottom of list.

1. Put all prepped media into one directory before starting a project, and don’t move it or rename it during the life of the project.
2. Don’t map out the project in advance. Korsakow films are not like ‘Choose your own adventure’ stories, ie they don’t have fixed links.
3. Set the grid in the Interface Editor to match the aspect ratio of your video assets, eg for 4:3, try setting the width=40, and height=30.
4. SNUs can be created from still images. Drag the image file (eg a jpg) into the main Korsakow window. Double-click on the image file to SNUify it. The default duration of a still image is 5 seconds. From version 5.0.4: To adjust this duration (currently up to 30 secs) right-click (Windows) or control-click (Mac) on the still image and select ‘Get Info’. The duration can now be adjusted using the slider.
5. For test exports, use the Draft Export option (File > Export > Draft for Web). This feature is new in version 5.0.4. It creates a low-res, cached export which will open automatically in your default web browser (eg Safari, Internet Explorer, Firefox) as soon as it is done. Since it is cached, you cannot save this export. If, however, you want to keep your draft export files, or are using a version of Korsakow prior to 5.0.4, do the following: Switch the Encoding profile (File > Project Settings > Export) to FLV Low. Although image quality is often poor, this is by far the quickest Export codec. Remember to switch back to a higher quality profile for final Export.
6. Overwrite older exports, but don’t overwrite all your video assets every single time – unless the content of previously exported video assets has changed. In other words, changing the interface design or SNU information (eg keywords) or Preview text only affects the index.html file, so there’s no need to recompress your video assets.
7. Prior to dragging and dropping them into a Korsakow Project, your video assets can be batch processed using Apple Compressor as follows:
   • Import all of your full resolution files into Compressor
   • Change the compression setting to custom-> quicktime H.264
   • Choose a destination folder to save your new files
   • Select all the clips and drag the new custom compression setting to these files
   • Select all the clips, go to the Target menu and under Destination select a place to store your newly compressed clips
   • Click on the Submit button
   • Give a name to this batching process
   • click OK.
8. Playback controls: A k-film can be paused using the space bar. The current SNU can be skipped using the forward arrow. A k-film can be restarted simply by clicking on the reload button in the browser’s toolbar. A viewer’s path through the k-film can be recorded by deploying the History and Get History widgets in the Interface Editor.
9. From version 5.0.4: Any SNU in a k-film can be shared or embedded on another website. The viewer just needs to float their cursor over the current SNU and click on the ‘Share’ button that appears in the top right corner of the SNU. (Added 28/3/10.)
10. Two advanced options that Florian uses, ‘Keep links per line’ and ‘Clear links per line’, can be accessed by adding special OUT keywords while SNUifying: Keep links per line (three dashes without spaces: – - -) and Clear links per line (the letter ‘x’ three times: xxx). Click here for a very simple demo. (Added 29/3/10.)