Besides creating interactive videos with video, instructors can also create interactive videos with a PDF file, a text item, or a text document. The text-based interactive video allows instructors to add questions, supporting material, and discussion forums to the reading material, turning the passive reading experience into an active learning activity. Please see this article for more information on creating a text-based interactive video.
In this article:
Create a blank video in WeVideo
To create a text-based interactive video, you need to use a blank video as the base. You can easily create one within WeVideo or use the blank videos from YouTube when creating the text-based interactive video. If you want to create your own blank video that is hosted in your account, please follow the steps in this section. If you want to use blank videos from YouTube directly, please skip to the next section.
Switch to the Multimedia Creation space, and click the Create button at the top to launch the WeVideo editor.
Select the Backgrounds option, then drag a solid-color background onto the timeline. You do not need to adjust the clip duration, as the text element in the interactive video will pause playback until learners finish it.
Click the Export button in the top-right corner of the window and adjust the title and settings as needed. It is recommended to adjust to a lower resolution to save some storage space in the license, and since the blank video background will be covered with the text element, it will not affect learners’ viewing experience.
Click Export to export it to your account.
Create an interactive video
To create a text-based interactive video, first launch the interactive video editor from the Interactivity or Multimedia Creation space.
From Interactivity, click the Create New Interactive Video button on the Interactive Videos page.
From Multimedia Creation, click the Create Interactive Video button on the Interactive Videos page.
If you have created a blank video in your WeVideo account, select WeVideo as the video source and import the blank video into the interactive video editor.
If you want to use the blank video from YouTube, select YouTube as the video source, search for a blank video, then import it into the interactive video editor.
Add the text element to the interactive video
There are three ways to add the text element to the interactive video. Depending on how you host your text, you can add the item via the PDF interaction, Web Embed interaction, or Pause interaction.
Add the text item with PDF interaction
This method is suitable for text elements in PDF format. Click the Create New Interaction button in the interactive video editor to add a new interaction.
Use the Interaction Type drop-down to change the interaction type to PDF File, then click the Choose a PDF File option to select a PDF file from your device.
Use the Placement drop-down to move the PDF interaction so it covers the video.
Click Save to save the interaction.
Add the text item with Web Embed interaction
This method is suitable for text elements hosted on a website. Click the Create New Interaction button in the interactive video editor to add a new interaction.
Use the Interaction Type drop-down to change the interaction type to Web Embed, then paste the website's URL into the URL field in the Web Embed interaction.
Use the Placement drop-down to move the Web Embed interaction so it covers the video.
Click Save to save the interaction.
Add the text item with the Pause interaction
Alternatively, you can also copy and paste the text item directly into the Pause interaction. Click the Create New Interaction button in the interactive video editor to add a new interaction.
Use the Interaction Type drop-down to change the interaction type to Pause interaction, then copy the content and paste it into the text field of the Pause interaction.
Use the Placement drop-down to move the Pause interaction so it covers the video.
Click Save to save the interaction.
Add Interactions to the text-based interactive video
Scroll down to the text item in the interactive video and click the Add Interaction to Group button.
Use the Interaction Type drop-down to select the interaction type, then enter its content. Ensure the interaction placement is set to Sidebar, then click Save to save the interaction.
After the first interaction is added, the text item and the interaction will be converted into an interaction group. To add more interactions to the group, scroll to the top of the interaction group and click the Add Interaction to Group button. Repeat the steps in this section as needed to add more interactions to the interactive video.
Review and assign the text-based interactive video
After adding all the interactions, switch to the Review tab, then adjust the settings as needed. Learn more about interactive video settings in this article.
To assign the text-based interactive video to classes in WeVide, please follow the instructions in this article.
To assign the text-based interactive video to LMS courses, please select the LMS you are using from this list to see more information.
Learner experience in the Text-based interactive video
When launching the text-based interactive video, the text element will be displayed over the video, and the interactions will appear in the sidebar.
If the text element is added via PDF interaction, learners can also use the PDF reader's annotation tool to add notes and annotations. After adding notes, please download the PDF to save them; otherwise, they will not be saved when the interactive video player is closed.
After finishing all interactions in the text-based interactive video, click Continue to play the video to the end; it will then be marked as completed.
Make sure you see the completion screen, then click the Finish and Exit button to close the interactive video player.
For more support and troubleshooting, visit our Help Center. New to WeVideo? Try for free or contact our team to learn more.