WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.033 Hi! Welcome to XMPie Video Services training. 00:00:04.033 --> 00:00:09.499 This series of videos will step you through the process of planning your dynamic video project, 00:00:09.500 --> 00:00:16.833 creating your dynamic video template in Adobe After Effects by using the XMPie uMerge Video plugin, 00:00:16.833 --> 00:00:26.766 deploying your project to the XMPie Video Service, rendering the videos, using the videos in an XMPie Cross Media campaign, 00:00:26.766 --> 00:00:31.932 automating video production when new recipients are added to a cross media campaign, 00:00:31.933 --> 00:00:35.899 and creating animated infographics for your projects. 00:00:35.900 --> 00:00:43.666 In this first video, I will focus on explaining the tutorial project and getting it setup ready for you to start. 00:00:43.666 --> 00:00:50.132 I’ll also talk about the things you will need to bear in mind when planning your future dynamic video projects. 00:00:50.133 --> 00:00:56.299 If you only see this one video, you should click to login to view all available content. 00:00:56.300 --> 00:01:07.300 In order to complete this tutorial, you will need to have Adobe After Effects 2023 and XMPie uMerge Video installed on your computer. 00:01:07.300 --> 00:01:11.733 Let’s get started by downloading the resource files for the project. 00:01:11.733 --> 00:01:17.399 Here in Campus, download the Resources ZIP and extract the files. 00:01:17.400 --> 00:01:23.066 00:01:23.066 --> 00:01:26.599 The files include the Adobe After Effects project. 00:01:26.600 --> 00:01:31.766 Static footage files. For this project, that includes several Photoshop files. 00:01:31.766 --> 00:01:40.799 I use this folder for items imported into Adobe After Effects that are static and will be the same for all instances of the video. 00:01:40.800 --> 00:01:50.033 The Assets folder includes images and sound files that will be called into the project dynamically by our data source file and uMerge. 00:01:50.033 --> 00:01:59.699 The Data folder includes a CSV file that contains the list of recipients we will create the videos for. uMerge Video works only with CSV. 00:01:59.700 --> 00:02:03.233 I’ll come back to the data and assets in a moment. 00:02:03.233 --> 00:02:07.833 The last folder includes the fonts that are used in the After Effects project. 00:02:07.833 --> 00:02:11.733 In fact, let’s start by putting the fonts where they need to go. 00:02:11.733 --> 00:02:25.266 If you are on Windows, browse to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Fonts 00:02:25.266 --> 00:02:32.066 Create a folder named “XMPUVideo” 00:02:32.066 --> 00:02:35.166 Copy the fonts into this folder. 00:02:35.166 --> 00:02:45.432 On a Macintosh, the path should be: /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Fonts/XMPUVideo 00:02:45.433 --> 00:02:52.766 Later, when deploying the project to the XMPie Video Service, you will have an option to upload the fonts to the server. 00:02:52.766 --> 00:03:00.066 And, only the fonts in this folder will be uploaded, so it is important to have the fonts in the correct location. 00:03:00.066 --> 00:03:08.532 For our tutorial exercise, we will create a short promotional video for a fictional travel agency brand Unique Travel. 00:03:08.533 --> 00:03:16.799 The video will have text, photos and audio that change based on the destination that the recipient is interested in. 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:21.466 The basic steps to plan your dynamic video project will be to: 00:03:21.466 --> 00:03:31.799 Create a CSV data source that contains the information that controls the text, images, movies, sounds, and styles that will change in the video. 00:03:31.800 --> 00:03:37.166 In this example, we have some recipient names and their travel destinations. – 00:03:37.166 --> 00:03:43.966 But in your future projects, you could create different video versions for an event being held in different venues, 00:03:43.966 --> 00:03:46.932 or to promote the sale of different properties. 00:03:46.933 --> 00:03:55.599 So, you will need to create a list where each row contains the information relevant to each version of the video that you need to create. 00:03:55.600 --> 00:04:01.800 For example, the date and venue of the event or the location and price of the properties. 00:04:01.800 --> 00:04:07.500 Next, you need to assemble the asset files and list them in the CSV data source. 00:04:07.500 --> 00:04:14.700 For our example, the assets include an activity photo and a sound file for each holiday destination. 00:04:14.700 --> 00:04:23.966 The assets can be sound, video, or graphic files. Any of the file formats that can be imported into After Effects are supported. 00:04:23.966 --> 00:04:30.266 The file name of the asset for each record should be correctly entered in the CSV file. 00:04:30.266 --> 00:04:39.832 In addition to text, and the name of assets, the data file can list colors that you want to apply to text or other After Effects objects. 00:04:39.833 --> 00:04:45.766 The color should be listed as a hex value including the pound or hash character. 00:04:45.766 --> 00:04:50.066 So, now we have the files extracted, and understand what the files are for, 00:04:50.066 --> 00:04:54.499 we’re ready to move onto the next video where we will open the After Effects file, 00:04:54.500 --> 00:04:58.966 and use uMerge Video to create the dynamic video template.