07/09/2021

How to use the digital prompter and never be stressed about reading your text again

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You’ve heard of it but never dared to use it? Or maybe you have no idea what it is and don’t know anything about its many advantages… In this article you will discover how to use the digital prompter, how to tame it and adopt it, and simply how to make your videos better!

What is a digital prompter?

The digital prompter is the tool you will find in your Rapidmooc to read its text without any stress throughout your video. Once you have the idea, the next step is often writing the script. Once you have gathered all your thoughts and structured your ideas, you might think that you will have to learn your script by heart. But no! This is where the digital prompter comes in to scroll through the content and allow you to read your text throughout your video. So, like a weather presentation, you can present your content using the different recording modes, and your script will follow you thanks to the digital prompter.

It all starts with a text...

As written above, to use the digital prompter, everything starts with a text. When you create the script for your video, you probably use a Word or PowerPoint document, but it doesn’t matter. Rapidmooc’s digital prompter will be able to recognise the content from the file of your choice and read its text.

Let’s take the example of PowerPoint: if you want to make a video with a PPT presentation, you just have to write your text in the comment area under each slide and open the document directly on the Rapidmooc studio. Then, the digital prompter will automatically recognize the content and allow you to read your text by indicating which part corresponds to which slide.

Train your peripheral field of vision

Do you want to look your audience (almost) in the eye? Just like in a conversation where you involve your interlocutor, the prompter is set to make your eyes adopt a natural behavior. The goal is to appear spontaneous! The Rapidmooc studio offers great freedom of movement: move around so that your vision is best placed in relation to the text and the camera. Because we know it’s not easy, here’s an exercise to work on your field of vision: look at the camera and the screen at the same time, trying to point at a given point, without moving your eyes. In theory, the peripheral field of vision is about 180°. So practice looking at the whole presentation and then at a specific part of it behind you, while looking at the camera.

Code readers: tools that eliminate stress and allow you to read your text

Code prompts? If some of you are wondering about its usefulness, you should know that this little detail is actually not so little and simply makes your life easier! Indeed, the digital prompter makes it very easy to insert your ideas to guide through your video while accompanying to read its text. But if you are using a PowerPoint presentation, for example, it is important to know when and how to switch from one slide to another, change your framing, switch from one recording mode to another, etc. Normally, this type of change is made using the keyboard or the mouse. Normally, these types of changes are made using the keyboard or buttons, but with the digital prompter, you can automate all these changes using what are called code prompts. This eliminates the stress of forgetting to change slides or modes during your video as everything can be automated in advance. For example, you can insert prompts such as [videosource1] into your text and the digital prompter will understand and automate this passage. Not only will you have a more structured video, but you will also be more relaxed during the recording because you only need to read your text. In the end, you win on all fronts!

There are actually two types of code. There are the predefined ones that automate actions, such as changing cameras or scenes. And then there are those, freely defined, which are control indications, and which remind the user to do something, for example to go to the next slide or to trigger a PowerPoint animation. These two types of codes will appear between [] in the text.

Extra tip: If you are shooting a video without using a script for your text, you can still use the code prompts! Just integrate them in a row, then pause the prompter after each code, before restarting it to activate the next code!

When text is automatically transformed...

That’s it, your video is shot, recorded and you’re (hopefully) happy with the result! Well, the benefits of the digital prompter don’t stop there and you can, once your video is finished, download an SRT or VTT file of your text which will contain the entire script of your video (without the prompter or control codes of course!). You will then be able to see your text at the corresponding minutes and seconds, allowing you to easily translate your video script. You can then easily include this type of text file with your video file in MP4 format. This makes your life much easier, doesn’t it?

User friendly, it takes the stress out of forgetting the text

If there’s one thing you should remember about the digital prompter, it’s that it’s very user friendly. It is there to make your life easier!

Starting with its positioning. Some of you may already be thinking that if you use the digital prompter, everyone will notice and understand that you are reading a script. Don’t worry, the positioning of the digital prompter has been designed in such a way that no one will notice that you are reading a script. That is, it won’t look like you’re looking too far down or too far up. The prompter is placed right at eye level. You’ll go by incognito and you won’t have to worry about forgetting your script.

And because the digital prompter is a tool full of surprises, it is also very easy to control the speed and progress of your text reading. You can simply pause, rewind slightly, or speed up to match your speech rate.

You now know everything about the digital prompter and how to maximise its potential. We hope that we have enlightened you and convinced you of the usefulness of such a tool in your video production.

If you have enjoyed this article and would like to put what you have learned into practice, request an appointment at a showroom near you to create your first video!