Advertising and Promotion Kiosks or Showcases

Videos Overlaying a Custom Background

For advertising and promotion showcases (using an In-Store kiosk or prominently placed TV), you may want to create a video collage over a background that presents company or organization name, contact information, hours of operation, etc. (see example in Figure 2). Think of it as an animated digital billboard albiet on a smaller scale. This approach will allow you to use even raw footage of your service or product as part of a more polished packaged demonstration. I also allows you to easily swap new videos in an out without having to do complex video editing.

Steps

1. Create your background image (see sample in Figure 1) with your favorite graphics program or contract with a graphics designer to make you one. Most of the common image formats will work (GIF, JPG, PNG, BMP, etc.). It is best to match the image aspect ratio (width to height in pixels) to the aspect ratio of the Media Screen you will diplay it in. And that will depend on the type of display you will use. It's best to make the size (width, height in pixels ) as close as possible to the Media Screen actual size. If the background image is too small (in pixels) compared to the physical display Screen, it may cause an unacceptable level of blur as its size is scaled up to fill the Media Screen.
2. In Video Mill , create a new Media Item and set the Media File to the background image file. (drag and drop the background image into Video Mill or create a blank Media Item and use the Browse button in the Descriptors section to pick the background image on your computer.
3. Create a new Media Item for each videos you will want to play over the background.
4. For a Kiosks usage scenario, you will want to make the videos play continuously, so on each video Media Item, check the Loop checkbox in the Modifiers section.
5. Now Load the background Media Item into a Media Screen and size it to fit the display device (your TV or video projector).
6. Next Load the video Media Items into Media Screens. Size them as desired and poistion them on top of the background Media Screen. (as in Figure 2).

Tip - Do not confuse this use of a background image with the Screen Background Image File which has a totally different effect.

Tip - After you have the Media Screens Loaded, if you click on the background image Screen, it will come to the front and hide the smaller video Media Screens behind it. To get the video Media Screens back to the front, click on the Media Screens buttons in the Windows taskbar (along the bottom of the Windows desktop).

Figure 2. Two Videos Playing over a Background Image