FAQ

There's also a button to allow you to create subtitles. See FAQ #15 below for more details on how to create subtitles.

If you would like to send us your version of a Bubble please email [email protected]

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2. You can make a specific word (words) or different words hyperlinked in the text of the Bubble. After you write the text in your bubble, click on the left tab in the control panel called ‘Text’ and then highlight the word (or words) in your Bubble you want to create the link for. You can do this for as many words in the text Bubble that you want. In the control panel, type the actual URL you want people to visit and then click on ‘Link selected text to this URL’ (just below the address box) and the highlighted text will become a hyperlink.

To delete a hypelink from a word, highlight the word with the link and click on the ‘Delete link’ button (just below the address box) and that specific link will be deleted.

You can also add a hyperlink to either the Bubble (#1) or specific text (#2) in the Bubble by using the mouse right-click menu. In the edit mode, click on the Bubble to which you want to add a hyperlink and right-click on the mouse. You can add a hyperlink to the Bubble by choosing the ‘Create link on Bubble’. To add a text hyperlink (not available for image or clip art Bubbles), choose the ‘Create link on selected text’ option. You can also delete the links you created using this menu (note: when deleting a hyperlink in the text, highlight the text by dragging your mouse over the hyperlinked text, then move your mouse to the edge of the Bubble until you see a four-directional arrow and then right-click on the mouse and choose the  ‘Delete link on selected text’option.

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Sorry for the long explanation to follow, but we wanted to try to make this feature as clear as possible, since it's probably the most complicated one.

After you add a Bubble, you will notice 2 buttons in the Bubble toolbar: one to ‘Animate Bubble’, the other to ‘Remove Animation’. By clicking on the ‘Animate Bubble’ button, a small animation menu toolbar will appear and so will a small help bubble which briefly explains how to animate your Bubble.

In this toolbar, there are several elements:

Ok, so now that you understand the elements, how do you create an animation path, you might ask?
You will notice that a line appears when you pressed the ‘Animate Bubble’. This is your movement or animation path. The default is set to appear as a straight line at the top of your Bubble with the path's Start Point at the top left corner of the Bubble and the End Point to the right.

To change the path, simply move your mouse to either the Start Point (shown as a green triangle) or the End Point (shown as a 'T' turned sideways) - your mouse will change to a four-directional arrow to move either point.

You will also notice a red pulsing dot. This indicates what point will move along your animation path. So, if you've chosen the Bubble or Both to move, the red pulsing dot appears on the top left corner of the Bubble and that part of the Bubble will move along the path. If you've chosen the move the Tail, the red pulsing dot will appear at the Tail point to indicate that the Tail will move along the path.
The Bubble will move at a defined speed such that it will move along the path the entire time of the Bubble time length. So if your Bubble length is set to 3 seconds the Bubble will move along the path in three seconds (a shorter path means faster, a longer path means slower). If your Bubble length is changed to 10 seconds and the animation path is the same, the Bubble will move slower such that it will take 10 seconds (and not 3) for it to move along the entire path.

Simply play around with the animation path to get your desired result. You can preview the movement by pressing the ‘Preview’ and then change the path accordinly. Once you're satisfied, click ‘Apply’ and your animation path will be saved. If you press ‘Cancel’, the animation toolbar will disappear and if you didn't apply your animation path, it will have disappeared. If you did apply the animation, ‘Cancel’ only closes the animation toolbar and if you re-enter the Bubble, the animation you created will still be there. To remove the animation entirely, click on the ‘Remove Animation’ button on the Bubble toolbar.

A few more things (yes, we know it's long, but we've spent alot of time to get this right and we wanted it to be as simple but as effective as possible).

If you want the Bubble to move along a curved path, check the Curve box in the toolbar. You will notice that the path changes from a straight line to a curved one. Also, two red handles appear (one at the Start Point of the path, the other at the End Point). Move your mouse to the either end of the handle (your mouse will change to a four-directional arrow) to move the handle. You will see that my moving any end of a handle, the curved path changes. Change the handles to achieve your desired curved path.

Last thing to note, due to limitations of Flash, you can not watch the video while changing the animation. What does that mean? You will need to use trial and error to get the best result by creating the animation, applying it, watching it while the video plays and then changing things as necessary (click back into the Bubble to re-edit the animation). You can however, move the time scroll bar - the triangle found at the bottom of the player a few frames at a time (again due to the limitations of Flash, some Flash files jump a few frames while others jump many frames) to see how your path will appear as the backdrop of the video changes. This way you can get an rought idea of what appears on the video as the video plays and you can adjust the animation path abit more accurately. We know this is not an ideal solution and we are constantly trying to improve our product.

We hope you enjoy this animation feature as well as all our others and as with any comments about our product, if you have any suggestions, please e-mail us at [email protected].

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