In this topic you will learn how to creating an in-video branching project.
Brightcove Interactivity offers two techniques for creating branching or "choose your own adventure" (CYOA) content.
In-Video branching - This technique uses a single video. The viewer jumps from point to point in the same video using annotations. These experiences can be published using Video Cloud Studio or the Brightcove Interactivity UI.
Video to video branching - This technique uses a Branching Experience where multiple videos are strung together. The viewer jumps from video to video using annotations. These experiences must be published using the Brightcove Interactivity UI.
Both work equally well, it's a personal preference based on your production process and how your videos are already produced.
Working sample
The following video is an example of in-video branching. The "main menu" part of the video will loop until an image is clicked. Clicking an image will jump to that part of the video. When that part of the video is complete, a time triggered action will send the video back to the "main menu" part of the video. The "Main Menu" text that appears in parts of the video is a transparent overlay that will jump to the main menu part of the video when clicked.
Branching within a single project
Follow these steps to add branching to a project:
Login to Brightcove Interactivity Studio.
In the left navigation, click Manage.
Click on a project to open it.
Add a chapter marker at each point in the video where a choice begins (the beginning of a branch). The chapter markers will be invisible to viewers.
For each "choice point", add a text, image or transparent overlay annotation. This is what the viewer will click on to jump to different parts of the video. Make sure the start time and duration for each of these annotations is identical.
On each annotation, set Link > ACTIONS to Jump to video time and select the correct chapter or enter a custom time. In this example, a transparent overlay is configured to jump to a chapter marker when clicked.
On one of the choice annotations, set Link > BEHAVIOR > Action to take if the viewer doesn't click to Loop back.
This will cause the video to loop and display the "main menu" part of the video until one of the transparent overlays is clicked.
At the end of each branch, add a time triggered action and set the Jump to video time to jump the video back to the "main menu" part of the video so the viewer can make another choice.
