Quick Start: How to Use AVAnnotate

Step 1: Log into AVAnnotate with your GitHub credentials and create a new project

Navigate to the AVAnnotate application and sign in with your GitHub credentials. If you don’t have an account already, go to GitHub and create one by providing a username, email address, and password.

Select “Add,” and input information about your new project, including the project title, description, language, a URL “slug,” and collaborators.

Step 2: Add an Event

An “Event” in AVAnnotate can comprise single or multiple AV files and single or multiple sets of annotations. AVAnnotate will create or ingest a IIIF manifest for each event. Event pages can be auto-generated or created by the user.

Select “Add,” and input information about your new event, including the event label; item type (audio or video); AV label, URL, and duration; description; and citation.

Where to begin?

Step 3: Add annotations

Annotations can be added to each event. Annotations are user-created and correspond to a given timestamp point or range in the audio or video. Annotations contain information about the media and might include a transcript; captions; information about formal features of the media, like shot sequence, volume, or lighting; historical or cultural context; environmental noises such as fans or car horns; or conceptual notes or themes.

Step 4: Add pages to build context around your events.

Users can create auto-generated pages for each event as well as design custom pages that include text, events or event clips with or without associated annotations, event or event clip comparisons, and images (that are available via URL). What appears on these pages is entirely up to the user; users may add an introduction or conclusion to the project; build separate sections of an accompanying analytical essay; add context or pedagogical implications of events and annotations; explain the annotation choices made in the project; etc.

Step 5: Share your AVAnnotate project with the world!

You can read more about how to use AVAnnotate here, including bulk uploads.


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