Much better than mockups.
This is the main view window and the simplest possible interface configuration. I’m tempted to put a really attractive woman in there, but I need your eyes (and biting criticism) on the interface. A menu item can toggle a “more options” slide-out, which I’ll get to in a bit.
The middle button records and pauses recording.
The up arrow on the right uploads the current recording. In default mode, it will open a pulldown menu for different hosting sites and an option to edit the list. Items can be removed from the list so that the button can be configured for one-click uploading to your preferred location. A dialog box will open ensuring that information the host requires, like a description, is provided. An option to also save the recording to the archive will be selected by default.
The down arrow on the left saves the current recording to the archive without uploading. The particular journal can be specified in the “more options” box, pictured below. When nothing has been recorded, the button will transition you to the archive (a rotating cube effect may put the archive on the left or bottom face).
This is the “more options” panel. The pulldown menu currently shows that the “personal” journal is selected, but there may be many custom journals, such as a dream journal.
Information like titles and keywords are not necessary for archiving but are necessary for uploading to hosts like Blip.tv and YouTube. This can be filled in before you upload or for your own archiving purposes.
When the “supplemental” option is checked, the recording will be appended to the most recent entry in the selected journal. The information text boxes will automatically fill in with that entry’s information and gray out.
A core animation effect for a timestamp automatically appearing over the recording is preconfigured by default. This and the other two core animation effects are configured in separate dialog boxes, which allow for experimentation over the live feed from the camera. The options will not be complicated and will allow timely entry and exit of such effects. Configurations may be saved as presets.
For immediate playback, before saving or uploading, one can move the cursor over the viewing area and reveal the translucent controller that overlays videos in iTunes and hit play, or just click the viewing area, or hit space.
Playback in the archive maintains the same translucent QuickTIme controller. I’m working on rough drafts for the archive interface and will upload one at a later time.
To discard the current recording, click the red close button in the window. By default, a warning box will appear.
It is assumed that one wants to start over, or else one would have quit from the application menu or cmd-Q. Warning boxes may be disabled in the preferences.
Every basic operation can be executed by voice commands with the help of OS X’s built-in speech recognition. So, for example, one could say, “personal log, supplemental” to begin a supplemental recording in your personal journal.
It is not realistic to expect that the first version of iVlog will have transcription abilities. However, I expect that iVlog will eventually permit keyword-based transcription, where the system will pick up on certain pre-defined words used in the entry and automatically store them in the keywords box.
Information does not need to be appended to each movie as metadata and may be stored in something like in an XML file.
Other capabilities included in the app but not mentioned here, like importing iChat recordings to publish them as interviews or iGlasses support, would be activated through the menubar. This interface is just a prototype and was designed with simplicity in mind. It may be altered or completely discarded in the interest of a better one. So, leave comments!
Moreover, I am not an interface designer. A much more beautiful and attractive one can be created by the developers, I’m sure. So please do not discount the idea if this draft looks drab.
My blog is starting to get a little long, so be sure to check previous entries, including this post regarding visualization of some effects.
