One-click episode export in Video by Zaweba

Finishing an episode is more than rendering a video. You need captions, a caption file for the upload, a thumbnail and some record of what went into it. One-click episode export in the Episode Builder of Video by Zaweba does all of that in a single step.

What one click produces

If the episode has no captions yet, the export makes them first. It then renders the video. Beside the video it writes three more files: an .srt caption file, a 1280x720 thumbnail and a shot list as a text file.

That is the typical set of things a video site upload asks for, gathered in one folder and named together, so nothing gets left behind or mixed up with the previous episode's files.

Captions

Captions matter for reach and for accessibility. Many people watch with the sound off, and captions help viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing. Because the export makes captions when there are none, an episode never goes out without them by accident.

If you have already made and corrected captions, the export uses those instead of making new ones. For anything important, it is worth reading through generated captions and fixing names and unusual words before the final export.

The .srt file is what most video sites accept as an uploaded caption track. Keeping captions as a file, rather than only burned into the picture, lets viewers turn them on or off.

The thumbnail and shot list

The thumbnail is written at 1280x720, a common size for video thumbnails. It gives you something to upload straight away, and a starting point if you prefer to design a custom one.

The shot list is a plain text file listing the shots in the episode. It is handy for your own records, for keeping track of which clips were used, and for planning the next episode in a series.

Before you press it

Watch the episode through first. One click makes exporting quick, which makes it tempting to export before the edit is really finished. Check the sound levels, read any titles, and look at the daydream sections and other special shots.

Look at the daydream sections and any other special shots one more time, since effects applied by the builder are easy to miss when you are focused on the cut. Check where the files will go. With several companion files written beside the video, a dedicated folder per episode keeps things tidy. Putting the episode number in the folder name helps when several episodes are waiting to be uploaded.

After the export

Open the video and the .srt together in a player to confirm the captions line up. Look at the thumbnail and decide whether it represents the episode well. Then upload the video, the caption file and the thumbnail together.

One-click export is the final step of the Episode Builder's path from script and clips to a finished episode. For a series made on a regular schedule, it removes the small repeated chores at the end of every episode and makes sure each one goes out complete.