TrouDigital Creative Studio Walkthrough

www.troudigital.com 1

Creative Studio Walkthrough

A TrouDigital Guide:


Go to www.troudigital.com

and look for the ‘TRY IT

FREE’ button in the top

right hand corner.


You will open this page

where you have two options:

1.  You can click for ‘Instant

Access’ if you’re on a PC.

2.  Or sign up with your

contact details if you’re

using a mobile device.


If you’re registering for the

first time, you will need to

enter at least an email

address and a password to

set up an account.


Once you have joined and

logged in. You will see this

screen. The ‘CREATIVE’ tab

is where your screen

designs are kept.

To create a new one, you

will need to select

‘compose’.


The new ‘creative’ page

looks like this. You will

need to give your new

screen a name and

description.

You can also select the

dimensions of the screen.

When you’re finished,

click ‘create’.


This suite is where

content creation happens.

From the menu of widgets

on the left hand side, you

can drag and drop

different types of content

into your screen template.


To begin, we’ve selected

the ‘label’ widget at the

top.


The ‘label’ widget opens a

text box in your template.

In here, you can type your

desired text and move the

box where you want it.


The ‘label’ editing menu is

on the right hand side.

Using this, you can edit

your text as you would in

a Word Processor.

Changing the font, size,

colour etc.


From the main ‘Creative’

menu, you can also

change the background

fill colour of your screen

display.


White is a popular choice.


Moving onto another widget,

this time we want to add an

image to our screen…

The ‘image’ widget is

represented with a camera.

(We’ve skipped the ‘text’

widget as it works the same

as the ‘label’ one.)


When you drag and drop the

‘camera’ widget, this media

menu opens.

From here, you can choose

an existing image (from the

list on the right), or ‘Upload’

a new one.


Now we’ve uploaded our

logo, let’s move onto using

the ‘slideshow’ widget,

represented by multiple

pictures.

(We’ve skipped the ‘video’

widget as it works the

same as uploading an

image.)


The ‘slideshow’ widget

works in a similar way to

the ‘image’ one.

The only difference is that

you can add multiple

images, videos and text.

These options have green

‘plus’ signs in the right hand

menu.


I want a slideshow of images

so I’ve selected the ‘camera’

button in the ‘slide show

properties’ menu.

From here I can select

multiple existing images or

upload new ones as before.


As you can see, the first image in

my new slideshow appears in my

template.

The images are listed in the menu

on the right. Next to each file is a

box for entering the duration each

will play for.

We can have images play for

different periods of time - I’ve

chosen 3 seconds for each.


Now that our ‘creative’ is

starting to take shape, it’s

important to remember to

save! This button is clearly

marked in the top left corner.

The other useful tool is the

ability to ‘preview’ your

screen. This lets us see the

Slideshow in action.


This is our preview so far.

To return to the editing

suite, click the ‘X’ in the

top right hand corner.


Moving onto another

dynamic widget, we have the

‘ticker’, represented on the

menu with a capital T.

The ticker lets you add

scrolling text to your screen.

It’s ideal for displaying

notices or a welcome

message.


Unlike a standard

text box, a ‘ticker’

requires a ‘title’ and

‘text’.


In the ‘ticker properties’

menu, you also get to

customise qualities such

as the speed and

direction of your scrolling

text.

For example, I would like

mine to read left to right.


As with a standard text box,

you can change your ticker’s

font, size and colour in the

format submenu.

You will need to edit your

‘title’ and ‘content’ text

separately.


We skipped the ‘video’

widget earlier because I

want to add a ‘YouTube’

video instead.

(This is often an easier

alternative if you don’t have

your own video content.)


There are some default

videos to choose from (such

as of an astronaut) but you’ll

probably want to choose

your own.

You can do this by copy and

pasting the ‘id’ of any

YouTube video (the ‘id’ is

found at the end of its url).


Once you enter the ‘id’ of

your desired YouTube video,

you’ll see it in your template.

From here, you can move,

increase or decrease the size

of the window it plays in.


I think our screen has room

for one last widget...

Let’s go back and add an RSS

feed to make our screen

look even more dynamic.


In the ‘RSS properties’ menu

you can copy and paste the

url of any RSS feed you find

on the internet.

To help we’ve pre-loaded

some popular news feeds

for you. You can find these

in the drop down box.


As with any text box, you

can change the font, size

and colour of the feed to

match the rest of your

design.


Our slide design is looking

pretty full now.

Let’s take a closer look with

the ‘preview’ tool…


Our design preview looks

pretty good…

But as we’ve tried to show you

a lot of different widgets, it is

looking a little cramped.

Playing around with the

spacing of each element

should help with this.


Returning to the suite, we

can select any of our

elements to alter its ‘size

and position’ in its property

menu.

I’d like to move our original

label further into the corner

to neaten things up…


The ‘size and position’

element editor works as a

% in relation to the overall

dimensions of the screen.

For example, ‘left = 10%’

would move your element

1/10 into the screen. ‘Top

= 50%’ would move it half

way down the page. The

same works for width and

height.


After playing around with

the positions of our

elements, our screen

preview looks like this.


There you have it… One

dynamic screen created

using just a handful of

widgets.

Let’s make sure we save our

work before closing the

editor!


Now we’ve closed the editor,

you can see that our new

‘creative’ has been added to

our ‘creative folder’.


With content creation done,

there are a couple of quick

stages left in order to get

content from the studio

onto your screens.


We move now to the

‘PLAYLIST’ tab of the menu.

Here we want to ‘Add

Playlist’, imagining that we’re

setting up content for a new

screen, or a group of

screens.


As with a ‘creative’, you will need

to enter a ‘playlist title’ and text

description.

The new playlist will be empty

until you ‘Add Creative’.

Having selected our new

‘creative’, I can edit the duration it

will show in a playlist by typing in

its corner.


Next to the duration button in

the ‘creative’ is a calendar.

Clicking on this I can set a

schedule for the ‘creative’ to

show within my playlist.

You can set it to play on loop

forever, choose particular

times or days, or even give

your content an expiry date.


The whole point of a

playlist is having multiple

‘creatives’ you can play in

an order and loop.

Selecting ‘Add Creative’

again, I can choose

another from my library.


With two ‘creatives’ now in

my playlist, I’ve changed their

duration to 30 seconds each.

This means they will play for

an equal length of time and

rotate between one another.


Our new ‘playlist’ is ready to go!

Now I just need to assign that

playlist to a screen by connecting

it to the player plugged into the

back.

To do this, we need to move over

to the ‘players’ tab.


Again, you need to set a

name and description for

your player folder.

To assign your player folder

to one of your real players,

you need to enter the ‘player

key’ found on the device

itself.

Finally, ‘Add Playlist’ in the

top right.


I’ve chosen my new playlist

from the library by dragging

and dropping it into the box.

With my new content loaded

in my player folder, and my

player key assigned, my

screen is ready to go!


Returning to the ‘Players’

menu, I can find a list of all

the players I have registered.

If I wanted to show different

content on different screens, I

would need a device for each

screen and hence a player

folder for each one.


If you’re looking for inspiration, here are a few

screens our clients have put together recently…





Software

TrouDigital Creative Studio Walkthrough