How do I activate “Local Mode”?

“Local mode” means you don’t need to upload the video to our server. The video plays directly from your computer’s hard drive.

When should you use “Local Mode”?

1. Sometimes you are not allowed to upload the film to a server for security reasons.
2. Unfortunately, it happens every now and then that the internet connection is weak… 😉

How to activate “Local Mode”

Requirements

In order to play video directly from your hard drive, there are a few things you need to consider.

1. The film must be available as an .mp4 file (H264/AAC1) so that your browser can play it without any problems. Other formats are possible depending on the browser, but experience has shown that .mp4 files work best. Please also take a look at our information on suitable video settings and Handbrake in the previous chapter.
2. If several people are working on the project, everyone needs the film on the computer. How you share the film with each other is up to you.

Check editor settings

Normally when you create a project you will be asked for the “Media Source”. If you are not asked, the option is deactivated in your profile.

1. Open your profile.
2. Scroll to the “Authoring” section and click “Configure Editor”.
3. Scroll down to the “Video Source” option. Select the “Always Ask” or “Local Storage“ option.
4. Click on “Update.”

We recommend setting the “Always Ask” option. So you can decide each project whether you want to work with a local video or use a video from the server. If you always want to work locally, you can of course set “Local Storage” and you will not be asked again in the future.

Tip: If you keep “Always Ask”, you can change the mode later, for example if you are in a train and the internet connection is too weak to stream the video. Simply switch to “Local Mode” and continue working. When you have a faster connection again, you can set the “Media Source” of your project back to “Server”.

Project initialization

Even in “Local Mode”, the video must first be analyzed. Data about scene changes and the audio track are collected. This will later be used to create the timeline in the editor.

Since our server cannot analyze the film in “Local Mode”, your browser will take over this task. The first time you open a video in the editor, you will be asked whether you want to start the initialization.

If you agree to this, the film will run once without sound. Please leave the browser window open during this time! The process takes place in approximately 3x real time (depending on the speed of your computer). For a 60-minute film, expect around 20 minutes of initialization time.

The initialization is only done once. If you open the video again later, your browser will load the data from the cache.

Tip: If you don’t need the visualization of the audio track, you can skip the initialization. This saves a lot of time. The visualization of your audio descriptions (blue bars) is still displayed, but the rest of the timeline remains black.

New Video

Did you get a new version of the film? To use this, simply select the new video in the editor. The editor recognizes that this is a new version of the film and asks you whether the initialization should be repeated.

Tip: During re-initialization, the old data is discarded. If you want to access the old film again later, we recommend making a copy of the project first. This means you can switch between the old and new versions without constantly having to re-initialize.

Notes on screen readers

We have no experience with the combination of screen reader plus “Local Mode” yet. The case has not yet existed. It’s best to contact us in advance so that we can test together how well the initialization works in this combination - or where things still need to be improved.

Last Update: 2023/10/03