Search Function Example

As an example, say that you want to search for the premier of the Agents of Shield television show. Begin by clicking Search, and in the Time Range menu, choose Defined Period. Observer defaults to presenting you the period from one week ago to your current date and time.

Figure: Default Defined Period Search Duration

Figure: Default Defined Period Search Duration

Alter the search duration if you need to by clicking on the calendar icons in the From: and To: fields.

Figure: Setting the Search Duration Period

Figure: Setting the Search Duration Period

Enter your search term, in this case, Shield, and select your channels. For this example, we are searching All channels with a five minute CC Duration. Click Search to see your results.

Figure: Search Results

Figure: Search Results

Observer returns all the instances of your search term within your chosen parameters, beginning with the most recent occurrence and listing them in order from newest to oldest. The duration of the clip will be dependent on the time span you defined above. The default is 5 minutes.

If your search returns more than one page of results, use the Page box at the bottom of the screen to page through your returns.

The Export column provides you with two functions:

  • Export allows you to save the clip to your desktop.

    Figure: Export Icon

    Figure: Export Icon

    Clicking the Export icon opens the Export to… window.

    Figure: Export to… Window

    Figure: Export to… Window

  • The Export CC icon allows you to export the Closed Caption text of your clip.

    Figure: Export CC Icon

    Figure: Export CC Icon

    When you click on the Export CC icon, Observer opens a query window at the bottom of your screen, asking whether you want to open or save your Closed Caption text.

    Figure: Closed Caption Query Window

    Figure: Closed Caption Query Window

    Choose Open to open the CC text in a Notepad window.

    The Save button has a drop-down menu with three options: Save, Save As and Save and Open.

    Figure: Save Button Drop-Down Menu

    Figure: Save Button Drop-Down Menu

    • Save downloads the CC text into your Downloads folder with a file name of cctext.

    • Save as opens your Downloads folder window and gives you the chance to rename the file.

    • Save and open saves the file in your Downloads folder with a file name of cctext, and opens the CC text in a Notepad window.

When you find the occurrence of your search term you are searching for and double-click on it, Observer opens up a Webpage Dialog window to display the clip.

Figure: Webpage Dialog Window

Figure: Webpage Dialog Window

The Dialog window gives you several tools for utilizing the results of your search:

  • The list of time stamps in the right-hand column gives you the exact times the text was spoken in the video. All texts are hyperlinks – by clicking on any text the video will navigate to the exact moment in the video when the text was spoken.

    The video overlays the CC/TT in the stream.

  • The Player Bar allows you to rewind the clip at 2x, 1x, ½x, and to step backward frame by frame; to pause, to step forward your clip frame by frame, and to run the clip forward at ½x, 1x, and 2x.

  • The Volume buttons allow you to change the volume of or to mute the audio of your results.

  • The Full Screen button allows you to view your results in full screen mode; Esc returns you to your Webpage Dialog window.

  • The Closed Caption panel on the right allows you to navigate to any CC panel in your search results by clicking on the panel of your choice.