Doodly Beginner Tutorial

Learning the Timelines

Beginner Tutorial #5

Learning the Timelines

Displays and labels the timelines in the Doodly software.

Everything in Doodly is timelines and layers. Learning how to make the best use of Doodly means learning the timelines and the options available to us.

Video Timeline

There is only 1 video timeline allowed in Doodly. Everything to do with props, characters, imported images and text appear in this timeline.

Audio Timeline

All imported .mp3 files, Doodly provided audio files sound effects are all associated with the audio timeline.

We have the option of adding additional audio timelines. Doodly has some major bugs in it when it comes to audio. Too many audio timelines and Doodly may crash during rendering. Too many audio files on the same timeline and Doodly will crash during rendering.

If you are going to use audio in Doodly there are some best practices to follow:

  1. Don’t attach a sound effect to an asset. This binds the sound effect to the duration of the asset so if your asset has less duration than our sound effect the sound effect will be cut off. If your asset has 0 duration, the sound effect will never play. Additionally, there is no method of adjusting the audio when binding a sound effect to an asset so that sound effect will play at 100% all the time essentially making attaching the sound effect to an asset useless. Instead, create a separate timeline for your sound effects.


    2. Working with Audio
  2. Stagger the music and use fading techniques to make it appear as one continuous audio stream throughout the doodle. Watch my Working with Audio video tutorial if you are not sure what I mean.

  3. Adjust the audio levels to a respectable level which vary depending on the music file. There are different adjustments for when a voiceover is included and without a voiceover. I provide suggested levels in my Working with Audio video tutorial. These are basic guidelines from what I’ve learned and not set in stone but they are a great place to begin.

Pan and Zoom


Pan and Zoom

Pan and Zoom can be a little confusing at first. We have to think backwards and think about how effects are going to happen. I have a video tutorial out that will teach you all about the very basics of pan and zoom to make that learning curve much easier.

Settings

More appropriately termed as Video Settings allows the control of the default settings within Doodly.

Time Bar

Displays the length of time in 1 second and 5 second intervals.

Voiceover


Increase Visible Layers

Allows for recording a voiceover in Doodly. It is highly suggested to use an audio editing software like Adobe Audition or Audacity and record your audio with an external microphone, edit the audio and then import it into Doodly. You can hear the difference between using a script, external microphone and proper editing software to edit and enhance the audio and no script, a laptop microphone with minimal editing and no audio enhancements in the following video. The first half which is channel promotion is edited properly and uses a script. The second half is with a laptop microphone without a script.

Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to the most common questions regarding this topic.

The software permits only a single video timeline per project. This specific timeline is used for all visual elements, which includes text, characters, props, and any images you import into your project.

Binding a sound effect directly to an asset restricts the audio to the exact duration of that visual element. If the visual element is shorter than the audio clip, the sound will be abruptly cut off, and if the visual element has no duration, the sound will not play at all. Furthermore, this method prevents you from adjusting the volume, meaning the sound effect will always play at full volume. It is highly recommended to place sound effects on their own separate audio timeline instead.

The software has known bugs that can cause rendering failures if the audio features are pushed too far. To keep the program from crashing, you should avoid creating too many separate audio timelines and avoid placing an excessive number of audio files onto a single timeline.

While the software has a built in feature to record audio, it is highly recommended to record your voiceover using a dedicated external microphone and professional audio editing software like Audacity or Adobe Audition. Once you have recorded and enhanced your audio in the external program, you can then import the finished file into your project for the best possible sound quality.

The time bar helps you keep track of your project duration by displaying the length of the video in increments of one second and five seconds.

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Wayne Leiser
Wayne Leiser
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