Create Videos of jBEAM Graphs

Owned by Stefan Appl
Last updated: Aug 18, 2023 by Lutz Klabuhn

In this tutorial we want to create a slow motion video of a graphic component whose cursor is moving. First we create a simple sine wave with a duration of 50 seconds as demonstration object.

We use the menu " Extra -> Generators -> Double Channel " to generate a sine wave. Select sin( x ) and create 500 values with a delta X of 0.1 second. Drag and drop the newly created producer on the graphic panel.

Next step is to create the video producer. To open the video recording dialog click the menu "File -> Export Report -> Create Video". The red rectangle which appears on the Graphic Panel is our recording area. All items which should be recorded must be dropped there. In the dialog choose a file name and folder, a appropriate file format and a video codec. The video size can be changed to match exactly the size of the recored component. It is also possible to record the whole visible graphic document.

The video recording dialog and the generated sine wave will look like this:

Now we need to setup a cursor for the generated sine wave. Please note that the videorecorder is also a producer which will generate frameTime and frameIndex. This values can be used as input items to control the cursor of the generated sine wave. To setup the cursor right click on the sine wave and select "Modify ... Cursor". In the dialog enable the visible checkbox and choose "Controlled by" frameTime. To publish the x-Value is not absolutley necessary, its used to display the actual time value inside the video.

The published x-Value will be available under "Items on CEA-Bus" and can also be dropped in the recording area. The result shoud like this:

Back to the video recording dialog we should now adjust the the video size to fit the sine wave and the time value. The recording time should be changed from 10.0 seconds to 50.0 seconds to record the entire sine wave. The scaling slider should be adapted to 1/2 because we want a slow motion video with factor 0.5. jBeam is now configured to record a video sequence.The record button will start a record, while "Frame" and "VideoTime" will display the actual time and frameIndex.  The produced video should contain a sinewave with a moving cursor along the x-axis. The video should have a length of 100 seconds.