I think one of the most exciting things about Near-Life is all the ways you can use the nodes to take your interactive videos to another level. With practice, you can understand how your video will come together and which tools at your disposal to help you achieve the best result. So, I thought I’d make a little list of some of the most useful tricks I’ve learned (so far) to get the most out of my nodes.
Reuse those nodes!
When I first started map building using Near-Life, I was pretty much determined that it would be easiest for me to work through the whole thing, creating a new node for each stage (even if I had already used the same one somewhere else in the video). In the beginning, this was a good way for me to avoid making mistakes. However, I’ve attempted to make a fair few interactive videos since then and I must admit my stance has changed significantly.
For my recent “Which Social Media Platform Should I Post On” interactive video, I knew from the beginning that I had 9 possible endings for the user. However, there would be many different ways to get the same ending. To simplify the whole thing, I decided to have one node for each platform. I could then direct the user to that node regardless of the route they’d gone down. This helped me simplify what had been a complex map to create, so I recommend giving it a go!
Name your nodes appropriately
This might seem to go without saying, but it may be a more vital step than you’d think. Insights are a large part of what makes Near-Life so special. You can use the interactive video you’ve created to gain an understanding of your audience’s thought processes. For example, you can look back later at how many people answered a certain question with yes or no. In this case, you must label your nodes relating to the content they contain. If your node asks someone their age, it’s smart to name your node “How old are you?” to have the relevant context when looking at the results. Having suitably named nodes will also help when it comes to defaulting them – but I’ll cover that in a moment.
Defaulting your nodes
Chances are, you won’t consider what would happen if the players of your video don’t click anything (duh, this is all about interactive video). But if you want to make your video run more smoothly and have a more professional feel, it’s a good idea to sort out defaults on your nodes. If someone accidentally doesn’t click something, you want them to be able to continue with the video. Or you may choose to create a main “automatic” pathway. This means that the user will go through it by default if they don’t click anything on the video.
Under the are within your node labelled “Main Media”, you’ll find a section where you can select where the media the video will jump to when it’s finished playing out if the user doesn’t click anything. Just select the name of the node you want it to move on to. This is another reason why naming your nodes suitably is so important – it means you can see and select which stage the video should move on to next.
If you’re going to set this up, I’d also recommend doing it once you’ve finished the rest of your map. Trying to do it while you’re creating the map will mean most of your nodes won’t have been named yet. So, you won’t be able to select the next node to jump to if you haven’t even made it yet. If you wait until most of the map is complete, it means you should have clear pathways to default down. It also means you’ll have named each node by this stage.
Play/next buttons
Having a play or start button is another easy way to level up your interactive video because it immediately indicates to your audience that the video is interactive. On top of this, it’s scientifically proven that the human body releases dopamine when we press a button. This is due to the fact we assume that the action will lead to a reward. This means it’s also a neat way to excite and cheer up your users from the get-go! To make one, you simply go into your node and add one hotspot over the area where you’ve positioned the play button. You could also make use of Near-Life’s button features to make one. Set the hotspot or button to jump to the next node when clicked.
To conclude…..
Ultimately, there are countless ways you can take your interactive videos to the next level. Practice makes perfect, and a large part of the process is learning which features will bring out the best in each type of interactive video. My main piece of advice would be to experiment. Have fun and get to know the platform. If you’re worried about messing up, it may hold you back from unlocking the full potential of Near-Life and your content. If you’ve had a go at something adventurous and you weren’t successful – that’s okay. As they say, the first pancake is always the worst – and that doesn’t mean you won’t be an amazing cook!
Be sure to check out Near-Life Academy for more details on how to get the most out of your interactive content.
If you aren’t yet a user of Near-Life and would like a free demo of the platform to see whether it’s right for you, click here to book one.
Try our interactive video all about Near-Life: