For Learning: How EuroTalk Interactive used Revolution to sell millions of copies of their award-winning language learning tools
In this case study, we look at the role Revolution has played for EuroTalk Interactive in creating their interactive language learning products. EuroTalk are a London-based company, their range of over 110 languages covers languages from Arabic to Zulu. They have sold over 15 million disks. For the last few years Revolution has been at the heart of their technical operation, both in the video-production system and as the cross platform engine driving a newly launched range of interactive DVDs.
We spoke to Richard Howeson, the Chairman of EuroTalk Interactive.
Focus on Products
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"We chose Revolution because we wanted to focus on our products, not on the technology. Revolution fits our philosophy very well. Its about making complicated technical things simple. That fits in very well with our goals as a company: to make language learning as simple as possible."
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"We chose Revolution because we wanted to focus on our products, not on the technology. Revolution fits our philosophy very well. Its about making complicated technical things simple.
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"We started out with Revolution a few years ago by porting one of our older titles to it. The title only ran on the Mac so this seemed like a natural way to make it available on Windows. Since then our use of Revolution snowballed. Revolution is now used in both the production and delivery of our new Talk More range of interactive video DVDs."
"We had some 200 new titles to film, each one of which would have required weeks of manual editing. So we worked with Runtime to build a new Revolution-based filming system that automated the entire process. The system is used to run every aspect of the production process."
End to End Production Processing
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" ...we worked with Runtime to build a new Revolution-based filming system that automated the entire process. The system is used to run every aspect of the production process. " |
Each disk is sent to a translation agency. A Revolution-built application post processes the result to get it ready for the production system. Once a language is ready to film it is sent to filming-production system. The filming-production system drives the video camera, microphones and autocue. Each clip to be filmed is fed to the autocue and recorded. A Revolution plug-in monitors noise levels in the studio. When the actor has finished speaking it tags the clip as complete and sends the next one to the autocue. A technician listens to the clip in a sound proof environment while the next clip is being recorded. |
Revolution analyzes the video to estimate where the start and end point markers should be placed. The technician adjusts the markers and approves or rejects the clip while the next one is being filmed. If the clip is rejected it goes back to the list and automatically reappears on the autocue later. This means the system never interrupts the flow of the actors. And it means that by the end of the day we know every clip has been recorded correctly.
The video then travels up to the post-production system. A Revolution application displays an overview of the entire day's video clips and allows the post production team to tweak the position of each actor on screen. Revolution then renders video overlays for every clip, and when that is complete it produces an XML file with each track and overlay. This XML file is fed into Final Cut Pro in order to start rendering the disk. The Revolution system uses Unicode throughout, as it has to be capable of rendering any world language.
Results days not months after filming
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"We simply couldn't have produced all these new titles without Revolution" said Richard. "There are always corrections and changes to apply, but the system shortened the process so that is feasible to get the first version of a new title the day after it is filmed, rather than the month after. |
"...the system shortened the process so that is feasible to get the first version of a new title the day after it is filmed, rather than the month after." " |
But Revolution's role doesn't end there. The finished product is delivered to the customer on an interactive DVD that runs on Windows or Mac.
"Revolution made it easy for us to take all our experience and knowledge of the language learning process and design the user experience for delivering these new titles to our customers" said Richard. "Our Talk More product has a great user interface, works seamlessly on Windows and Mac. Its turned out really well and our customers are delighted with it."
You can visit the EuroTalk web site at:
http://www.eurotalk.com/