This month we take a more detailed look at one of the more powerful features of Cozimo – the ability to review and annotate video. Cozimo’s system allows any number of remote team members to play and annotate a video from any standard web browser. Members can review videos on their own or you can have online meetings where the playback and annotation are fully synchronized between all participants. To optimize the real-time performance of the system, we recommend that video files posted for review and feedback not be larger than necessary for the type of feedback required (there is a 60 MB per file limit).

Formats and Encoding – Cozimo supports most popular video formats, including QuickTime (.mov), MPEG (.mpg, .mp4), AVI, Windows media (.wmv) and Flash video (.flv). When formats other than .flv are uploaded an .flv proxy is created for the purposes of playback and review. Because the encoding occurs on the fly at upload, there may be a delay between the time that the file uploads and the thumbnail of the file appears in the file tab indicating that it is available for review. This delay is usually a few minutes but it can sometimes take quite a bit longer if the file is large (or the encoding server very busy).

The encoding parameters have been set to preserve the resolution and quality of the original file as much as possible though with any encoding process there can be variations so it’s a good idea to check the result prior to distribution if this can be an issue. You can maintain complete control of the quality by uploading your own .flv files. This way you avoid the encoding delay as well.

Playback  and Annotation – During playback, video files are progressively downloaded to the browser (not streamed). You can start playing the video clip after 20% of the file has downloaded. File download progress is indicated as an orange line in the scrub bar:

Use the buttons or hotkeys to control the playback as shown below:

Click on the label above the controls to toggle between a timecode display or frame count:

Stop on any keyframe to make annotations on it as you would on any image. Frames that have annotations on them are indicated with a blue marker in the timeline. By default, Cozimo inserts a keyframe at every six frames during the encoding process. If you upload your own .flv files you can insert keyframes at any frequency you wish.

To synchronize the playback of the video between multiple collaborators, click on “Presenter Mode”. While in presenter mode you can play the video or scrub to any keyframe and all participants will be synchronized to the same frame. When you stop to annotate all participants can “whiteboard” on the same frame together. If a participant moves off the synchronized playback to view the video independently, the presenter can re-synchronize the participant by pausing and restarting the playback. Any collaborator can click on Presenter Mode at any time to take control of the playback.

Today we introduced a number of improvements to our branding functionality for customers at our Plus level plans (and higher). With our previous version, you were able to replace the Cozimo logo in the upper left corner of the workspace with a custom logo for each workgroup. You had the option of putting your company logo there or a logo to represent the client or project itself. We have now introduced an option for you to upload a default logo that will always be displayed in the top left corner unless you specifically provide one for an individual workgroup to override it. For instructions on how to set up all the branding options that are now available visit our Help page here.

If you’re involved in web site design and development, our new Firefox extension gives you a fast and convenient way to upload and collaborate on any web page. The extension, based on the Screengrab! extension by Andy Mutton, can be used with our “Collaborate Now” tool when you want instant feedback on individual pages, or with your Cozimo account when you want a more structured workgroup environment and have multiple pages you want reviewed together. (To learn about how to use the extension with “Collaborate Now” you can review the tutorial here.)

To use the extension with your Cozimo account follow these steps:

1. Using a Firefox browser, install the Cozimo extension by clicking here.

2. By default, the extension is set to work with the “Collaborate Now” tool. To use it with your Cozimo account, right click in the web browser and select Collaborate Now > Preferences. This will open the Preferences menu:
Click on Cozimo as the Destination. If desired, you can also provide the specific Cozimo subdomain you want to upload the data to (If you login through cozimo.com then leave this blank).

3. Before using the extension with your Cozimo account you have to login to it (make sure you login through the same subdomain indicated in the Preference menu).

4. After logging in, browse to the page you want to upload. Once displayed, right click on anywhere on the page and select the Cozimo Upload menu item (or click on the Cozimo logo in the status bar).

There are four options for uploading the page:

Image Only – Uploads only the image you are currently clicking on (note that this option will only be visible if you are clicking on an image or web element with a background image).
Complete Page/Frame – Uploads the entire page or frame including portions that are not visible in the current window.
Visible Portion – Uploads only what is visible in the current window.
Selection – Lets you drag out a rectangle to select a specific portion of the page you wish to capture and upload.

5. After making your selection, you will be redirected to a Cozimo page that shows a complete listing of your current workgroups and folders. Click on the folder you wish to upload the screen capture to.

6. Repeat from step 4 for any additional pages you want to upload.

The Cozimo extension is open source, licensed under GPLv2, and the source code can be found here here.

Today we’re launching a new service in our ongoing support of creative collaboration: an online app we’ve dubbed “Collaborate Now”. While our primary Cozimo application is designed specifically to support creative professionals with ongoing projects in private workgroups, the idea behind Collaborate Now is to make image collaboration as easy and convenient as possible. No account is required – just upload an image, share, and collaborate. As with our main application, you can give feedback either individually or work together in real-time. For example, if you use Skype (or another IM/VOIP application) you can upload the image you want to talk about to Collaborate Now, cut and paste the URL into the Skype Chat and immediately start to “whiteboard” on the image to help communicate your discussion points. In addition to images, our new Firefox extension also lets you screengrab and collaborate on any web page – great for web designers.

Our goal with Collaborate Now is to introduce people to the benefits of online collaboration on visual media and the simplicity of using Cozimo by providing a simple, practical (and free!) application. By allowing Collaborate Now to be embeddable, we’re also looking to use it as a way to explore and support new approaches to creative collaboration and education through integration with existing web services and social/professional networks. So check it out at http://collaboratenow.cozimo.com  and let us know what you think. We’re eager to hear your feedback on the functionality as well as the ways in which you use it. As we hear about new ideas we’ll share them here with the community.

A new customer was recently asking about how to make Cozimo as easy as possible for their clients to use. Here are a few recommendations:

1. Use messaging. The integrated messaging system is one of the more powerful features of Cozimo. When you post content that you want reviewed, the easiest way to direct your clients to the content is to use “Post Message”. The client will receive an email with a link that will take them directly to the item in the collaboration workspace. If you want your clients to review a series of items then send a message from the first item in the folder with instructions that they should go through all the items posted, navigation between items is easy with the next and previous arrows.

2. Create the client accounts for them. There are two ways to add a new client to a workgroup. One way is to send them an invitation. If they don’t already have a Cozimo account they will have to create one at the time they accept your invitation. You can streamline this process by creating an account for your client when you add them to the workgroup. They will receive an email with their login information and a link that takes them directly to your login page.

3. Give them an introduction. The first time you use Cozimo with a client, it’s always a good idea to get on the phone and take them through their first experience with the service. Post an image or video and show them how to navigate to it and use the annotation tools. It can make a big difference in their attitude towards using the tool if you help them get started on the right foot.