Nested Groups: Improved Media Visibility and Organization

Organize your Media better and have more control when live or after recording in our live editor. Now you can simply drag and drop groups of media elements into one another and toggle visibility between a top-level group on within any sub-group.

Adding Media elements (i.e. photos, videos, text, graphics, etc.) to your Cinamaker sessions is as simple as selecting media assets from your Mac or iPad’s local drive and then tapping the adjacent eyeball when you want them to appear and disappear in your sessions. And adding multiple media elements in one view can be accomplished by creating a Group folder.

But what happens when you need multiple media elements Groups to appear in a single view, and you wish for all those elements to appear and disappear at once as a group when recording and live streaming?

This document describes the addition of “Nested Groups” now available in the Cinamaker Director Studio Media Panel under the Media tab.

What are Nested Groups?

With Nested Groups, you can organize and group not one media element Group “folder”, but a second Group folder of media elements so that when you activate and deactivate them by tapping the adjacent eyeball they will appear and disappear at the same time as the original Group. 

Nested Groups allow you to simply drag and drop Groups of media elements (i.e. photos, videos, text, graphics, etc.) into Group folders and then toggle the visibility between a top-level group within any sub-group.

Two-Levels of Nested Groups

Nested Groups of media elements can contain two (2) levels; the Root Group and one (1) Sub-Group.  You can move an unlimited number of nested groups into Root or Group 1 level. You can't put any group(s) in Group 2 level groups.

How to make Nested Groups

This document describes how to create and include Nested Groups from the Cinamaker the Media panel, and how to make Nested Groups visible during your recordings and live streams, and afterward in the Live Editor.

1. From the Media Tab, Simply Add a Group (folder)

2. Enter a Title for the Group

3. The newly created Group will appear under the Media tab. You can make the Group visible/invisible by clicking on the Eyeball icon.

4. Repeat steps 1-3 and create another Group.

5. To make a Nested Group click/tap on the Group 2  "handlebar icon" then drag & drop Group 2 into Group 1.

HandleBar icon

NOTE: you can create only two levels of hierarchy for a Group.

6. Now click/tap the down arrow to expand Group 1. Notice that Group 2 is inside Group 1

7. Should you wish to pull Group 2 out of Group 1, click/tap on Group 2, grab the handlebars, and drag & drop Group 2 in the area outside, such as to the Menu area (as shown).

Making Nested Groups Visible/Invisible

When it’s time to include Nested Groups in your recording or live stream, all of the Media objects and Groups that are nested inside of a root (parent) group will become visible/invisible at the same time as the root group. 

Note: Be sure the Group 2 Eyeball is in the On position for both Groups to simultaneously appear.

Media Object Guidelines

Depending on which device you are using to run Cinamaker Director Studio; Mac (MacOS) or iPad (iOS), there are limits to the number of Media objects/layers that can be made simultaneously visible inside a single Group. Please follow these Guidelines for optimal results.
Note: Failure to follow these guidelines may cause Cinamaker to crash or drop in performance.