In this release, we strengthened MP4 export. You can now choose the video orientation, text pane, and subtitle position for each MP4, and MP4s are now created at 1080p. We also made the SOP editing screen, the Owner Functions, and the sharing screen easier to read, and changed the names of two items on the screen.

Please also see the New feature release published at the same time (AI Search assistant, continuous play, and how the Terminology Glossary grows).

① MP4 export has been improved (portrait video, Advanced settings, 1080p)

Until now, MP4 export created landscape videos that looked the same as the Playback & display settings of the SOP. In this release, we added [Advanced settings] to the export screen, so you can choose the video orientation, text pane, and subtitle position for each MP4. You can also create portrait videos for field staff who hold a smartphone or tablet upright, as well as MP4s that show only the video without explanatory text. In addition, MP4s are now created at 1080p.

● Options in Advanced settings

• Video orientation: Landscape (16:9) / Portrait (9:16). Portrait videos are created with the video on top and the text pane below, the same as when viewed on a smartphone. If you collapse the text pane, the video fills the full screen
• The step heading: Show / Hide (the step number, title, and standard time shown at the top left of the video)
• Text pane: Follow SOP settings / Show / Collapse
• Subtitle position: Follow SOP settings / Bottom / Top / Left / Right / Off

The SOP settings (Playback & display settings) do not change. The options you choose are used only for that MP4. Each time you open the export screen, it starts with the same look as before (landscape, show the heading, and as set in the SOP settings).

● MP4s are kept for each set of settings

Created MP4s are kept for each combination of translation language and settings. Even if you export with different settings, such as landscape and portrait, the MP4 you made earlier is not replaced. On the export screen, under “MP4s in this language,” the completed and in-progress MP4s are listed in a table showing their status, settings, and creation date. Select a row to switch to those settings. If an MP4 is completed, you can download it right away.

● MP4s are now created at 1080p

MP4s are now created at 1920×1080 (1080×1920 for portrait), instead of the previous 1280×720. The text of the headings, text pane, and subtitles, as well as the text in PDF steps, now appears sharper than before.

● PDF steps now show the full page

Until now, PDF steps shown in an MP4 were enlarged to fit the width of the screen. As a result, tall pages such as A4 portrait were cut off at the bottom, and the page number and zoom control bar also appeared in the video. In this release, the full page is now shown at a size that fits, without the control bar. For SOPs that mainly use tall PDFs, you can show the pages larger by choosing “Video orientation: Portrait (9:16),” “The step heading: Hide,” and “Text pane: Collapse” in [Advanced settings].

● Plan requirements

• MP4 export is available on the Lite plan and above, as before (SOPs longer than 30 minutes require the Pro or Enterprise plan). Advanced settings and 1080p are available on all plans that can use MP4 export
• If the finished MP4 file is large (500 MB or more), it is downloaded directly without being loaded into the browser, even for SOPs of 30 minutes or less

For details, see MP4 export.

② The SOP editing screen is now easier to read

As SOP features have grown, the [Basic information] tab on the editing screen had accumulated many items. In this release, we reviewed where items are placed and how they are arranged.

• The [Basic information] tab now has two columns across the full width of the screen. The SOP contents (document number, title, thumbnail, overview, and items used) are on the left, and the storage folder, version, and collapsible settings are on the right. On a PC, each column scrolls separately
• The information shown in the headings of the collapsible settings (required qualifications, creation plan, number of tags, etc.) is now shown correctly even when the section is closed
• For file-based SOPs, operations such as selecting and replacing the file (previously [File-based SOP settings] on the [Basic information] tab) have been moved to the [SOP content] tab. You can make settings while viewing the PDF for display (the left and right panes can be resized by dragging). For users who can only view the SOP, the PDF for display also appears on the [SOP content] tab
• The SOP editing screen now always opens from the [SOP content] tab (previously, viewers who opened a file-based SOP opened it from the [Basic information] tab)
• A file-based SOP can now be opened and published with [Open] and [Publish] as long as it has a file, even if it has no steps. The [Use as a file-based SOP] switch is now included in undo and redo
• The [Draft Sharing] tab now has two columns: comments on the left and shared targets on the right. Shared targets are shown to everyone who can view the draft, and only the drafter can [Change shared targets]

For file-based SOP operations, see Registering an existing SOP as a file (file-based SOP).

③ Owner Functions and sharing screen settings are now in collapsible sections

• Each setting in Owner Functions is now in a collapsible section. Even when closed, the heading shows a summary of the current setting (such as “N changed from default” or “Set”), so you can check it without opening the section. A section with unsaved changes shows “Unsaved”
• On the sharing screen, [Open from the specified step], [Open with a specified language], [Open with auto transition enabled], and [Open in continuous play] are now grouped under [Opening options]. Even when closed, the heading shows the options you have chosen

④ Two screen labels have been renamed

● Changed “Video description” to “Analysis instructions”

In the AI processing options, “Video description,” “File description,” and “Description of the image” have been combined into “Analysis instructions.” This field can contain not only the premises of the SOP, but also the scenes you want to keep, how to write, and instructions on how to create questions. The [Video description] in Templates has also become [Analysis instructions]. How the content is passed on to the AI has not changed.

For details, see AI processing options: each item and how to choose and Advanced use of analysis instructions: keeping NG cases and redos to create training material (customer service role-play example).

● Changed “AI check” to “AI photo check”

For photo-submission questions, the “AI check,” in which AI reviews a submitted photo again, is now called “AI photo check.” This makes it easier to tell it apart from the checks you run when creating an SOP (such as the Pre-publish check). The function itself has not changed.

For details, see How to use the AI photo check.

⑤ Other improvements and bug fixes

● MP4 export

• Fixed an issue where the “Creating” label could remain when a request was not accepted because the system was busy. An MP4 that has stayed in “Creating” for more than 70 minutes can now be recreated

● File-based SOPs and file display

• Fixed an issue where the selection and display on the editing screen did not change when the conversion method was reselected for a file-based SOP
• Fixed an issue where the previous PDF could be displayed when [Open] was pressed after a file was replaced (the same applied when the translation language was switched repeatedly)

● Materials and 360°

• [Create a new SOP from this image] has also been added to the details of image materials (the same as selecting one image in bulk selection of materials and creating an SOP from it)
• [Treat as 360° video] in the material details is now shown only for videos that can be made 360° (in teams on the Pro plan or higher, videos with a 2:1 width-to-height ratio) and for materials that are already set to 360°
• Fixed an issue where an SOP created from a 360° photo right after uploading could come out as a flat photo, and an issue where the “360°” mark might not appear on a 360° video right after uploading
• Fixed an issue where the AI processing status did not appear on the material card for 360° photos uploaded with AI processing selected

● Video editor

• Fixed an issue where, for steps where you split the video, cut the unneeded parts, and merged the following section into the previous step, text edited on the SOP editing screen could revert or be duplicated after the video editor was opened and confirmed
• Fixed issues where, when a merge was undone, the title and text of the previous step could disappear, questions could remain in both steps, or text that had been deleted could return when the merge was done again
• Fixed an issue where deleting the split point right after a merged section caused the title, body text, questions, and attachments of the following step to stop appearing. The check when deleting a split point now also compares differences in photo submissions, AI photo checks, and reference images
• In addition, we fixed minor issues related to merging, undoing a merge, and deleting split points

● AR and View in 3D

• Fixed an issue where images looked as if covered by a white film in AR in the browser and in View in 3D (including external sharing)
• Addressed an issue in AR in the app where touching an object while viewing selected it and made it look as if its color had changed (objects can no longer be selected while viewing)

● Screens

• Fixed an issue where gray bands could appear along the right and bottom edges of the side menu, for example when the browser zoom level was changed
• “Welcome!” is now also shown on the login screen of the smartphone app

Impact on existing customers

There are no changes to the SOP content. Please check the following points.

• MP4s that were already created remain at the previous size (1280×720). To recreate one at 1080p, select [Discard the existing data for these settings and recreate] on the export screen, and then export
• MP4s created at 1080p are larger in file size than before
• File operations for file-based SOPs are now done on the [SOP content] tab, not the [Basic information] tab
• In AR in the app, tapping an object to play its sound while viewing will not work until the next app update (playback when getting close to an object still works as before)
• The fixes for merging and split points in the video editor apply to operations performed from now on. Text already saved in SOPs will not change

Thank you for your continued support of Dive ◎