Using Video Analysis 2 and Timeline

Use video analysis 1 if you are interested in recording either positional or behavioral data. Video analysis 1 will also allow you to record more than 16 different behaviors. Video analysis 2 is appropriate if you want to record positional and behavioral sequences in one run. The output from either (a sequence of behaviors) can be turned into an MS-DOS text document with a DTA file type for input into TimeLine.

va01.gif (3675 bytes) Start the Video Analysis program and select the file for analysis.
va02.gif (100913 bytes) The file loads and the first frame is shown. Controls below the video allow you to step through the movie. Step size is selectable by the user. If you will only be collecting behaviors, unselect the mouse button so the video only advances with a button click.
va03.gif (70002 bytes) Sixteen different behaviors can be recorded. They will be coded as 0 through 15 and can be renamed in a text editor or Excel. When the data collection is complete, press the Copy to Clipboard button.
va04.gif (7926 bytes) The Data have been pasted into Excel. The X and Y columns are blank since no X-Y position data was collected.

NOTE: IF YOU ARE USING VIDEO ANALYSIS 1 OR 2 TIMELINE WANTS A LIST OF THE BEHAVIORS ONLY. THE BEHAVIOR COLUMN SHOULD BE THE ONLY ONE EXPORTED IF YOU ARE ONLY DOING THE BEHAVIORS. REMOVE THE FIRST FIRST ROW ("Behav").

NOTE: IF YOU ARE USING THE 2006 VERSION OF THE PROGRAM YOU DON'T NEED TO DO ANYTHING. THE BEHAVIOR COLUMN IS WRITTEN IN A PROPER FORMAT FOR TIMELINE (IN THE SAME DIRECTORY AS YOUR VIDEO).

Since we know that the original frame rate was 10 frames per second, a time column can be easily calculated, but is not necessary for this analysis. The behavior column is copied to Word (without the heading) and saved as an MSDOS TXT file with a DTA extension. If you do collect X-Y data, the formula for computing the distance between two X-Y coordinate pairs is:

Distance = Sqr[(X1 - X2)2 + (Y1 - Y2)2]
Distance = Distance / RealDistance
va05.gif (5524 bytes) Start the Timeline program and select the data file.
va06.gif (87850 bytes) The data are fully sequenced and analyzed. To see the graphic, press the draw button.
va07.gif (77341 bytes) A list of the behaviors, their sequence, the transitions and a transition matrix is generated. Each of these can be copied one at a time and pasted into Excel to produce graphs or do an analysis the timeline shows how the behaviors follow one another in the sequence.