Add features to a video using Full Motion Video

Available with Image Analyst license.

Note:

This tutorial requires ArcGIS Pro3.0 or later and the ArcGIS Image Analyst extension for ArcGIS Pro. If you don't have ArcGIS Pro 3.0 or later or the Image Analystextension, get a free 21-day trial.

As part of the ArcGIS Image Analyst extension, ArcGIS Full Motion Video allows you to view and use geospatial–enabled video in ArcGIS Pro. This tutorial focuses on using the video player in ArcGIS Pro to add points to the video player display or the map.

Learn more about the capabilities of ArcGIS Full Motion Video

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create features by marking every point where a vehicle passes a semitrailer (also called a big rig) as it travels along a highway near Cheyenne, Wyoming. The semitrailer is carrying an important load and you want to be sure it is being transported safely.

When you add a video to an ArcGIS Pro project and you have the Image Analyst extension, tabs and interactive windows automatically open so you can interact with the video data directly in the project.

If you haven't already done so, familiarize yourself with the tools and options available for visualizing and exporting from the video.

Learn how to work with the video player

Before you get started, download and unzip a sample video to use with the tutorial.

Open the video

To add the video to a project in ArcGIS Pro, complete the following steps:

  1. Start ArcGIS Pro, and sign in with your ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise credentials if necessary.

    If you have a Named User license, you must sign in to use ArcGIS Pro. If you are already signed in, your username appears in the upper corner of the ArcGIS Pro landing page.

    If you have a Single Use or Concurrent Use license, you don't need to sign in to use ArcGIS Pro as a desktop-only application. You do need to sign in with ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise credentials to share content to your portal or to access content from a portal. For example, you need to sign in to open the project package for this tutorial.

  2. When ArcGIS Pro starts, click Settings > Licensing.

    The Licensing page appears.

  3. Under Esri Extensions, go to Image Analyst and confirm that under Licensed it says Yes. If it says No and you have a Named User license, ask your ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise administrator to activate the license. If you have a Single Use license, see how to authorize an extension. Once you have reviewed the licenses, click the back arrow in the upper corner to return to the landing page.
  4. From the Blank Templates list, select Map to create a project with the map template.
  5. In the Name box, type FMV Player and click OK.

    The project opens with the World Topographic basemap loaded in the map display.

  6. Click the Insert tab on the ribbon above the map view, click Add Folder and browse to the location where you downloaded the tutorial data.
  7. Select the FMV_Tutorial folder and click OK.
  8. From the Catalog pane, expand Folders > FMV_Tutorial > Videos to access the video files listed in the folder.
    If the Contents or Catalog panes are not visible, click the View tab on the ribbon and choose the panes or windows you want in the project.
  9. Drag the Truck.ts file into the Contents pane of the project.
    The following occur:
    • The Truck video is added to the Contents pane under Standalone Videos.
    • The video player automatically opens with the Truck video loaded.
    • A new contextual tab set appears on the ribbon with the Standalone Video and Player tabs. Each tab includes a set of tools to work with the video data you added to the project.

Work with annotation features in the video

The video player tools allow you to create and display point, polyline, and polygon annotations in the video and on the map. The Display features tool allows you to display features from the associated map in the video. It is important when creating features, that you follow z-value rules.

Create and display annotations.

To work with annotation features in the video, complete the following steps:

  1. Click the play button on the video player, watch the video, and notice that cars pass the truck a few times.

    If the video is too small, you can resize the player while it's docked, or right-click the Truck tab, and click Float to view the video player in its own window. Right-click the Truck tab again, and click Dock to return the player to its initial location.

  2. Click Jump to Start Jump to Start to move the video time slider back to the beginning of the video.
  3. Click Zoom to Video Zoom To Video to ensure that the map will display the extent of the video.
  4. From the color picker, select a distinctive color for the color of the video footprint on the map.
  5. On the video player toolbar, click the Create and Display Annotations Display Annotations drop-down arrow and select Annotate Point.

    The Create Features pane appears, and the Create and Display Annotations button is highlighted on the toolbar when activated.

  6. In the Create Features pane, select the Driving template.
  7. Click Play Play, and click a car whenever it passes the truck in the video player.

    You can pause the video, rewind or fast-forward, or you can digitize a point while the video plays. Each time you click in the video, a point with the driving symbol is generated in both the video and on the map display. Turn off Create and Display Annotations when you're finished.

  8. Manually zoom to the full extent of the video in the map viewer to view the points you added to the map.
  9. Using the time slider, go to the frame where the point was added in the video.

    The points you added are shown in both the video and on the map.

  10. Annotate Polyline and Annotate Polygon options are also available from the Create and Display Annotations drop-down list.

Use features created with FMVAnnotations

To use the points for future analysis, complete the following steps:

  1. Click the video in the Contents pane.
  2. Click the Standalone Videos tab, and click Configure Workspace in the Manage group.

    The Configure Full Motion Video Workspace pane appears, where the default geodatabase and export folders for metadata, images, Microsoft PowerPoint slides, and videos are listed.

  3. Review each one to familiarize yourself with the locations, and click OK.
  4. In the Catalog pane, browse to the location of the default geodatabase listed in the Configure Workspace window.

    The new feature class is stored in this geodatabase.

  5. In the Contents pane, right-click the FMVAnnotations layer, select Symbology, and do the following:
    1. In the Symbology point pane, click the symbol to open the Format Point Symbol page. Ensure that the Gallery tab is active.
    2. In the search bar, type cross and press Enter.
    3. Select Cross 1, and click the Properties tab on the Format Point Symbol page.
    4. Change the Color value to Electron Gold.

      Hover over the colors to see that Electron Gold is a bright orange.

    5. Click Apply, and close the Symbology pane.
  6. In the video player, click the Jump to Start button Jump to Start, and click Play Play.

    Adding new point features to the map appends those features to the existing feature class.

Visualizing and adding features to video data is only possible when working with a full motion video-compliant video file that has all the required metadata. If you have an archived video stream and an associated metadata file, you can combine them using the Video Multiplexer tool, and use the resulting video file in ArcGIS Full Motion Video workflows.