Liz.... The annotation tools are really fantastic. As easy as they are
to use, I still find some annoyances:

(a) The icons for TYPE OF ANNOTATION are not clear. I tried the  [  ]
bracketed icon thinking I could place text anywhere I wanted... but I
couldn't figure out how to use this one. I was expecting the type I
enter to go inot this box, which I could then resize and postion on
screen. I still don't get it.

(b) So I use the cartoon-bubble style annotation, which more or less
functions as above:  I love being able to type into a box, then
reshape the box width, height etc, move and position on the screen.
But sometimes, depending on the overall shape & size of the box, it's
hard to grab the point that determines the arrow direction of the text-
bubble. To do so in those cases, I have to reshape the box, grab that
point and extend it outward, then reshape the box into the shape &
position I want.  Not a big deal, but seemingly easy to correct if the
interface marked the arrow point with a different color, like yellow,
to represent that it has a different function from just reshaping the
window.

(c) Related:  For long and narrow boxes (you can see a recent video I
posted with keyword "ifonz" for specific examples), the shape of the
arrow sometimes gets really chunky ( = ugly ), vs. being able to pull
out that arrow point without having it relationally-expand in fatness
to the height of the box.

(d) What's present right now is really impressive, especially with the
automatic-duration settings, and the ability to tweek those on
timeline. I imagine y'all will eventually add ability to select fonts
and bold and, god-forbid, color... I think as a default the grey is
neutral and non-distracting. But I would want a bolder font.  I've had
to compensate for the light weight by adding extra spaces to seperate
words so they don't appear to run into each other when one is just
glancing at annotation while mostly focusing on the video content.

(e) Lastly, a very minor point:  The "preview" function is quirky and
I have found non-representative of what is really happening when
finally published. So I end up just publishing then going back and
editing, which works fine... But as it stands, preview, in my view, is
not providing any value because it treats some annotation entries as,
i don't know, "rendered", vs others as "tentative til saved". But it
doesn't handle this well.

I am glad ya'll finally added user forums! ANd really glad to see that
some staffers will actually interact.  This has been the biggest
lacking to date--- and a huge one. I am glad to see now that YT
product & feature developers are interested in feedback -- other than
some "file 13" -- which is where user feedback usually goes. Let's see
more of this from your colleagues ??!  thanks.

On Jul 24, 11:36 am, YouTube Liz wrote: