The Medley Visualizer lets you turn any of your medleys into a fully customizable video with synchronized captions, waveform animations, background music, and more. This guide walks you through every step.
Step 1: Sign in to Cortico
Navigate to the Medley Visualizer. If you aren't already signed in, you'll be prompted with the Connect to Cortico dialog.
Enter your Cortico email and password, then click Connect. You can also check Remember me to stay signed in across sessions.
Tip: If your organization uses API key authentication instead, switch to the API Key tab.
Step 2: Select a Medley
After signing in, you'll see a list of your available medleys. Each medley is displayed by name with a Select button.
Click Select next to the medley you want to create a video from. The number of highlights included in the medley is shown at the top of the next screen.
Step 3: The Video Editor
Once you select a medley, you'll enter the video editor. The editor is split into two sections:
- Left side — A live video preview with playback controls (play/pause, restart, loop, scrub bar, playback speed, and fullscreen).
- Right side — Configuration panels organized into five tabs: Background, Captions, Cards, Settings, and Music.
At the top of the right panel, you'll see the Export Video button and a Style Preset dropdown. Presets give you a quick starting point — for example, the Cortico preset applies a blue-tinted photo background with a mirror waveform and gold caption highlights. Any changes you make will update the preset label to show (modified).
Background
The Background tab controls the visual backdrop of your video.
Background Type
Choose from the Background Type dropdown:
- Image — Upload a custom image to use as the video background.
- Solid Color — Use a flat color.
- Gradient — Apply a gradient effect.
When Image is selected, click the Upload image area to select an image file from your computer.
Image Treatments
Expand the Image treatments section to fine-tune how your background image looks.
- Grayscale — Controls how much color is removed from the image (0%–100%). Higher values make the image more black-and-white.
- Dim — Darkens the background to improve text legibility. Increase this if captions are hard to read over your image.
- Tint Color — Sets the color of the dim overlay. Use a non-black color (e.g., a dark blue like #1E3A5F) for a tinted effect.
Fade In
Use the Fade in slider to fade the video in from black at the start. Set to 0s for no fade, or increase for a smooth opening transition.
Captions
The Captions tab controls how spoken words appear on screen. Captions are displayed in a karaoke style — words highlight as they are spoken.
Font, Size, and Color
- Font — Choose from available fonts (default: Inter).
- Size — Set the font size in pixels (default: 95).
- Color — Set the text color using a hex code (default: #FFFFFF white).
Highlight
The highlight is the visual emphasis applied to the currently spoken word.
- Highlight Style — Choose how the active word is highlighted (e.g., text color change, pill background).
- Highlight Color — Set the highlight color (e.g., #F5A623 for a warm gold).
Words on Screen
Use the Words on screen slider to control how many words are visible at once in the caption area. A lower number (e.g., 3–4) creates a more dramatic, focused look. A higher number (e.g., 6–8) shows more context.
Advanced and Positioning
Expand these sections for additional control over caption rendering and placement within the video frame.
Adjust Word Timings
Toggle Adjust word timings to fine-tune when individual captions appear relative to the audio.
When enabled, you'll see:
- Global timing offset — Shift all captions forward or backward using the -100, -10, +10, +100 millisecond buttons. The current offset is displayed in the center (e.g., -1100ms). Click the reset icon to return to 0ms.
- Per-word adjustment — Pause the preview, then click any word in the video preview to adjust its individual timing. Adjusted words appear underlined in the preview.
- Reset all timing adjustments — Clears all per-word and global offsets.
When to use this: If you notice captions appearing slightly before or after the audio, use the global offset to correct the drift. For individual words that are still off, click them directly in the preview to fine-tune.
Cards
The Cards tab lets you add title and closing screens to your video.
Context Card
The Context Card is an introductory screen shown before the audio begins. Toggle it on with the switch in the top-right corner of the section.
- Text — Enter the text to display (e.g., a topic title, speaker name, or conversation prompt).
- Duration — How long the card is shown (default: 3 seconds). Adjust with the slider.
- Background — Background color of the card (default: #000000 black).
- Text Color — Color of the card text (default: #FFFFFF white).
- Font — Font used for the card text.
- Background Music Timing — If you've added background music (see Music tab), choose when it starts. For example, Start music during card begins playback over the context card.
Ending Card
The Ending Card appears after the audio finishes. By default, it shows "Powered by Cortico."
- Ending Card Images — Upload up to 2 images (e.g., logos or headshots) to display on the ending card. You can drag them in the preview to reposition.
- Toggle the eye icon next to the Ending Card header to show or hide it.
Settings
The Settings tab controls the waveform visualization and medley behavior.
Waveform
The waveform is an audio-reactive animation displayed in the video.
- Enable Waveform — Check or uncheck to show or hide the waveform.
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Waveform Style — Choose a visualization style:
- Bars — Vertical bars that react to audio levels.
- Line — A continuous waveform line.
- Mirror — A symmetrical waveform mirrored vertically.
- Circular — A radial waveform.
- Waveform Color — Set the color (default: #FFFFFF white).
Expand Advanced and Positioning for further waveform customization.
Medley Settings
- Cold Open — When enabled, the audio begins playing immediately without a lead-in pause. When disabled, there is a brief pause before audio starts.
- Silence Between Clips — Controls the gap between audio segments in the medley (default: 0.5 seconds). Reduce for tighter cuts or increase for more breathing room.
Music
The Music tab lets you add background music that plays behind the spoken audio.\
Click Add Music to upload an audio file (MP3 or other supported format).
Once added, you'll see the music controls:
- Volume — Adjust the background music volume relative to the spoken audio (default: 30%). Keep this low enough that speech remains clear.
-
Fade Effects
- Fade In — How long the music takes to reach full volume at the start (default: 2.0s).
- Fade Out — How long the music fades out at the end (default: 2.0s).
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Timing
- Start Padding — How much silence before the music begins (default: 1.0s).
- End Padding — How much the music continues after the last audio segment (default: 1.0s).
Click the X button next to the file name to remove the background music.
Tip: Use the Context Card's Background Music Timing setting (in the Cards tab) to control whether music starts during the intro card or after it.
Step 4: Preview Your Video
Use the video preview on the left side of the editor to review your video before exporting:
- Play/Pause — Start or stop playback.
- Restart — Jump back to the beginning.
- Loop — Continuously replay the video.
- Scrub bar — Click or drag to jump to any point in the video.
- Playback speed (1x) — Adjust preview speed.
- Fullscreen — Expand the preview to fill your screen.
The preview updates in real time as you change settings. Some changes may briefly show a "Building preview..." message while the preview regenerates.
Step 5: Export Your Video
When you're happy with the preview, click the Export Video button at the top of the right panel.
The dropdown arrow next to Export Video may provide additional export options (e.g., format selection).
Export rendering happens on a remote server and may take a few minutes depending on the length of your medley. Once complete, the video file will be downloaded to your computer.
Troubleshooting
Captions are out of sync with the audio
Use the Adjust word timings toggle in the Captions tab. Start with the global timing offset to shift all captions, then fine-tune individual words as needed.
Background image makes text hard to read
Increase the Dim percentage in Background > Image treatments. A value of 40–60% usually works well.
Export button isn't working
Make sure your medley has at least one highlight/segment. The video service must be available for export to succeed.
Preview shows "Building preview..."
This is normal — the preview is regenerating after a settings change. Wait a few seconds for it to load.