Imports of TextMap Annotations Into OnCue As Deposition Designations

Sorry for not posting for a while. I was hot seating a trial, and was just too busy to update the site.

The OnCue trial electronic presentation software makes it easy to import deposition designations added as annotations in TextMap as new designations for video clips to be played in the courtroom. You can simply go to File . . . Import . . . Import Designations , select a .csv file exported from TextMap and import the annotations.

In version 9.1 of TextMap, annotations will be exported in this format.

Note that in order to complete the import into OnCue you will need to change the headings from 'Transcript' to 'Deponent', and from 'PgFrm' 'LnFrom' 'PgTo' and 'LnTo' to simply 'Page' and 'Line', and change 'Issues' to 'Linked Issues'. OnCue does not allow entries in the Notes field of TextMap to be imported into a field in its database, but having this as a field in the .csv file will not affect the import.

OnCue has a limitation in handling imports of annotations from TextMap. While TextMap will export ranges with multiple issues on a single row with the issues separated by semi-colons, OnCue cannot import designation ranges to which more than one issue is assigned. OnCue terms issue designations as 'highlighters'. Unless each issue is placed on a separate row, you will get an 'Unknown highlighter ID' when importing.

It's necessary to edit the .csv file exported from TextMap this way, adding duplicate rows for individual issues:

With the updated .csv file, the import can be completed. The set of designations will be imported as a new set of designations named after the name of the .csv file.

checking VRAM in DirectX

A Windows operating system uses an API (application programming interface) called DirectX to allow programs installed on your PC to work with the video and audio of your computer. You can bring up the diagnostics tool for DirectX by going to Run and entering: dxdiag

The DirectX Diagnostic Tool will have tabs for each set of monitors and speakers connected to your computer. A tab named 'Render' will display information for the dedicated graphics card on your PC. It will show the VRAM for your PC - the amount of computer memory dedicated to graphics:

The very first tip of the night on April 12, 2015 warned to never try to use Trial Director or other presentation software for a courtroom electronic presentation without confirming that your laptop has sufficient VRAM. Trust me, I know from bitter experience that video clips for deposition designations with multiple segments will not play back correctly on a laptop without sufficient VRAM. The current version of Trial Director requires a graphics card with 4 GB of dedicated graphics memory. See the specs posted here.

Use the DirectX Diagnostic Tool to check how much VRAM the monitors and projectors you are connected to will require.

HDMI cable maximum length

When setting up a courtroom for an electronic presentation, you might think that having a very long HDMI cable would work to your advantage. It could give you more flexibility about where you position your tech table from the inputs for the audio-visual system. There are certainly a lot of very long HDMI cables available of 50 feet,

100 feet . . .

. . . and longer

But with HDMI cables, longer is not necessarily better. HDMI cables may be active or passive. A passive HDMI cable will allow signals to be sent in both directions. An active HDMI cable only allows data to go in one direction, and will include a processor. An active HDMI cable will get power from the device it is connected to. At a length of more than 25 or 50 feet a passive HDMI cable will no longer transmit video and document images with maximum speed and clarity.

More sophisticated audio-visual systems may route an HDMI signal from a computer with Cat 5 or Cat 6 network cables and then pass through to an HDMI cable for a display in order to prevent significant lag over long distances.