Pro Studio Documentation

I provide a form of documentation in the extension where possible... anything you can see or could hope to interact with has a descriptive tool-tip which explains what the section or tool is used for and how to use it. In addition to that resource I thought I'd provide an overview here.

NOTE: When you, as a Host, open a Hangout, you must load Pro Studio before inviting any participants. Currently the only way we can tell which participant is the host is when they are the only person in the Hangout. I have requested a better way to identify the Host and shall wait patiently, and follow up periodically, until we have that improvement.

It's a fairly busy interface, I know. If you run out of screen before I run out of interface, know that you can click on any section title to collapse that section and make more space for the rest of the interface.

The information and tools presented are broken down into sections, so that's how we're going to learn about them. Let's take it one section at a time.

Status

The Status section is visible by all participants running the extension. Its purpose is to tell the participant a little about the Hangout they're in:

Who is the Host of the Hangout?
Is it a standard ten-person Hangout or a Hangout On Air?
If a standard Hangout, is it open to the Public or are only certain circles invited?
If a Hangout On Air, is it broadcasting live, or can only the participants view it?
What is the current topic of conversation (if topics have been entered)?
What topic is coming up next (if topics have been entered)?

The Host or Producer can advance the Topic by clicking on the ► symbol, or pressing the [►] key on their keyboard.
They can also return to a previous topic by clicking ◄ or the [◄] key on their keyboard.
Participants who are neither Host nor Producer can not access the ► or ◄ symbol.

Participants

The Participants section is also visible by all participants running the extension. This section lists all Hangout participants and indicates the following about each participant:

Which participant is the Host?
Who are the designated Producers?
Who has the extension running?
Who has not yet activated the extension?
Who is indicating that they have a question or comment?

Anyone using the extension can click on the "Raise Hand" button to indicate that they have a question or comment. A

will appear in the participant list next to any participant who clicks this button. The host or producers can act on this information to bring the participant into the conversation.

The Host and Producers have a check-box next to each participant that is not visible to other participants. This is used to select the participants to which to apply the desired tool. No action is taken by any tool in the Tools section if no participant is select as its target.

Tools/Topics Selector

The Tools/Topics selector is visible only to the Host and Producers. It is used to switch the display beneath from the Tools section to the Topics section.

Tools

The Tools section is visible only to the Host and Producers and lists all the tools that be applied to the selected participants.

Mute: Turns off the microphone of all selected participants
Un-mute: Turns on the microphone of all selected participants
Stand By: Indicates to all selected participants that something is about to happen (broadcast is coming to the Hangout, they are about to be interviewed, etc.)
All Clear: Indicates to all selected participants that the show, or their segment of it, is done and the broadcast is no longer watching them
Hide: Applies a white overlay on the video of all selected participants
Un-hide: Removes the white overlay to reveal the video of all selected participants
Wrap Up: Indicates to all selected participants that the segment or interview is going too long and they need to end their portion of it
Set Producers: Host and Producers use this to promote additional participants to Producer
KICK: Host and Producers use this to eject a participant from the Hangout
Script: Originally intended to provide scripts for bumpers and short statements, this allows Hosts and Producers to send a short script or message to the selected participants. The message appears at the top center of the display, where most web-cams are located, so this is about the closest many users will get to having a teleprompter.

Topics

The Topics section is visible only to the Host and Producers and provides a means to create and organize show topics, or the subjects that will be discussed during the Hangout.

Add discussion topics by entering the title in the text field and clicking the "Add" button or pressing [Enter] key on your keyboard. You may add as many topics as are practical.

Reorder topics by clicking the ↑ or ↓ symbols next to the topic you wish to move, or delete them by clicking the x.

In addition to using the ► and ◄ in the Status section to change topics, you may also simply click the topic name in the Topics section to select the current topic.