The ability to insert a video, live or existing, has probably been the most requested feature we have received since EE was first released. It's also been one of the most challenging things to pull off in a way that makes sense. We have always wanted video objects to behave like all other objects in EE (drawings, shapes, images, text, etc.). We are thrilled that we are going to be able to provide this feature in EE 2.0 and even more excited to see how creative our users can get. Please note that inserted video objects will make the project file sizes larger, and they also take a longer time to compress. We'll be releasing an updated version of the EE Compressor for Mac that can compress projects with inserted videos more efficiently shortly after EE 2.0 is published.

The very friendly people from Buc-a-buc farms (www.bucabuc.com) allowed us to use a couple of their videos to demonstrate the insert video feature.  You can view the original videos (warning: very cute) at these two links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1qwD3ArWxc and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOUM7ys3Qlc. There are a few things you might notice in the demo video above. First, the drawings can stick to the video objects so when they get moved around, the drawings hold their relative position. Second, it's possible to have multiple videos playing at the same time. Do this with care as your iPad has limited memory and you don't want to risk a crash! Third, it's possible to mute the audio from the videos or include it. You will find a volume slider for the inserted video object.

The fun doesn't stop there. It's also possible to insert a video camera and screencast over live video. You can walk around and annotate a tour of your building or use the front facing camera to show your face as you talk through your explanation. This is especially fun with an iPad Mini since it's lighter and smaller and easier to work with using one hand. Remember, exporting will require patience, but we think that this feature is so cool that exported projects will be well worth the wait.  Also remember that you can play back uncompressed projects from within the app or using the EE Player app for Mac OS X.

That's it for our announced updates. You'll find additional changes and improvements in the app when EE 2.0 is released in the very near future. We're just doing a final round of bug fixes and then it will be sent to Apple for review. Thanks for your patience in waiting for this update. Also, thanks in advance for your flexibility as we realize with such an open ended tool, we can't test every single possible use case. Those who have contacted our support team I hope can vouch for how quickly we respond and how hard we work to address every single bug that gets reported (hence our taking great care in pushing this update!). Stay tuned!