Every ELAN project consists of at least two files: one (or more) media file(s), and one annotation file.
*.mpg
,
*.mp4
etc.)*.wav
etc.)*.wav
file through a conversion program that converts the audio
data from a video file into a *.wav
format. As of version 6.1 for
Windows and macOS and 6.4 for Linux, attempts are made to show the waveform directly
from the audio track of the video (but a *.wav
file can still be
more accurate and perform better). In the case of multiple video files, the audio
of
the first selected video file is played (audible). The kind and number of supported
video formats depend upon the media framework you are using. If your media framework
supports a format, the same probably goes for ELAN.
The following media frameworks are known to work:
Which frameworks are actually available depends on the ELAN variant and the operating system.
*.mov
files (i.e., Cinepak-Quicktime-Movies) it
is important that these are self-contained files, i.e., the video
information needs to be contained within the *.mov
file
itself. If this is not the case, ELAN will not be able to display the
file.*.eaf
, “EUDICO
Annotation Format”)All information (e.g., the tier setup, the time alignment, the annotations) is saved to the annotation file only – never to the media file(s).
Take care when editing a media file. Afterwards you probably will want to resynchronize its alignment with the corresponding annotations, as described in (Synchronizing video files).
Although it's not compulsory it is a good practice to use a common name for media
files and the annotation file. So, it is recommended to use e.g.
a.eaf
next to a.mp4
and
a.wav
.
Imported files also do not need to have the same name as their media files, and
they can be located in different directories. All imported files can ultimately be
saved as ELAN files ( *.eaf
).
All annotation files ( *.eaf
) can be exported as text,
FLEx, Toolbox etc.
ELAN creates a special folder to store settings, preferences and configuration files and to cache content downloaded from internet. The name and location of this folder depends on the operating system:
where the <user_home> folder resolves to (depending on the Windows version) something like C:\Users\user_login_name
where <user_home> is just the user's home folder
where <user_home> resolves to /Users/user_login_name. To access the Library folder in the Finder you can hold down the Option (Alt) key when clicking the Go menu. Library will then be visible in the list.
Apart from that ELAN expects to find specific files and folders in its installation folder.