Chapter 25: Conditions and Interactivity
A template does not have to render the same thing every time, and a published movie does not have to be something people only watch. This chapter covers the three features that make a template react to data and to clicks: visibility conditions, click actions, and the endcard.
All three build on variables — see Chapter 13 if you haven’t set any up yet.
Visibility conditions
Scene-level conditions (optional and choice scenes) are covered in Chapter 13. The same mechanism exists on individual layers: a layer with a condition renders only when the condition holds against the template’s variable values.
Select a layer and open the Visibility Condition section in the Layer properties. Tick Only show when… and fill in:
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Variable | Which variable to test (the dropdown lists every variable used or defined in the template; + adds a new one) |
| Operator | How to test it |
| Value / Values | The comparison operand, when the operator needs one |
The operators:
| Operator | True when |
|---|---|
| is set | The variable has a value |
| is not set | The variable is undefined or empty |
| equals | The value matches exactly |
| does not equal | The value does not match |
| is one of | The value is in the list you provide |
When to use a layer condition instead of an optional scene
- Layer condition — the scene is the same either way, but one badge, price line, or disclaimer only applies to some recipients.
- Optional scene — the whole beat only exists for some recipients.
Use the narrower one. Twelve conditional layers in one scene are harder to reason about than two scenes.
Click actions
Any layer can become a clickable hotspot in the published player. Open the Click Action section in the Layer properties and tick Clickable:
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| URL | Where the click goes. May contain {variables} — e.g. https://example.com/offer/{customerId} |
| Opens in | New tab (default) or same tab |
| Tracking ID | Analytics identifier for the click; defaults to the layer’s id |
The hotspot is the layer’s box. That means an invisible shape layer over an area of a video is a perfectly good button, and a text layer is clickable across its whole box rather than only its glyphs.
Give the Tracking ID a readable name — cta-book-demo reads better in an analytics report than a generated element id.
Click actions do nothing in the editor canvas. They come alive in the published player.
Endcards
An endcard is a still frame the player shows after the video finishes — the natural home for a call to action, because it stays on screen and its clickable layers stay clickable.
Mark a scene as an endcard in the Scene tab of the right sidebar: open the Endcard section and tick Use as endcard.
What changes:
- The scene leaves the video timeline. It is not rendered as part of the movie and contributes no duration.
- It publishes separately as a still, and the player shows it when playback ends.
- Its clickable layers become links on that still.
A template has at most one endcard. Marking a second scene clears the flag on the first.
The replay button
By default the player centres a replay button on the endcard. If it would land on top of your call to action, either move the element or untick Show replay button in the Endcard section.
Designing an endcard
- Build it like a poster, not like a scene: it is a single frame with no motion.
- Put the primary action where the replay button isn’t.
- Give every clickable region a distinct Tracking ID so you can tell which one people press.
- Variables work here too — an endcard reading “Talk to {repName}” personalises per recipient.
Putting them together
A common personalised-video shape:
- Variables carry the recipient’s data.
- Optional scenes drop whole beats that don’t apply.
- Layer conditions swap the badge or price line within a shared scene.
- An endcard closes with a
{customerId}-parameterised booking link. - Tracking IDs tell you which link got pressed.
Troubleshooting
The conditional layer never appears.
Check the variable’s value in the Variables panel. is set is false for an empty string, not just an absent variable.
The condition dropdown has no variables. It lists variables that are used or defined in the template. Add one with the + next to the field.
Clicking does nothing. Click actions are inert in the editor. Publish and test in the player.
The endcard shows up in the middle of the video. It isn’t marked as an endcard — check the Use as endcard box in the Scene tab. Marking it removes it from the timeline.
The replay button covers my button. Move your element, or turn the replay button off in the Endcard section.