SlideCast Studio v3.1 BREEZE Update Information (New Easy Mode Added)

Hello.
SlideCast Studio v3.1 BREEZE has been released.

The biggest update this time is the addition of the new "Easy Mode".

※If you are satisfied with the current setup, you can skip this.

In v3.0 LUMEN, we significantly enhanced features for detailed video creation, such as the timeline, OP/ED, screen transitions, subtitles, and characters.

On the other hand, as the capabilities have increased,

“There are too many settings, and it’s hard to know what to touch.”
“I want to finish a video easily before doing fine-tuning.”

We understand that some users may feel this way.

Therefore, in v3.1, we have kept the high-functionality editing screen as "Normal Mode" while adding "Easy Mode," which allows you to operate by selecting only the frequently used settings.

You can set screen size, subtitles, characters, OP/ED, BGM, etc., from options without using difficult numerical settings as much as possible.

❶ Newly added "Easy Mode"

What changes?

• Before (v3.0)

  • All editing features were displayed on the same screen.

  • While it allowed for fine-tuning, it could sometimes look like there were too many settings for first-time users.

• After (v3.1)

  • You can now choose the new "Easy Mode".

  • It displays only frequently used features and temporarily hides detailed settings and professional items.

  • You can set screen aspect ratios, subtitle designs, and more from easy-to-understand options.

Where do you use it?

You can switch from the "Easy" switch at the top of the dashboard or the top of the editing screen.

The conventional editing screen can still be used as "Normal Mode".

❷ You can switch between Easy Mode and Normal Mode at any time

Easy Mode is not a separate app with limited functionality.

Easy Mode and Normal Mode use the same project data and settings.

For example,

1. Configure screen size, subtitles, and characters in Easy Mode

2. Create slides and a script

3. Switch to Normal Mode when needed

4. Fine-tune timing and effects

You can use it in ways like these.

There is no need to recreate projects made in Easy Mode from scratch in Normal Mode.

Conversely, you can continue to edit projects created in v3.0 or earlier in Normal Mode.

❸ You can configure frequently used settings from the options provided

In Easy Mode, frequently used settings are grouped by card.

The main items that can be configured are as follows:

• General setting presets

• Screen size

• Slide display method

• Slide size

• Subtitles

• Characters

• Opening/Ending

• BGM

You can open and configure only the cards you need.

Instead of entering detailed numerical values one by one, this method allows you to configure settings by clicking on options that match your intended use or desired look.

❹ You can select settings for YouTube and social media all at once

At the top of the Easy Settings, we have provided general setting presets.
*The preset feature has been available since the initial version

The pre-prepared presets are as follows.

• YouTube

• YouTube Shorts

• TikTok

• Instagram

• X

You can apply basic settings in bulk according to the platform where you want to post your video.

You can also name and save your current settings to reuse them as your own custom presets.

Saving your settings is convenient when creating videos for the same series.

❺ You can easily select the screen size and how slides are displayed

The screen size can be selected according to your needs.

• Landscape

• Portrait

• Square

You can also set how slide images are displayed from the following options.

• Show entire image

• Fill screen

Furthermore, you can choose the size of the slide itself from the following three levels.

• 100%

• 95%

• 90%

When you set the slide to 95% or 90%, the design will show the background around the image.

You can select a solid color or gradient for the background, and since a shadow is added to the reduced slide, the boundary with the background is easy to see. Note that if you return to Standard Mode from Easy Mode, you can still set images or videos as the background as before.

❻ You can set the appearance of subtitles just by choosing them

In Easy Mode, you can set the appearance from options without having to adjust detailed numerical values for subtitles.

The settings you can configure are as follows:

• Subtitle ON/OFF

• Split Top/Bottom or Overlay

• Subtitle Design

• Font Size

For example, you can use Split Top/Bottom when you want to show materials clearly, or Overlay to layer subtitles on top of the screen for social media videos.

You can also select the font size from Small, Standard, or Large.

If you want to adjust the position, margins, or design of the subtitles in more detail, you can switch to Normal Mode to configure them as before.

❼ You can set characters from Easy Mode

In v3.1, you can now register characters and set their appearance from Easy Mode.

The settings you can configure are as follows:

• Character Name

• Character image

• Icon shape

• Icon size

• Speech bubble design

• Left/right alignment

• Bulk replace characters in slides

Icon shape

• Crop to circle

• Display original image as is

Icon size

• Standard

• Large

• Extra Large

Speech bubble

• White

• Chat Green

• Transparent

With transparent speech bubbles, text color, outlines, and shadows are automatically set so that the text remains readable even over a background.

8. You can register multiple character images

You can register multiple images for a single character.

Since registered images switch at regular intervals during speech, you can use them as a simple lip-sync effect by preparing images with the mouth closed and open.

Images support the following operations:

• Adding multiple images

• Reordering images

• Individual deletion

If you do not have a character image prepared, an icon using the first letter of the name will be created automatically.

You can start using characters immediately even without images.

Registered characters can still be used across projects as before.
More detailed settings can be configured by switching to Standard Mode.

❾ Automatically aligns character placement

When you change the character icon size or left/right placement, the base position is automatically adjusted so that it does not overlap with the speech bubble.

Especially with 'Large' and 'Extra Large' icons, the distance from the speech bubble is adjusted according to the character's magnification.

Therefore, you can create a basic layout just by switching options without needing to worry about specific numerical position values.

By the way, this automatic adjustment feature has also been adopted in Standard Mode starting from v3.1.

If you want to make finer adjustments, you can change the position and size in Normal Mode.

❿ You can edit character settings while previewing

While editing a character, the character being edited and the speech bubble are displayed on the main preview screen.

You can check the following changes on the spot:

• Character image

• Icon size

• Icon shape

• Left/Right Alignment

• Speech Bubble Design

During preview, a "Character Settings Preview" label is displayed, allowing you to distinguish it from a standard video preview.

Closing the character settings will return you to the standard preview.

⓫ You can adjust the speed and pitch of set audio

You can now adjust the speed and pitch of the audio set for a character from the character settings in Normal Mode.

This applies to the following audio:

• Audio generated with Gemini TTS

• Audio recorded in SlideCast Studio

• Audio imported from Bundle Builder

• Audio uploaded and set

Regardless of how the audio was created, you can apply the same settings for each character.

Changing the speed will also change the audio playback duration. The length of the modified audio will be automatically reflected in the audio track on the slide timeline.

Pitch can be adjusted independently of playback speed. It is possible to make the voice higher or lower without changing the speaking speed.

In the settings screen, you can preview the audio using the currently selected slide's audio. If the preview sounds correct, you can apply the settings to all lines for that same character at once.

Since the original audio is preserved, you can easily revert to the state before adjustment using "Undo".

It would be easy to convey this by including a screenshot here that shows both the settings screen and the timeline at the same time.

⓬ You can also easily set OP/ED and BGM

In Easy Mode, you can also set the OP/ED and BGM from the card.

OP/ED

• ON/OFF

• Upload OP video

• Upload ED video

In newly created projects, OP/ED are set to OFF by default.

You can turn them ON and set the assets only when necessary.

If you want to trim the OP/ED or perform detailed settings, please switch to Normal Mode.

BGM

• ON/OFF

• Select BGM file

• Volume setting

BGM volume can also be set using easy-to-understand stepped options.

If you want to configure multiple BGM tracks or fades in detail, you can use the BGM settings in Normal Mode.

⓭ Easy Mode organizes and displays detailed editing items

In Easy Mode, the following detailed items are temporarily hidden from the screen so you can focus on the basic operations for creating videos.

• TTS voice generation

• Timing adjustment within slides

• Detailed transition settings for each slide

• Transition sound effects

• Detailed settings for video slides

• Some advanced setting items

Easy Mode is designed primarily for workflows where you prepare scripts and audio using SlideCast Bundle Builder, so the TTS audio generation feature in the main SlideCast Studio application is hidden.
Audio generated or recorded in Bundle Builder can be imported directly into SlideCast Studio. If you wish to adjust the speed or pitch of the imported audio, please use the character settings in Normal Mode.

However, these features have not been removed.

You can use them just as you did in v3.0 by switching to Normal Mode.

Even in Easy Mode, you can still use the basic operations required for video production.

⓮ Added 'Easy 3-Step' guide for first-time users

The Easy Mode dashboard displays an 'Easy 3-Step' guide that walks you through the basic flow of creating a video.

You can check what to do first in a short, simple sequence.

After reviewing the content, you can close it using the X button.

⓯ SlideCast Bundle Builder has also been updated

Along with SlideCast Studio, the auxiliary tool SlideCast Bundle Builder has also been updated.

The main change in this version is the ability to record audio via microphone directly within Bundle Builder.

From the audio screen in Step 3, you can perform the following operations for each slide:

• Record audio with a microphone

• Display the script while recording

• Start and stop recording

• Trim the beginning and end while viewing the waveform

• Preview the audio after trimming

• Re-record

• Use recorded audio

You can now create Bundles using your own recorded voice in addition to audio generated by Gemini TTS.

If you intend to use microphone recording, please allow microphone access via "Check/Allow Microphone" on the top screen before you begin creating your materials or scripts.

In addition, the following points have also been improved:

• Added a dedicated top screen for Bundle Builder

• Improved to allow returning to the top screen while retaining data from each step

• Changed the design to make it easier to choose how to create materials

• Adjusted the layout of step displays and connection lines

• Changed uploaded material thumbnails to be previewable in a larger size

• Added support for microphone-related guidance in both Japanese and English

Recorded audio can also be imported into SlideCast Studio as a Bundle ZIP. After importing, you can further adjust the speed and pitch from the character settings in SlideCast Studio.

For detailed basic operations, please also refer to the Bundle Builder article.

⓰ Automatically adjust the header display to fit the screen width

The header at the top of the editing screen now automatically adjusts to fit the screen width.

When there is enough screen space, button names are displayed, and when the screen is narrow, some labels switch to icon display.

This prevents buttons from wrapping mid-way or the header from breaking.

When you widen the screen again, the button names will be displayed automatically.

⓱ Apply transition effects to the entire screen including subtitles

In v3.0, when using the top-bottom split subtitle layout, screen transitions were sometimes applied only to the slide image area, leaving the subtitle area static on the screen.

In v3.1, transition effects are applied to the entire screen, including the following elements:

• Background

• Slides

• Subtitles

• Characters

• Speech bubbles

• Badges

• Telops

Even when using top-bottom split subtitles, the entire screen now transitions naturally.

This is reflected in both preview and video export.

Easy Mode is recommended for the following users:

• First-time users of SlideCast Studio

• Those who were confused by too many settings

• Those who want to complete one video first

• Those who do not use detailed numerical settings often

• Those who want to easily select settings for YouTube or social media

• Those who have already completed their own presets

• Those who want to work while viewing only the necessary settings

• Those who want to create character videos easily

If you want to fine-tune the timing and effects, you can continue to use the standard mode as before.

My personal recommendation is to create the entire video in Easy Mode first, and then use the standard mode to polish only the parts that need it.

How to Update

If you have already purchased SlideCast Studio, please copy and use v3.1 from the same paid note shared link as before.

*If you want to carry over existing projects, libraries, and settings, you can either back up and restore them, or copy and overwrite the 'Untitled.html' and 'AppBundle.html' files of v3.1 into your existing project folder and deploy.

If you are using the local HTML version, please download 'SlideCast Studio v3.1 [Local Version].html' and double-click to open it.

As a precaution, we recommend saving your current project as a backup JSON before updating.

If your previous projects do not appear in the new environment, please restore them from the backup JSON.

Conclusion

In this v3.1 BREEZE update, we have newly added 'Easy Mode'.

SlideCast Studio has evolved into a tool that allows for very detailed adjustments, as a result of adding features I personally wanted when creating videos.

While using various services and tools, I often felt frustrated when I couldn't adjust things exactly how I wanted. That is why I prioritize making SlideCast Studio as flexible as possible.

On the other hand, not every video requires such detailed adjustments.

Sometimes you just want to select the necessary items—such as screen size, subtitles, characters, and BGM—and finish the video in a short time. Especially with a new tool, knowing 'where to click to finish' is more important than knowing 'what it can do'.

Therefore, this time, while keeping the high-performance standard mode, we added Easy Mode as a new entry point to help you complete videos without hesitation.

Easy Mode is not a separate app with stripped-down features. Content created in Easy Mode can be edited directly in standard mode.

You can start by creating the whole thing in Easy Mode, and switch to standard mode if you want to make further adjustments. If you don't need detailed settings, you can finish the entire project in Easy Mode. You can use them differently depending on your goals and familiarity with the tool.

If you have been using v3.0, you can continue to use the standard mode as before, so there is no need to significantly change your workflow. If you are a first-time user, please try starting with Easy Mode.

Creating a tool that is 'feature-rich but doesn't look difficult' is not easy, but I believe this update is a step forward.

My goal is to create a tool that is easy to use for both those who are not comfortable with PCs and those who want to focus on every detail.

As the name v3.1 BREEZE suggests, I hope you can start creating videos with a lighter heart than before.

If you encounter any bugs or find anything confusing, please let me know.

Thank you for reading this far.

Editor's Note

*It's unnecessarily long, so please ignore it if you're not interested.

When I released v3.0, I thought, 'This might be the last major update for SlideCast Studio.'

However, immediately after that, things I had left undone and features I wanted to add kept coming to mind, and in the end, I ended up updating it again in just about a week.

I really want to start making my next tool, but once I start running, it's hard to stop.

Since I use SlideCast Studio for my own professional work, when I'm actually making videos, I inevitably find things that bother me, like 'It would be easier to use if it were like this' or 'This operation could be made simpler.'

Even now, as I write this editor's note, several new ideas have already come to mind. Despite saying it would be the 'last update,' I suppose I'll end up updating it many more times after all.

Codex, Claude Code, and the Subscription Problem

Recently, I started paying for Claude Code again and have been developing using both it and Codex.

It's convenient to be able to use both, but I'm thinking about going back to just Codex. If I increase them too much, I'll end up what you might call 'subscription poor.'

Since I develop in the gaps between work and childcare, even if I pay for multiple services, there are times when I can't use them fully.

That said, when I use the ChatGPT Plus plan or the Claude Pro plan individually, I sometimes hit the usage limit on days when development is intense.

One is not quite enough. Subscribing to both means I can't use them fully. But if I go for a higher plan, the price jumps up, making it hard to justify.

I would appreciate it if there were a mid-tier plan for around 5,000 yen a month that is just right for individual developers... but that's quite difficult.

Development time is mostly spare time

Currently, the time I can use for development is mainly,

• before work starts

• During lunch break

• During intervals in my workout

• At night, after the kids are asleep

These are the kinds of times I use.

Rather than securing a large block of time, I am making progress by connecting small, fragmented moments.

Sometimes I wonder what I am doing when I check code between workout sets, but surprisingly, these few minutes add up to something significant.

On the other hand, I still haven't been able to read the new volume of "HUNTER×HUNTER" that I bought on U-NEXT. I also want to go see the movie "Michael".

The things I want to do keep increasing, but the time I have available does not.

Recently, I have also been consulting AI about room design

A recent interesting way I have used AI outside of development is for designing my home.

I sent a photo of my living room to the AI and asked,

"I want to make it a Japandi-style room, what should I do?"

I consulted it and had it generate an image of the finished concept.

Using that image as a reference, I have been rearranging furniture and buying missing interior items. Thanks to that, the atmosphere of my living room has improved dramatically.

I realized after the AI pointed it out that what my living room was missing was "plants" and "indirect lighting".

Regarding plants, I considered real houseplants. However, my wife strongly opposed it, saying, "I don't want bugs," so I adopted a fake Ficus umbellata instead.

Right after I bought it, I thought, "This might have been a mistake," but looking at it from a distance, it is almost indistinguishable from the real thing. It is 150cm tall, so it has a presence, and just placing it there has greatly changed the impression of the room.

And the effect of the indirect lighting was greater than I imagined.

The room has a decent atmosphere during the day, but for some reason, it looks lackluster at night. The cause was that I was lighting the entire room only with the ceiling light.

With just the ceiling light, the light spreads evenly, making the room look a bit flat. When I added indirect lighting, it created depth and contrast in the light, and the atmosphere improved instantly.

This time, I introduced SwitchBot indirect lighting.

Before buying the indirect lighting, I was worried that I would eventually find it a hassle to turn on and stop using it. However, since I can automatically set the turn-on and turn-off times, I never forget to turn it on or off.

The lights turn on automatically in the evening and turn off when it's time to sleep. It's truly convenient because I can maintain a nice atmosphere without having to operate it every day.

Honestly, if you want to easily change the impression of a room, it might be more effective to introduce indirect lighting first rather than buying large pieces of furniture. It has quite a significant impact.

Thanks to AI, I can shape ideas even in my spare time

Come to think of it, the development of SlideCast Studio and creating a room are somewhat similar.

I show AI the vague image in my head of 'I want it to be a bit more like this' and turn it into a concrete form. I actually use the result and then fix the parts that bother me.

Things I would have given up on before due to lack of time can now be shaped little by little using my spare time, thanks to AI.

That said, no matter how convenient AI becomes, a day still has 24 hours.

It's about time I stop developing and make some time to read the 'HUNTER×HUNTER' volumes I bought. Although, I have a feeling that before I finish reading them, I'll think of new improvements for SlideCast Studio and end up opening Codex again.

I've decided not to say 'this is the final update' anymore.

See you later.