First, Learn the Tools 

Before we go any further, it’s a good idea to get to know the tagging window and associated tools intimately. A good tagging window is essential for a good analysis, so why not start with reading the guide to tagging windows on our blog.

And while you’re at it, check out this tutorial video:

Once you’ve got all the basics down, it’s time to jump into more advanced features.

Our Free Resources Could Be Your Best Friend

If you’re not much of a designer, but you still want a good looking tagging window, check out all the free resources on our website. Browse them, download any that interest you, adapt them to your needs or use them directly. 

The choice is yours.

Tips for Improving Your Tagging Window

1. Use the Grid to Align Buttons

Our first tip for creating good looking tagging windows is to line up your buttons well. An organised tagging window provides a sense of order which is essential for good aesthetics.

One of the features in Nacsport that will help you do this is the grid in the tagging window creation environment, which can be activated from the sidebar of the control window.

Now, in the Tagging Window Properties tab, in the Grid Reference section, you can change the size of the grid squares and also activate the Snap to Line option. When this option is active, the button will snap to the upper-left corner of the closest grid square. 

This makes it very easy to align your buttons properly.

2. Align Selected Buttons to Reference Button

This option allows you to line up two or more buttons at the same time.

To do this, first select all the buttons you want to align. The reference button is the last one clicked and appears with a blue border.

Now, right-click on the buttons and select the Align Selected Buttons to Reference Button option. All your buttons will now align to the left hand side of the reference button whilst maintaining their vertical position. 

3. Align Buttons with the Position and Size Options

This is a top tip and, generally, one which is relatively underused by our users.

In the Edit Properties section, in the Appearance tab, there are options for Position and Size.

Here, you can input a numerical number to change the position and size of the selected button.

The X and Y boxes relate to the button’s horizontal and vertical position on the template. Therefore, if you have two or more buttons with the same X value, they will be aligned horizontally. Likewise, the same Y value will mean that the buttons line up vertically.

The other two boxes, with the arrows, refer to the height and width of the buttons. If you have the same values in both boxes, the buttons will be the exact same size.

This is much better than aligning and resizing by eye. The designers here at Nacsport have told us that this feature is key for getting great looking tagging windows.

4. Use the Keyboard to Align Buttons

The arrow keys on the keyboard can also be used to move the selected button left, right, up or down.

5. Add Images to Buttons

A great way to create a good looking tagging window is to add images to your buttons. As well as making the tagging window look good, these can also be very functional. 

The most common images that users add to their tagging window are player headshots and shirt-shaped buttons with numbers. Let’s look at how to create both of these…

Player Headshots

If you have a button for each of your players and a photo of them, you can add their image to the corresponding button.

When you tag the video using this button, the player’s name will still be tagged as normal.

One tip, make sure that all the photos you’re using are of a similar shape to your buttons, otherwise the image will get stretched, ruining the aesthetics of your tagging window. 

Shirt-Shaped Buttons

A good alternative to player photos is to create a shirt-shaped button which shows their number. And the images aren’t limited to shirts, it could be a swimming cap, baseball helmet, whatever...as long as the button has a number to identify the player easily.

A good tip here is to have the same background image for each player (the same shirt) and add the shirt number using the Display Name option that can be found in the Appearance tab.

For example, if you are creating a button for Cristiano Ronaldo, you would assign the full name to the button, but then you would activate the Display Name option and enter 7. Now, the image on the button will only show the number 7 for easy identification, but when you tag the video using this button, the name Cristiano Ronaldo will appear in the timeline.

In the resources section of our website, you can find uniform-shaped templates for various sports. These can be downloaded in SVG format and edited using any SVG editor (Inkscape, Boxy-SVG, et al) in order to change the colours, etc.

6. Pseudo-Graphic Descriptors

If you don’t have Nacsport Scout or higher, you don’t have access to graphic descriptors. This is a shame, because they offer extremely deep data collection. But here’s a nice tip that will give you something similar, though nowhere near as deep.

You can create an inactive button to act as a representation of the field of play. Within this area, you can place various buttons for each area of the field that interests you. When you click this area it will be tagged in your clip.

Another option is to cut up an image of a field and place each part on the tagging window next to each other like a jigsaw puzzle. In the example below, there are only two buttons, one for each half of the pitch, but you can make as many areas as you want, as long as you are within limit.

Again, you can download field images for several different sports from the resources section of our website, completely free of charge.

7. Group Buttons and Add Headers

You’ll almost certainly have several different types of button on your tagging window - offensive actions, defensive actions, buttons for players, etc. And we recommend that you group them under common criteria and organise them with an inactive button acting as a header.

The only drawback here is that inactive buttons still count towards your button total in Basic and Basic+, which could reduce your analysis options.

8. Use Different Colours and Shades

This tip is linked closely to the previous one. As well as grouping buttons by type with a header, it’s a good idea to also group them by colour for quick recognition. You could also use different gradients of colour for each button, just to make your tagging window look even nicer.

Some things to keep in mind when adding colour to your tagging window:

•    Don't use too many colours, this can be visually confusing
•    Try pastel colours rather than solid colours.
•    Use colour gradients for different buttons in the same group
•    Pay attention to the contrast between the background of the button and the text. Can it be easily read?

If you need some help choosing colours and shades, check out Coolors.co, which offers premade colour palettes and allows you to create your own. It contains a lot of free options.

Want More Nacsport Tips and Tricks?

Hopefully, this article helps you improve the look of your tagging windows. You’ll be able to create tagging windows that, as well as being functional, will look great.

Remember, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to working with Nacsport. If you want more tips and tricks to help you work better with the software, we recommend signing up for one of our official courses.

If you have any questions about anything you read in this article, or would like more info about Nacsport or video analysis in general, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with us.

In the meantime…

Thanks for reading.