First shown at NAB 2023 in Las Vegas this past spring, DataStoryteller is a set of two new plugins that substantially simplifies the creation of animated charts and map visualizations for video production. DataStoryteller enables video editors to upload Excel or CSV files, select a chart type, and animate one – or multiple – data sets with minimum effort. This makes it easier to create anything from simple animated charts to more complex data-driven visualizations. DataStoryteller is robust yet simple, allowing for chart customization without being a data scientist to create interesting and clear animations/visualizations.
DataStoryteller charts and maps are configured and previewed in the users editing platform of choice – Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Resolve – and behave like a plug-in within these applications. The integration with After Effects, Final Cut, Resolve and Premiere Pro makes it easy to apply changes and show the animations in the video editing application, without the need to export/import files back and forth.
Here is some more information about how DataStoryteller, shared by Digital Anarchy:
Set up can be done a couple ways: From scratch or by using a template. Setting up a basic chart works much like creating graphics in Excel or Apple Numbers, with the advantage of all features being tightly integrated with the video editing platform. After uploading a file, users can choose what data to include in the animation, as well as set resolution, height/width, color, transition effects, position on screen and more. The templates are an easier way to create the visualization with styling, colors, and basic animation already set up. If the user finds one they like, they just need to upload their data and make some tweaks. They can also save their own templates if they’re creating similar charts regularly.
- World and US Maps: Visualize world data (countries) or US data (states and counties), and use names or FIPS data to link data to regions on the maps. The World Map offers different projections, including a 3D globe.
- Traditional Charts: 1.0 supports Bar, Line, and Scatter/Bubble charts. Because Data Storyteller is built on the robust charting library of D3.js, we will continually be adding other types of charts after the 1.0 release.
- Support for Simple or Complex Data: Imported CSV or Excel files can be simple spreadsheets or more complex, with multiple sheets or large data sets.
- Automated or Manual Animation: You can create animations by setting a few parameters, such as Draw On Time or Fade Off. Or you can manually keyframe many settings for more complex animations that are timed to the rest of your production.
- Built-in Spreadsheet: A built-in spreadsheet to see and select all of the data or specific cells, rows, and columns you wish to include in your visualization. You can easily reload the data if you edit the data in a spreadsheet app (Excel, Numbers, etc).
- Multi-file Animation: One of the strengths of Data Storyteller is the ability to upload multiple data sets. For example, multiple years of census data can be uploaded and then animated year by year, creating complex visualizations that tell a story with much more depth than a simple bar chart.
- Range/Filter Animation: Editors can choose to slowly reveal or hide data by animating the spreadsheet selection or filtering values based on a threshold. By using keyframes that determine when each new data point appears, it is possible to create animations that are in sync with your video footage, voiceover or other elements.
- Multiple Dimensions: Another strength is support for data with many attributes. For example, in our Census data, for different cities you might want to show Age, Income, Crime level, and Cost of Housing. Any of these can be used to control X position, Y position and Size and Color of the resulting data point. All of which can be animated over time.
- Preset Templates: A wide variety of templates help users get started on creating beautiful data visualizations.
- Vector Charts: The charts are all vector based graphics, so can be rendered at any size, including HD, 4K, 8K, 12K or higher.
Digital Anarchy DataStoryteller is available immediately, priced at $199.00 USD, and is available for Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro, Resolve, and Apple Final Cut Pro.