Back its I/O conference in May, Google announced that it would be adding Video Overviews to NotebookLM, with the new features “coming soon.” Now these features are being rolled out, according to a Keyword blog post on Tuesday.
NotebookLM is an incredibly easy to use, powerful AI tool that can distill dense pieces of information into more digestible material. Features like Audio Overviews, and now, Video Overviews, offer deep dives into topics covered by source materials.
Along with the Video Overviews, NotebookLM redesigned its Studio Panel and added more features that will allow you to stretch your information further into your specific areas of interest. For more, don’t miss our coverage of NotebookLM’s new curated selection of featured notebooks.
Video Overviews start as slides, with more formats to come
Google’s blog post says the new Video Overviews rolling out represent the first presentation format, which hints that more types will become available in the future. For now, the overviews take the form of narrated slides.
Video Overviews pull in images, diagrams, quotes and other data points from your documents to provide a visual representation of your sources. These visual aids can make it even easier to grasp complex topics.
Like Audio Overviews, you’ll be able to use the “customize” section to direct Video Overviews in any way you see fit. Whether you’re seeking a general overview that touches on the core themes or a deep dive dedicated to a specific section of your sources, you’ll be able to fine-tune to your liking.
Video Overviews are rolling out to all English users, starting today, with additional languages on the way soon.
NotebookLM’s Studio Panel is redesigned and upgraded
You can think of the Studio panel as where all the NotebookLM magic happens. It’s where you’ll generate your Audio or Video Overviews, Mind Maps, Study Guides and more. It’s now redesigned, and features a few additional tricks.
The redesign adds icons at the top of the panel to quickly generate what you want. Audio Overviews, Video Overviews and Mind Maps each have their own dedicated tiles, and a Reports tile tucks away Briefing Docs, Study Guides, FAQs and Timelines for a less cluttered feel. You can hover over any tile to select which option you want to generate from a drop-down menu.
Prior to this update, you could only generate one of each type of studio output per notebook and you could only access the generated items one at a time. Now, you can create multiple study guides, FAQs and others within the same notebook.
Google describes some of the ways this new functionality could be useful:
- Creating multiple Audio Overviews for a notebook in different languages.
- Generating dedicated Audio and Video Overviews for specific roles in a team notebook with notes and documentation.
- Making multiple Mind Maps, FAQs or study guides for each chapter for your next big exam.
In addition, you can now multitask within the Studio panel, allowing you to poke around in a Mind Map while listening to an Audio Overview.
The redesigned Studio panel will be rolling out to all users over the next few weeks.
For more on NotebookLM, here’s how to make your notebooks public and share them.