An introduction to the Video Activity Coder: Free software for coding videorecorded behaviors.

The Video Activity Coder is a free, open-source computer program that can assist in coding behaviors in videorecorded datasets. Several programs already exist with this purpose; however, some of these are quite expensive, whereas some open-source, free alternatives have limitations. The Video Activity Coder allows a user to view recorded observations with the ability to play, pause, rewind, and fast-forward video clips easily. Users can mark the beginnings and endings of behavioral codes by using an onscreen keypad. For example, one could note every instance of a child manipulating toys by pressing a key or note the beginning and end of when a parent assists a child. In addition, the program offers descriptive statistics and output that captures second-by-second streams of codes that can be analyzed with other programs.