Lecture recordings availability, Semester Two 2020
In Semester Two 2020, recordings from the lecture capture system will be released to students – via Canvas Recordings – 24 hours after the lecture. If you need to make edits to the recording, you should do so within this time frame. Staff will be able to reset the default release time for their courses to a shorter or longer time-frame (up to a maximum of 72 hours). Staff electing to release only after 72 hours must have a compelling reason for delaying the release for this long and must have considered the impact on students, including equity student groups.
Students identified as studying online (OO, NO, NFxx or SWxx in Canvas), do not have a timetable because they are not attending on-campus lectures. This means they will not necessarily know when the lecture recordings will be available. Course Coordinators should advise students in Canvas, when to expect the lecture recordings so they can manage their study time remotely. If they are at one of the China Learning Centres, this will help them to prepare for time with Learning Facilitators.
Overseas students do not have automatic access to lecture recordings. Course coordinators need to share the relevant lecture streams to the course in Lecture Recordings – Settings.
Types of recordings
Sharing lecture recordings for offshore students:
Example: STATS 201 have published the scheduled 201 L01C lecture to all sections.
- Go to Recordings tab and click on Settings.
- Click checkbox for ‘share to course’ for most relevant lecture stream (e.g., L01C).
- Review the recording publishing delay – if no edits required reduce delay e.g., 2 hours.
Reuse past lecture recordings
The Lecture Capture policy: “41. All recordings are to be stored until the end of the next corresponding teaching term following delivery of the course.”
- The previous 12 months (rolling) recordings are accessible in Canvas so staff can copy the LTR preview link from their 2019 course and paste into a 2020 course as an ad-hoc recording.
- Lecture recordings that are older than 12 months are moved to an archive folder. They are then deleted after 6 months (18 months total).
- If recordings need to be reused after they have been moved to the archive folder they can be requested via Staff Service Centre.
- Find how you can edit previous lecture recording and publish to a current course.
Video and audio recordings in Canvas
Recording video or audio can be achieved directly from Canvas’ page editor using a webcam-enabled laptop or PC, or a camera and microphone attached to your PC/laptop. Canvas’ Page Editor also enables you to upload pre-recorded videos. The recording has 500MB size limit.
Screen capture for Windows and Apple devices
Windows
- BB Flashback Pro is a Windows application to record and edit a screen capture, enhance with sound clips, add text and images, and publish in multiple formats. This software is available to install via the Software Centre (only available on University issued devices and requires VPN access).
- BB Flashback Express is free to download and like the pro version, can record the screen, capture webcam, add commentary with no time limits or watermarks. However, unlike the Pro version, it does not include the editing suite or the ability to add text, images or sounds.
- ShareX is an open-source screenshot and screen-casting tool and like BB Flashback Express, does not include editing features or the ability to add text, images or sounds.
Apple devices
- Mac computer: QuickTime Player has a screen-recording feature
- iPhone and iPad: In iOS 11 or later, and iPadOS, you can create a screen recording and capture sound on your iPhone and iPad.
Tips for screen capture
To avoid using up your Canvas file quota (5GB), we recommend staff upload a screencast to the Mediastore:
- Upload a screencast to Mediastore
- Reduce the file size of your video before uploading
- Share the video in your Canvas course:
- link to the video in Canvas modules
- paste the link into a Canvas page
- embed the video in a Canvas page
- add the recording to Canvas’ Recordings page:
- Create an Ad Hoc recording from the Recordings page.
- Paste the link to the recording that you received from Mediastore.
Record using mobile devices (phone or tablet)
- View the guides on filming with a mobile device and creating video assignments.
- Or set up your smartphone as a document camera.
- To avoid using up your Canvas file quota (5GB), we recommend that staff upload recordings to the Mediastore.
Webcams are available to borrow from the Learning Environment Support Unit. Phone +64 9 923 4800, internal (ext. 84800). For other recording requirements e.g., tripod, camera or laptop, contact your Faculty Delegate.
Recording narration in PowerPoint
Please view this comprehensive guide: how to make a video using PowerPoint.
If you save your PowerPoint recording as an MP4 video, upload your video to the Mediastore. Otherwise, save your recording as a PowerPoint Show (PPSX) file and upload it to Canvas just like any other file.
When saving your recording as an MP4 video:
- Avoid using up your Canvas file quota (5GB) by uploading your video to Mediastore.
- Add the Mediastore link to modules, pages or embed it within a Canvas page
- or add the recording to Canvas’ Recordings page:
- Create an Ad Hoc recording from the Recordings page.
- Paste the link to the recording that you received from Mediastore.
- Consider upload your MP4 video to www.otter.ai to generate a transcript, then share the transcript in Canvas by using the Upload Document function and add the link to the transcript next to your video.
Additional guides
Otter.ai – Guide for generating transcripts from existing recordings
Office.com – Guide for narration in PowerPoint (video)
Office.com – Add closed captions or subtitles to media in PowerPoint
One button studio
The One Button Studio is a self-service facility designed to allow staff to produce video recordings.
The process is as simple as selecting which feature you want: Camera, Lightboard or PowerPoint (inserting external content) and after entering in a few details into a lectern computer and pushing record, it’s ready to go. Once the lecture is finished, the One Button System will email the recording to the users’ email address.
This specialised equipment has been installed in the Barry Spicer Media Studio on Level 0 of the Business School, in room 260-006A and is a bookable space in the Room Booking System (see the screenshot below to select the room).
Bookings must be received and confirmed before 12pm the day before you want to go to the studio. Please do not block out the studio for lengthy periods – it will be in high demand.
Filter by the Room Booking system by choosing:
- Minimum capacity 1
- City Campus – Sector 200
- Lecture Theatre Recording
- Select your preferred date and time, click next.
- Tick the box next to the Barry Spicer Media Studio to book. If the room us unavailable at your selected time, click the stopwatch icon to show available times. You can also view the timetable for the room via the calendar icon.
Tips for recording video
Remember to:
- For accessibility to all students, make sure to provide transcripts and/or subtitles for self-created videos and lecture capture recordings. At very least a summary of what was covered will be helpful for students.
- Use plain English – avoid colloquialisms, jargon, acronyms.
- Chunk contents into a short and manageable size. Consider a series of short videos that cover key concepts.
- Using a script can help you talk more clearly, slowly and to the point at hand.
- Slow down your speech, enunciate, speak clearly and with the microphone well positioned near your mouth.
- Consider the environment you are recording from (external noise, background wall that will be captured in your recording).
- If you are unfamiliar with recording or using the equipment, it is recommended that you test before you record to minimise the risk of having to re-record. It might be good to record and see how you look from the viewer’s point of view.
Video editing
Please note: In Semester Two 2020, recordings from the lecture capture system will be released to students – via Canvas Recordings – 24 hours after the lecture. If you need to make edits to the recording, you should do so within this time frame.
Listed below are free editing apps available for video. These apps allow for basic editing features such as, trimming and splitting.
See instructions on how to edit videos using QuickTime Player for Mac or iMovie for iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Watch a quick video tutorial on using the built-in Windows Video Editor (view the transcript).This works with Windows 10.
A good alternative is OpenShot Video Editor, for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It allows you to trim and split your video, add basic visual effects, and splice multiple videos together. OpenShot tends to drastically increase the video file size, therefore, when exporting your video, try changing the settings to 10 frames per second (if it is a screen-cast video) and the bit rate to 1.5Mb/s.
And although Zoom Cloud recordings allow you to set the IN and OUT points of your recording, this only takes effect if you share the video from the Zoom platform. To actually edit the recording, you will need to download it and edit it using one of the apps mentioned.
Reduce the file size of your video
Instead of uploading one long recording consider structuring the content into shorter, focused videos. This helps avoid large file sizes. However, if your file is larger than 1GB, you should compress the video so that it will successfully upload to Mediastore.
For help with converting/compressing video files or if you want a simple infographics concept to students, contact Media Production team.
Otherwise, follow the instruction below to compress your video files using VLC Media Player.
VLC Media Player can compress the video’s quality or scale. If you are using a University PC/laptop, VLC is freely available via the Software Centre or Self Service on Mac (only available on University issued devices and requires VPN access), or if you are using your own computer, download it from the VideoLAN website.
- Open VLC Media Player.
- Click Media > Convert / Save.
- Select the video file via the Add button.
- Click Convert / Save.
- Select Video – H.264 +MP3 (MP4) as the profile.
- Click Browse to select a folder on your computer where the file will be saved to.
- Enter a file name and click Save.
- Click Start and wait for the progress bar on VLC Media Player to finish.
- If the file is still too big, try again but this time, click the tools button
next to the Profile. - Under the Video Codec > Resolution tab, change the Scale to about 0.5.
- Under the Audio codec tab, make sure Audio is checked.
