Creating, Uploading and Editing Media

Creating an Ad Hoc Capture using Universal Capture Software

There are multiple ways to open the Universal Capture (UC) interface to create an ad hoc capture. The New Capture or New Software Capture option in the Create button menu allows you to launch the local installation of Universal Capture on the computer you are using. Which option you see depends on your role and some institution settings. Students and Teaching Assistants will always see New Capture. Instructors will see New Software Capture if the New Device Capture also appears in the Create button menu.

The first section below has procedures for launching the local installation of Universal Capture. The second section below provides instructions for using the UC interface, regardless of how you got there. All Universal Capture interfaces work similarly.

Launching the Local Universal Capture Installation

If you are using the local computer to do the ad hoc recording, use the below instructions to launch Universal Capture.

To launch a local Universal Capture installation for ad hoc capture

Log into EchoVideo.Click the Create button in the top navigation bar.Select New Capture or New Software Capture, whichever is available to you.

A new tab opens that allows you to Launch Universal Capture or install Universal Capture if it is not already installed on the computer. If Universal Capture is not installed on your computer you will need to raise a request with the ITS Service Desk to have it installed.

Click Launch Universal Capture.

If a popup box appears, click Open Echo360 Capture to confirm the application you are using. This may only be necessary the first time.

The Universal Capture window appears and you may be prompted to log in to your account. See the next section for configuring and launching your ad hoc capture. You may also want to refer to Start a Recording with Universal Capture.

Starting an Ad Hoc Capture using Universal Capture

No matter how you get to a Universal Capture window, the UC interface is the same. The below instructions guide you through each step.

Using the Universal Capture interface for an ad hoc capture

When the Universal Capture window appears, notice that the default inputs are showing in each of the panels, along with an audio (VU) meter in the center.Use the Input drop-down lists to select different inputs for each panel - selecting None if you don't want one or either of them (e.g., display only, video only, or audio only - for audio, select Mute only if you are capturing System Audio with a Display input).

Click the capture title in the top left corner or capture type below the Record button, identified in the figure below to open the Capture Details page.

The Capture Details page appears, containing fields and configuration options as described below the figure.

Enter a Title for the capture. This name will be the name of the recording. If you select to publish the capture to a new class, it will also be the name of the class.Description and Tags are optional fields. Complete them if desired.If applicable, enter a Capture Duration for the capture. The default is 60 minutes (1 hour). You can edit this to be more or less. Also, note that the date / time of the next scheduled capture appears below the Duration box.

The Duration field is NOT available when using UC: Personal. UC: Personal does not take a set duration and count down; it will record for as long as you let it. Click Stop when finished to end a UC: Personal recording and upload it to EchoVideo.

Select a recording Quality for the capture. The default quality selection depends on the type of device being used (Pro, Pod, UC: Classroom, or UC: Personal) and the type of capture being created (Live or VOD). For detailed information on quality options, see Universal Capture Recording Quality.

BEST PRACTICE: A / D / V, A / V / V, and A / D / D recordings can be processor-intensive. Do test captures to be sure your computer and input devices output a quality that meets your standards.

Select a Publish To location, identifying where you want the ad hoc capture to be published when it is finished. The drop-down list will include your Library and any currently active sections you are enrolled in.If applicable, select a Class option. If you have selected an active course / section to publish to, you will then be able to choose to either create a new class or publish to a pre-existing class. If publishing to a NEW class, the class name will match the title given for the capture.Select the Live Stream checkbox to stream the capture live (in real-time) to students. YOU MUST publish to a course to perform a Live stream. The class in the course provides the means for students to view the stream.When finished, click SAVE.

You are returned to the main preview page. Take this opportunity to confirm or change your input selections if needed.

 

When you are ready to launch the capture, click the red Record button in the center of the screen, identified in the above figure.

IMPORTANT: Users are not limited in any way to specific quality options. If you are planning to stream the capture Live, we do NOT recommend selecting Highest Quality; live streaming performance is likely to suffer, particularly for users with lower or shared bandwidth.

You will see a short countdown. When it finishes, your recording will start.

The capture will continue for the duration you set until you click the Stop button, OR until the next scheduled capture for that room / device is set to begin. If you attempt to set the duration of your ad hoc capture beyond the start time of the next scheduled capture, you will receive a warning notifying you of the conflict. You are given the option of generating the ad hoc capture for the truncated duration instead, or canceling and selecting a different room.

Uploading Media

Your Library contains all the media you have access to outside of a classroom or course.

You may want to upload a video or a presentation to your library to edit it or hold it until you are ready to publish it to a class, share it with another user, add it to a collection, or submit it for a homework assignment.

Notes and Limitations Surrounding Uploads

The file you upload must be one of the Supported Content Formats or it cannot be uploaded or processed.

File Size Limits: EchoVideo imposes a 20GB file size limit for uploads. If uploading to EchoVideo from a location other than your local computer (i.e., Google Drive, Box, Dropbox, etc.), the FileStack uploader imposes a 220MB file size limit. If your file is larger than 220MB, download it to your local computer first, then upload it to EchoVideo. It must still be smaller than 20GB.

Troubleshooting presentation plug-in content: If you use a plug-in (such as ChemDraw) to generate equations, molecular drawings, or other items for your PowerPoint presentation, you may find these being stripped or otherwise altered when you upload the file. In this case, convert the PPT to PDF and upload the PDF. Alternately, for Windows users (and Instructors only), use the EchoVideo PowerPoint Ribbon add-on to publish the presentation. Both of these methods retain plug-in content in the presentation.

Exported graphics to PDF format is not supported. Some graphics programs will allow you to export or save a graphics file (.png, .jpg, .gif, etc.) as a .pdf file. While EchoVideo will recognize it as a PDF and allow you to upload it, media processing will fail.

To upload media to your Library

1. Click Create.
2. Click Upload Media.
   
3. In the FileStack window, use the location selection on the left to identify where the file you want to upload resides, then follow the prompts. Your local computer is selected by default.
4. Click the icon in the center of the screen to select the file(s) to upload.
   
5. Select the file(s) you want to upload. You may select multiple files for upload (up to 30), using the shift+select or ctrl/command+select functionality. You may also drag and drop multiple files to the FileStack window.
6. Once the file(s) you want to upload are listed in the FileStack window, click Upload.
   

The FileStack window changes to provide an upload progress bar. When finished, the window disappears.

IMPORTANT: CLOSING the FileStack window before upload(s) complete will CANCEL THE UPLOAD. DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS YOU WANT TO CANCEL THE UPLOAD.

The newly uploaded file appears in your Library but is dimmed while it is processed. NOTE that you may need to refresh the page to see the newly uploaded file.

Uploading Videos through the Mobile App

The main menu contains an Upload Video option, that allows you to upload videos from your mobile device to your EchoVideo content library.

If you are using the Android mobile app, you will also see an EchoVideo option within your video recording app. This allows you to select to upload a video to EchoVideo the same way you might upload a video to Facebook or Twitter.

Both the iOS and Android apps allow you to TAKE a video when you select to upload as well. Click the Camera icon from the upload video screen (in iOS it's in the top right corner; in Android it's bottom right). Record your video then upload it directly into EchoVideo.

To upload a video from within the mobile app:

1. Click the menu button in the top left corner of the screen.
2. Select Upload Video; a list of the videos on your device appears.
3. At this point you can select a video to upload, or you can click the camera icon to record a video.
    -- In iOS the icon is in the top right corner;
    -- In Android it's bottom right.
   Prior to uploading, the preview screen appears, allowing you to view the video to make sure it is the item you want to upload.
4. Click Start Upload.
   A screen appears showing previous uploads, as well as any current uploads that are occurring.

You can cancel the upload from this screen by clicking the X located on the right-side of the progress bar. And as with all screens in the app, click the arrow in the top left corner to return to the previous screen.

As with all uploaded video content, you can edit the video through EchoVideo to trim the ends or cut out segments as needed.

Upload capabilities differ based on Mobile OS: The Android OS allows you to upload multiple videos simultaneously; the iOS allows for one video at a time. In addition, the Android upload runs as a service, meaning you can close the app and video(s) will continue to upload in the background. The iOS upload screen must remain open until the upload completes.

Using the Media Editor in EchoVideo

A Note on Terminology: Since the editor is primarily designed for video editing, this article uses the term "video" for the media being edited. However, the information and procedures also apply to any audio-only files you may have. It does not apply to interactive media (videos with polls embedded in them). You cannot currently edit the video portion of interactive media; you can only add, remove, or edit the embedded polls, and as such the Edit Media command for interactive media is disabled.

EchoVideo's video editor provides a basic set of video editing functionality, including the ability to:

• Customize the preview / thumbnail - Select a specific image to use for the media card thumbnail and the preview image shown to users for media posted or embedded outside of EchoVideo. Thumbnails for channels three and four, in the 4-Channel Universal Capture (Beta), are currently not available.
• Trim and Tail - Cut out the beginning and end sections of a video, to remove the "dead space" that often occurs at the beginning or end of a lecture recording.
• Split into multiple - Using the Trim/Tail capability along with Save As, you can take one video and split it into two or more different, distinct, and shorter pieces of media.
• Remove Segments - Cut and remove segments from within a video. Playback of the resulting media shows only the parts of the original that were left in place.
• Insert Media - Allows you to insert a different piece of audio/video media INTO your existing video.
• Add, Remove, or Replace Tracks - Allows you to completely add, remove, or replace one or more tracks for existing media.

This article discusses the interface and functionality of the media editor, including what all the buttons do and where to find the options.

We encourage you to review the basic information below but to also experiment with the video editor. You can safely do so using the Save As command. Save As creates a whole new piece of media, just like using Save As on a document or presentation you edit. It allows you to make changes, review your results, and hone your skills, without changing the original. You can always delete any newly created media and try again.

Final note about the editor: If you spend time experimenting with the editor, but do not want to save your changes, click your browser's Back button OR click an EchoVideo menu item at the top of the screen to navigate to a different page. Any work in progress will be saved within the Editor only, and will be visible next time you open this media in the editor, but the changes are NOT applied to the media and not visible by others until you actively Save them.

This, however, does NOT apply to only setting a custom thumbnail/preview image. When you Set Thumbnail in the editor, this change happens immediately and does not require you to Save your changes.

Accessing the Video Editor

The instructions below access the editor from the Media Details page through your Library or a Collection where you have Edit Media permissions (the location of Edit Media command is the same). If you are an instructor or teaching assistant and media editing is enabled for the course, you can also click Edit video from the icon menu in the Class List to open the editor from there.

Opening the editor for a piece of media adds a "Capture edited" entry in the Activity tab of the media details page, even if no changes are made. If you or another user make changes and save them, additional entries for processing also appear. You can always restore the original from the editor, if necessary, using the command described later on this page.

To open the video editor

1. Click on a Video in your Library (or the Admin completed captures list) to open the Media Details page.
2. Click Edit Media option below the preview panel, identified in the below figure.

   
   

   The video opens in the editor.

   

Video Editor Buttons and Controls

Most of the buttons and options in the EchoVideo video editor are fairly easy to understand, but the overview is here to be sure you know what they all do and where they live in the interface.

Get Help

The question mark icon, identified below, opens a side panel that contains the Editor Shortcuts article. This includes a list of the keyboard shortcuts for the tools described on this page as well as links to video tutorials for using the editor, and links to other help articles (including this one).

Undo and Redo

The EchoVideo video editor allows you to undo and redo your edits as you go along. Use the Undo and Redo buttons shown below to revert or restore any changes you've made.

Delete Segment

Discussed in more detail in Removing Video Segments and Inserting Other Media, the Trash Can icon, identified below, is used for deleting any segment of the video that you have placed cut marks around.

The basic steps are:

1. Mark the beginning of the segment you want to remove.
2. Mark the end of the segment you want to remove.
3. Click on the segment between the marks.
   Note that the pink trim handles will appear on either end of the selected segment. Unless you need to change either end location of the segment, you can ignore them.
4. Click the delete button (trash can).

You can also place a cut mark near the beginning or end of the video, then select and delete the segment between the mark and the beginning or end of the video.

Zoom In or Out

While editing a video, at any time, you can zoom in/out on the timeline for a more precise view of a section of the video. The Zoom In/Out buttons and slider are located to the right of the timestamp location box, between the playback panel and the editing panel of the editor.

Notice that as you zoom in and out, the timeline segments in the editing panel change to show more granular timestamp/location information.

Cut Marker

The cut marker is that blue "signpost" indicator in the editing panel. It identifies WHERE any change you select will occur. The marker itself contains the following buttons:

• A left bracket for "trim in" to identify a new beginning location for the video
• A right bracket for "trim out" to identify a new ending location for the video
• A menu button in the middle, which when clicked provides Insert Clip, Split Clip, and Set Thumbnail commands. The menu is open in the below figure. If you are seeing scissors and not a menu button/icon, clear your browser cache and reload the editor page.

The cut marker also has a timestamp on it, providing location information. The cut marker is ALWAYS IN SYNC with the playhead in the playback portion of the editor. This is discussed further in the below section on Playback and Synchronized Locators.

Trim in and Trim out actions are also discussed briefly later on this page and in more detail in Trimming and Splitting Videos. The Insert Clip and Split Clip commands are discussed in more detail in Removing Video Segments and Inserting Other Media. The Set Thumbnail command is discussed in more detail in Applying a Custom Thumbnail and Preview Image for Videos.

Actions Button

The Actions button is a drop-down menu containing multiple commands or actions (hence the name). It is shown in the below figure.

Clear Unsaved Changes - As the name indicates, this reverts all changes made during the current editing session, or since you last clicked Save.

Restore To Original - Reverts all changes ever made to the video and restores the original video file. This option is only active if you have selected to edit a video that had previous edits applied to it. It also means that if you made changes and saved at some earlier time, using this command REMOVES all earlier edits as well as any you may be making now.

Set Thumbnail - This allows you to choose a new thumbnail for your video from a still frame within the video or you can upload a custom image. Thumbnails for channels three and four, in the 4-Channel Universal Capture (Beta), are currently not available.

Save As - Creates a new version of the media from the changes you made. You become the owner of the new media regardless of whether or not you were the owner of the original. Administrators can always change the owner of the media to a different user if needed.

If you are an instructor or teaching assistant, you also have the option to Save Course Copy, which expands the box and lets you post the new media to a class in a course section.

Saving Your Edits

Remember, as stated above, you do not have to save your edits. If you spend time experimenting with the editor but do not want to save your changes just yet, click your browser's Back button. Any work in progress will be saved within the Editor only, and will be visible next time you enter, but the changes are NOT applied to the media until you actively Save them.

You can use the Save As command in the Actions menu, described above, to save your changes as a new media file.

The Save button, identified below, applies your changes to THIS video file and immediately sends the video to the media processor. In this case, you are automatically exited out of the editor. After the processing is finished, the edited version replaces playback of the original in all locations it may reside.

Processing occurs immediately. After saving, the processing of your changes begins immediately. However, processing may take some time to finish, depending on the video length and the number of edits.

This means two things:
 1. Students or other users will not see the edited version until processing is complete.
 2. You should not try to re-edit the video until the initial changes are processed.

IMPORTANT! CHECK PUBLISHING INFO BEFORE SAVING CHANGES!!
If you use SAVE instead of Save As, the changes you make will appear in ALL posted versions of the video, including sections, LMS embeds, shares to other users, etc. If that's your intention, GREAT! But understand that's what is going to happen. Posting and sharing media simply provides access to the original content. When you edit that content, you change the content being delivered in those access locations.

Playback and Synchronized Locators

Use the playback controls in the TOP "playback" section of the editor page to play the recording and move the playhead. This makes it very easy to find specific locations to mark or cut.

The cut marker is that blue "signpost" indicator in the editing panel. It identifies WHERE any change you select will occur, and contains a menu button, and "top" and "tail" buttons described later on this page.

NOTICE that the cut marker (the blue "signpost" indicator) in the editor panel moves with the playback head. The cut marker will always be in sync with the playhead in the playback panel.

There are several ways to move the playhead/cut marker to the location you want:

• Play the video to the location you want to work with.
• Use the Skip Forward/Back buttons in the video player to move the playhead by 10 seconds in either direction.
• Click on the playhead and use your right and left arrow keys skip forward or back 10 seconds.
• Click and drag the playhead to any location in the video.
• Click ON the playback timeline to move the playhead to that location.
• Click and drag the cut marker to an approximate location. You can then use the player to play or scrub in the video player and fine tune that location.

Furthermore, the timestamp box will also be in sync with the playhead, and provides location granularity up to 100ths of a second. You can TYPE into this box to move the playhead and cut marker to a very precise location that you cannot get to via scrubbing or playback.

The figure below shows the playback controls with current location of the playhead and cut marker identified, both as the timed location, and within the playback bar itself.

If you have already made cuts in the recording, note that playback will skip the cut areas, so you can see how the edits affect the final product.

One item to note, particularly if you are not familiar with video editing tools. Any time you click on ANY portion of the video in the editing area of the screen, trim handles appear on either end of the segment. This applies to any segments you have cut around, or to the whole video (it's just one big segment). This is visible in the above image. These are there simply for trimming the ends of the video or for changing segment length. Their use is described in the articles that deal with those actions. You can ignore them if you don't want to perform that action right now.

Cut Marker Commands

Mentioned briefly above, the cut marker in the editing panel identifies the location of the action you are taking, and contains buttons for enacting those actions, described below. Use the links to the other more specific help articles for detailed instructions on using these features.

Cut Marker Menu

The menu button on the Cut Marker opens a short menu of options that include making cuts to remove a segment or inserting a different piece of media INTO this video. These actions are described in the other media editor help topics linked at the top of this article.

If you are seeing scissors and not a menu button/icon, clear your browser cache and reload the editor page.

Cut Marker Trim In

The left bracket icon on the cut marker, identified below and located left of the menu button lets you mark a NEW BEGINNING LOCATION for the video. This action is referred to as "Top" or "Trim in". Move the marker to a new location to make the icon active; it's logically not available if the marker is still at the current beginning of the video.

After you move the cut marker and click the Trim In icon, the left pink trim handle moves to match the location of the cut marker. Notice that the portion of the video that used to reside before that location no longer appears in the editing panel. You can still play that portion of the video, because it exists in this media until you Save. But the editing panel shows the new starting location for the video (or segment).

Cut Marker Trim Out

The right bracket icon on the cut marker, identified in the below figure and located to the right of the menu button, lets you mark A NEW END location for the video. This action is referred to as "Tail" or "Trim out". Move the marker to a new location to make the icon active; it's logically not available if the marker is still at the current end-point of the video.

After you move the cut marker and click the Trim Out icon, the right pink trim handle moves to match the location of the cut marker. Notice that the portion of the video that used to reside after that location no longer appears in the editing panel. You can still play that portion of the video, because it exists in this media, until you Save. However, the editing panel shows the new ending location for the video (or segment).

Reviewing New End or Beginning Locations

To see where the new END point of your media is, in the editing panel, click just inside the new end point of the video this moves the cut marker and the playhead to that spot). Then click Play. Then click Play in the playback panel. Playback will STOP at the location you cut for "trim out".

To see where the new BEGINNING point of your media is, check the timestamps below the left trim handle, and type that value into the location box. Then hit Enter. The playback panel will move to that location. So will the cut marker.

Editing Lock

When you open the Editor, you can 'lock' it from being edited by anyone else so that only one person at a time can make changes. Other users attempting to edit a locked video will see the error message shown below. 

The lock will eventually time out if no edits are actively being made (for example, if you opened the editor but left the page and forgot to close the tab).

Accessing the Transcript Editor

The Transcript editor can be accessed either from the Media tile menu or from the Media Details page from either your Library or from any Collection where you have edit transcript permissions. If system and course settings allow it, it may also be accessible from the Class list by clicking the video icon.

Edit Transcript is an option in the Media Tile menu on your Library page, as shown in the below figure.

Edit Transcript has TWO locations in the Media Details page - both are identified in the below figure:

• In the main command options area immediately below the playback panel; this command also resides below the playback panel in the media details page from within a Collection.
• In the Transcriptions drop-down list of the Details tab

If course media editing and / or Student transcript editing is allowed for the EchoVideo course, Edit transcript also appears in the Class List icon menu for the video.

Once open, the transcript editor provides a playback panel for the media on the left, and the transcript, broken out into its associated cues on the right.

The panel at the top has the control buttons for the transcript, including:

• Editing (including undo / redo buttons and changing Speaker tags)
• Search and Replace
• Apply Transcript to Closed Captions
• Exporting
• Uploading
• Saving
• Confidence score slider
• Selecting a different version of the transcript to edit

Selecting to Edit the transcript changes the right panel and allows you to click inside any of the cues and edit the words there. You can also change the speaker identification if appropriate.

The playback pane on the LEFT side of the transcript editor allows you to play, pause, scrub to a different location, and set the playback to pause while editing.

Embedding Media into your QMPlus Course

EchoVideo allows you to embed media into your QMPlus course pages. This includes media you own as well as any video, audio, or interactive media located in Collections where you have the Post permission.

You should see an EchoVideo play button in the content window toolbars of QMPlus. The button looks something like this (but smaller):

The button in a QMPlus toolbar looks like this:

In ALL cases, you receive an EchoVideo dialog box, similar to the one shown below, that allows you to embed media from EchoVideo, to upload media and embed it, or to create a new recording using Universal Capture Desktop.

If embedding media you already have, click on the one you want from the list, then click Next.

Playback options appear at the top for you to configure for the selected media. These include the Size of the embed, Autoplay and Automute toggles, among other options.

Click Insert and the media is put directly into the content window or page for easy playback through the QMPlus.

Adding/Publishing a Video to a Class

A video can be a recorded capture of a past class or a class from a different section, an instructional video you created and uploaded separately, or any other video that you want to share with students.

Once added, you can make it available or unavailable, or set an availability schedule, allowing the item to be viewed beginning on a certain date and / or for a set period of time.

Each class can contain ONE video. The effects of this are as follows:

• You cannot add videos to future classes created to hold scheduled lecture recordings. The video slot for those classes is reserved for lecture capture.
• You can replace an existing video with a new one, but all associated data, analytics, notes, etc., for the original video are removed. The content remains in your library.
• If you need to provide multiple videos for a particular class, create a new class with the same date or title to contain the video. You can also create a class group and then group related classes together.

The instructions on this page are for adding a video to a class from the course class list. You can also add media to classes from your Library or from a collection where you have Post permissions.

To add a video to a class

1. Navigate to the class list for a section, either by clicking a Course tile on the Courses page or via a link in your LMS / VLE.
   

   This opens the class list, as shown below.

   
2. If the class does not yet include a video, click the plus icon for the video location as identified in the below figure.
   
3. If the class contains no content yet, click the blue plus icon as shown below, and select Add video.
   
4. In the dialog box that appears, you can select to upload a video file or import one that already exists in your library.
   
   
   • Select Upload a file, then select an existing video file from your local computer or cloud storage location in the Filepicker dialog box. File location options are listed on the left. The file is uploaded and processed and will be made available for viewing once media processing is complete.
     
   • Select Import from your library, then search for and select the video file already resident in your library to publish to this class. It may be one you uploaded previously or it may be a lecture from a different section.
     

If the video was uploaded, it must be processed before it can be viewed. The icon turns green when it is ready for viewing.

It may also need to have closed captions applied if video availability to students depends on captioning completion. Transcription of the audio (unless already transcribed) will take at least 30 minutes but may take longer depending on the length of the video.

Click the video icon in the class list to access options for the video such as:

• Rename the video or add a description if the uploaded video still has the filename instead of a more descriptive title (click Edit details)
• Make the video unavailable or set availability on a schedule for students (click Make unavailable or Availability settings)

The below figure shows a video icon selected from the class list and the options menu open.