Classroom Capture for Academic Staff

Overview

Once Classroom Capture is installed and configured, Academic Staff can use it to view the status of or manipulate scheduled recordings and capture ad hoc lectures as needed.

Classroom Capture is accessed through the Start menu, as shown in the below figure, or may be available via a shortcut icon located on the desktop.

Notice how the Start Menu option indicates an upcoming scheduled recording. This message appears whenever there are 10 minutes or less until the next scheduled recording. The remaining sections of this page provide instructions on manipulating a scheduled capture and recording an ad hoc capture through the Classroom Capture interface.

Classroom Capture and Ad Hoc Recordings

Classroom Capture allows you to easily start and control ad hoc recordings through the Classroom Capture interface.

If there is a Device Monitor light installed on the podium PC, it can also be used to start and control an ad hoc capture as well as indicate the current status of the recording. See Installing and Using the Device Monitor for more information.

To open Classroom Capture:

• Select Echo360 Software Capture from the Start menu.
• Double-click the desktop icon if available. 

If there are no scheduled recordings about to begin, the Classroom Capture "preview window" appears, previewing the items being captured by the selected inputs. Classroom Capture allows you to select what inputs you want to capture for each recording, and the output quality for the processed capture. The below figure identifies the locations of these drop-down selection lists.

Configuring capture inputs and output and creating a recording are discussed in the next sections. The below features are ONLY available for ad hoc recordings. You cannot adjust input or output for Scheduled recordings.

Configure Ad Hoc Capture Inputs

Classroom Capture allows you to record up to three inputs, as follows: 

• Audio only - capturing only audio input. This will generate an MP3 file for students to listen to.
• Audio and Video (A/V) - capturing sound and video input from the built in or USB-connected video camera.
• Audio and Display (A/D) - capturing sound and whatever is shown on the computer screen.
• Audio, Display, and Video (A/D/V) - capturing sound, the display on the computer screen, and video input.
• Audio and Dual Video (A/V/V) - capturing sound and the input from two different video sources.

Use the three drop-down lists, identified in the above picture on the left side of the screen, to select the inputs you want to use. Choose None Selected if applicable to that input.

Note the following about Audio input:

• You cannot choose None Selected for audio input; audio is always captured.
• You can use the internal microphone, an externally-attached microphone, or a microphone on an externally-attached camera if there is one.
• You MUST have at least one audio input. Classroom Capture will not allow you to record without audio.

After you select the appropriate inputs, check the preview of those inputs shown on the screen. Each are identified in the following figure and described below the figure.

• Microphone Input is shown in the light-bar above the preview panes. If you do NOT see this bar changing as sounds are made, check your microphone connection and functionality. If the sound bar on the screen is not registering sounds, your capture may not have audio.
  
  
• Display or Second Video Input is shown in the left panel of the preview panes. Capturing Primary Display, captures whatever appears on the computer screen. If you are using two video inputs, this will show whatever the selected camera is currently aimed to view.
  
  
• Primary Video Input is shown in the right panel of the preview panes. If you are not capturing video, this option will show None Selected, and the right preview pane will be blank.

Configure Output Quality for Capture

The output selection drop-down list is located on the right side of the preview screen above the Primary Video preview pane. It is circled in the figure earlier on this page. This selection allows you to determine the resolution of the video and display output of the capture, which in turn determines the size of the capture files uploaded to the ESS subsequently viewed or downloaded by students.

The selections available are as follows:

• Low Quality/Smaller Files - This creates a capture with low resolution video and display. The lower resolution keeps the final file size to a minimum. This is a good choice if you or your students have bandwidth issues that may cause larger file uploads or capture playback to fail.
  
  
• Medium Quality/Medium Files - This is the default setting. It generates a capture with medium resolution video and display. This setting creates medium sized files for the recording. This setting is probably sufficient for playback on most devices.
  
  
• High Quality/Larger Files - This setting creates high-definition resolution for video and display. Consequently this setting also creates very large files for these captures. Use this setting if you have visual details in the display or video of the capture that requires students to see the recording in very high resolution. Otherwise this setting should be used sparingly, due to the time required to upload and process the completed capture. In addition, this setting uses significant computer resources; if the podium PC cannot process a high quality capture properly, your capture may be blank. If you DO need to use the High Quality setting, run a test capture first, to be sure it will work.

Start an Ad Hoc Capture

When you begin an ad hoc recording, you are asked for your login credentials, then to specify a Title, Output products (product group), and the Course/Section to publish the recording to. This allows Classroom Capture to immediately begin uploading and processing the capture as soon as you are finished.

Alternately, you can use the Device Monitor light to start an ad hoc capture, if one is installed on the podium PC.

To begin a Classroom Capture ad hoc recording:

1. Check or set the capture inputs. Use the Preview window to make sure they are capturing what you need to include in the recording.
2. Check or set the capture output quality.
3. Set up the presentation or visual experiment or other items you are planning to capture, and check the Preview panes for verification.
4. Click Record.
5. A Login screen may appear, shown below, requesting an instructor login. Enter your credentials and click Login.
   
   
   
6. An information screen then appears, shown below, requesting the following information for the capture:
   
   
   • Title - Enter something brief but descriptive enough to identify the subject matter to students. If a generic login is used, use the title to note the course or section for this capture.
   • Course - Use the drop-down list to select the Course/Section to publish the completed ad hoc recording to. If a generic instructor login is used, you will not see this option.
   • Output - Use the drop-down list to select the output products to be generated for this capture.
   • Make Available - If you do not want the recording to be available immediately upon processing, uncheck this box. You may choose to do this if you don't want students not present to see the recording until a later date, or you want to add other media or you want to add Lecture Tools materials to the echo.
     
     
7. When finished, click Record. After you click record:
   
   • A five second countdown appears in the window.
   • Once the countdown finishes, recording begins and the preview window minimizes to the Windows Taskbar.
   • The Record button changes to show Pause and Stop.

Pause and Resume a Capture

Both scheduled captures and ad hoc captures allow you to pause and resume the capture while recording. There are multiple ways to pause and resume a capture, each described below.

Alternately, you can tap the Device Monitor light to pause and resume the capture, if one is installed on the PC.

To pause/resume using the keyboard command:

• Press Alt+F5

The keyboard command is a "toggle" function, meaning the same combination both pauses an active recording and resumes a paused recording.

This method allows you to manipulate the recording without having to open the program or capture unnecessary display items in the recording.

To pause/resume from the Classroom Capture window:

1. Open the Classroom Capture window by: 
   
   • Selecting Echo360 Software Capture from the Start menu to open the program;
   • If the program is open, click the Classroom Capture icon from the Taskbar, shown below, to maximize the window.
     
     
     
2. Click the Pause button on the left side of the window, shown in the below figure. Once paused, the button changes to Resume.
   
   
   
   
3. When appropriate, click the Resume button to continue recording. You will want to minimize the window after recording resumes.

Stop a Capture

Both scheduled captures and ad hoc captures allow you to stop the recording when you are finished. Once a capture is stopped, it cannot be re-started. Classroom Capture immediate begins processing and uploading the recording to the ESS.

Scheduled recordings stop automatically when the scheduled end-time is reached. However if your class is finished early, you can manually stop the capture to eliminate the unnecessary recording time and resources.

There are multiple ways to stop a capture, each described below. Alternately, you can press and hold the Device Monitor light for two seconds to stop the capture, if one is installed on the PC.

To stop the capture using the keyboard command:

• Press Alt+F6

This method allows you to stop the recording without having to open the program or capture unnecessary display items in the recording.

To stop a capture from the Classroom Capture window:

1. Open the Classroom Capture window by: 
   
   • Selecting Echo360 Software Capture from the Start menu to open the program;
   • If the program is open, click the Classroom Capture icon from the Taskbar, shown below, to maximize the window.
     
     
     
2. Click the Stop button on the left side of the window, shown in the below figure.
   
   
   
   
3. After stopping, you will receive a notification shown in the below figure, letting you know that the capture is being uploaded for processing.
   
   

While uploading of a capture does happen automatically, please note the following about the publishing process:

• While the actual file upload process happens in the background, you MUST wait until the "Finalization" and "Prepare to Publish" processes for the capture have finished, BEFORE closing the application. These statuses are noted on the screen and you will receive a notice if you attempt to close the application before they are complete.
  
  • The Prepare to Publish process should take less than a minute.
  • The Finalization process may take several seconds, or several minutes, depending on the length of the recording.
• The Publishing process occurs in the background but does require a network connection to the ESS. If this process is interrupted (network outage, turning off the computer or putting it to sleep), publishing will resume once the connection is re-established.

Controlling Scheduled Recordings

As stated in the Overview above, you (the Instructor) don't have to do anything for Classroom Capture to record scheduled classroom lectures, except make sure the PC is on and that a user is logged in. However, you can open the program to check the time left in the recording, or to manipulate the recording by:

• Start the capture early
• Extend the capture
• Pause and Resume the capture
• Stop the capture early

Start Early and Extend are only available for Scheduled recordings and do not apply to ad hoc recordings. Pause, Resume, and Stop apply to any type of Classroom Capture recording.

If there is a Device Monitor light installed on the podium PC, it can also be used to control a Scheduled capture (Pause, Resume, Extend, and Stop) as well as indicate the current status of the recording. See Installing and Using the Device Monitor for more information.

Start a Capture Early

If a scheduled recording is within 10 minutes of starting, Classroom Capture allows you to start the recording early. This may by useful if you know your lecture or class activities will take up all of the normally scheduled time.

Use the Start Menu or desktop icon to open Classroom Capture. If the program is already running, click the Taskbar icon to maximize the Classroom Capture window.

During the period prior to a scheduled capture, called "pre-roll", the Classroom Capture window will appear as shown in the below figure.

The pre-roll window indicates how long until the next scheduled recording is to begin, and provides a Start now button to start the capture early.

Once you click Start now, you will receive a countdown timer (default is 5 seconds) after which the capture begins.

The Classroom Capture window minimizes and the current status of the recording is shown in the Windows Taskbar Capture Status Indicator.

Extend a Capture

At any time during a scheduled recording, Classroom Capture allows you to extend the capture by 10 minutes. This may be useful if you know your lecture or class activities will go beyond the normally scheduled end-time.

Use the Start Menu or desktop icon to open Classroom Capture. If the program is already running, click the Taskbar icon to maximize the Classroom Capture window.

While the program is recording, the Classroom Capture window, shown in the below figure, provides a variety of control options, including a button to add time.

Click Add 10 minutes to extend the capture. The Time Remaining shown on the screen will increase by 10 minutes. You can then minimize the window to continue using the PC display if necessary.

Clicking the button again adds another 10 minutes to the capture. Repeat to extend the capture as long as necessary. See note below.  

Windows Taskbar Capture Status Indicator

When the program is open, the Classroom Capture icon in the Windows Taskbar shows the status of the recording. For example, the below figure shows the Taskbar icon with a red dot, indicating that Classroom Capture is currently recording.

Pausing the capture changes the Taskbar icon to show a pause symbol, as shown in the below figure.

If there is a Device Monitor light installed on the podium PC, it will also indicate the current status of the capture. See Installing and Using the Device Monitor for more information.