Tips for video submissions

The following page provides tips for recording video for Panopto video submissions to a Blackboard assignment dropbox .

Pre-recording your video

Pre-record on your laptop using MS ClipChamp

If you’re using a Webcam on laptop, you can use the basic MS video editor ClipChamp to record and edit your video. It’s free with your university subscription to MS Office 365.

Login to MS Office 365 account with your Ulster email and Network password and select Create on the left hand side and then Video.

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Pre-record on your phone

You can pre-record your video on your phone, using the standard camera. But check the settings and make sure you’re recording in SD/720 or 1080p/ HD with a frame rate of 25/30fps.

• See Apple’s page on changing your iPhone’s camera settings

• On an Android device, open up the Camera app > switch to Video mode > and then tap on the recording settings to open up a list of resolutions and fps values. 

Remember to keep your device steady, use a mount or stand to prop it up on a steady surface before you start recording

Optimising your video

• Clean your camera!

• Practice: use notes and do an initial run through of your presentation, it’s easier to edit your presentation before recording begins.

• Video quality: check your device’s camera setting, if you can set camera quality go for lower settings of SD/720 or 1080p/ HD with a frame rate of 25/30fps is sufficient. Faster or higher quality videos will increase the size of your video and you may have difficulty uploading your submission. Keep your file size to around the 50MB per minute, do not exceed 100MB per minute, if you file is too big use software like Handbrake to compress

• Background: keep the background uncluttered and simple, ideally record against a light coloured wall.

• Composition: include head and shoulders and use the rule of thirds to position your eyes a third of the way down your screen

• Lighting: use available lighting wisely, position yourself so the light is in front of you, lighting up your face, rather than behind you throwing your face into shadow.

Optimising your audio

• Choose a quiet space away from household chores; microphones are sensitive and can pick up background noise such as vacuums and washing machines.

• Try using headphones with a builtin microphone to reduce background noise.

Review your video

Watch your video through to the end before you submit it, make sure you are audible and visible. You can edit the video to remove hesitations, fluffs or interruptions or need to trim the start or end.

You can use MS ClipChamp (see above) or if you have an Adobe account - Premiere or After effects to edit your file. Other video editors include iMovie (Mac), Lightworks (Mac & Windows) or Canva or Adobe Express for IOS/Android.

Editing in Panopto

Recording your video using Panopto allows you to review, redo and edit your video submissions

Click the play button to review your video, if you are not happy with the video, you can select Edit to trim the video or select Redo to take another attempt.

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Selecting Edit will take you into the Panopto video-editor, the highlighted scissors means your video is in edit mode.

You can click and drag on the timeline to select the parts of the video you wish to remove, the greyed out segments will be removed. Use the play button to review your edits.

When you are happy with your edits, select Apply at the top and then OK.

Your file should automatically appear in the submission dropbox, if you need to redo select Start over, if you are happy with the submission select Insert.

• You can now submit your video

• For more detailed guidance on editing your Panopto video see the Panopto trimming video guide.

Saving your file for upload

Remember to check your assessment guidelines. If your academic team has not given you specific instructions about how to name your video file, then save your file with an intuitive name e.g. your-name-modulecode-cw1.mp4

File size & compression

Check the size of your file before you upload.

• On a Mac right-click the file and select Get Info

Then the size will be in the title and in the body of the Info box.

• On a PC, right-click your file and select Properties.

The size will be in the default General tab

Do not use a mobile connection to upload your file, try using the university’s wifi to upload larger files.

Keep your file size to around 50MB per minute, try not exceed 100MB per minute.

If your file is over 2GB use compression software like Handbrake or Media Encoder (if you have an Adobe account) to compress it. Use a codec like H.264. to output video at 720p SD or 1080p HD with a frame rate of 25/30fps, this will give you a much smaller file with good quality video.

File formats

The following file formats supported by Panopto student submission:

• MP4 (.mp4, .m4a, .m4v, .3gp)

• MOV (.mov, .qt)

• ASF (.wmv, .wma)

• WEBM (.webm)

• Matroska (.mkv, .mka)

• MPEG-2 PS/MPEG-1 (.mpg, .mpeg, .mps, .ps, .mp2, .m2v, .m2a)

• MPEG-2 TS (.ts, .tsv, .tsa, .mts, .m2ts, .mpg, .mpeg, .mod, .tod)

• FLV (.flv)

• AVI (.avi)

• MP3 (.mp3)

• FLV v2 (.f4v, .f4a)

See Panopto supported file types and codecs

Saving your Power point as a Movie file

You need to save your PowerPoint files as a movie file.

Open your Powerpoint file, click on File in the top menu and select Export

Then select MP4 from the File format dropdown selection

Then select HD (720p or 1080p) and click on Export.

Your powerpoint will have exported as a .mp4, you can then follow the instructions for uploading the file to Panopto student submission.

Video guide to Recording and Exporting your PowerPoint file as an MP4

Related articles

Uploading a video assignment to Blackboard dropbox

Useful links

• Panopto trimming video guide

• Panopto supported file types and codecs

• Lightworks editing software

• Canva app

• Adobe Express app

• Exporting Powerpoint files as MP4

• Handbrake video compression