New 200MB limit introduced in Blackboard

If you try uploading a large video file directly into Blackboard you will get the following warning:

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This is because a new 200MB limit has been introduced to reduce the amount of uncompressed videos on our servers. Only 2% of all files on Ulster’s Blackboard storage consists of video yet it makes up half of our storage capacity. Despite archiving over 100,000 modules, our Blackboard system currently stores close to 20TB of data with an annual growth of 6TB.

Each TB (1000GB) of storage in Blackboard cloud storage costs over £2000 + VAT and produces 400 kg CO₂/year (or 0.4 metric tons) equivalent to driving a petrol car 1,600 km. Storing 20TB costs £48000? and produces 8 metric tons of CO₂ per year the equivalent of driving a petrol car 32,000km or flying between Belfast and London 80 times.

Use Panopto to stream your video

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Panopto, the video streaming service embedded in Blackboard, is designed to compress, store and stream video. Uploading your video to Panopto compresses and processes the file, allowing for reduced storage and improved playback.

Since launching Blackboard Ultra, we have seen a significant increase in staff and students uploading large, High-Definition video directly into Blackboard. In some cases, modules are using over 300GB (0.3TB) of storage which mostly consists of raw uncompressed video files. As cameras become sophisticated, they produce larger, higher quality video files. For instance a 5 minute 4k video recorded on a standard iPhone 15 will create a file that is between 1.75GB and 3.75 GB in size. If you film the video on the more advanced iPhone 15 Pro, the equivalent video file size increases to between 8.5GB and 35GB.

In addition to the financial and environmental impact of uploading videos directly to Blackboard, the user experience is diminished as the viewer must wait for the video to fully download for playback to begin. We therefore recommend that your video be uploaded and stored in Panopto. This will also allow you to upload videos that are larger than 200MB.

To upload your video, drag and drop it into the Panopto folder which can be found under Books and Tools in the Details & Actions menu. Embed Panopto videos in your Course Content using the Content Market option:

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For detailed guides for using Panopto:

• Using Panopto in Blackboard

• Recording a video in Panopto

• Adding a Panopto video to your learning materials

• Creating a student video assignment dropbox