The following page provides tips for recording video for Panopto video submissions to a Blackboard assignment dropbox
Pre-recording your video
If you need to submit a video for assessment using Panopto video submission, you can pre-record your video and upload your submission or record and edit directly in Panopto.
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.
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.
👉 Remember to keep your device steady, prop it up on a steady surface before you start recording
Optimising your video
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. Edit our video if you are happy with the overall content but had a fluff or interuption 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.
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.
For more detailed guidance on editing your Panopto video see the Panopto trimming video guide.
Saving your file for upload
Save your file with an intuitive name e.g. your-name-modulecode-cw1.mp4
File size
The bigger the file the longer to upload. Keep your file size to around the 50MB per minute, do not exceed 100MB per minute, if you file is bigger use software like Handbrake or if you have Adobe account, Media Encoder to compress it, using a codec like H.264. to output video at 720p SD or 1080p HD with a frame rate of 25/30fps is sufficient.
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)