Our Panopto integration with Canvas has been upgraded to the LTI 1.3 standard. This upgrade enhances the security and authentication of Panopto, providing a more robust and secure experience compared to the previous LTI 1.1 model.
What’s New with LTI 1.3?
LTI 1.3 not only improves security but also supports additional services collectively known as LTI Advantage. While the user interface remains unchanged, this upgrade lays the groundwork for new features and functionalities that Panopto may introduce in the future.
New Feature: Video Engagement Grading
One new feature available with LTI 1.3 is the ability to grade students based on the percentage of a video they’ve watched. This can be a useful tool for tracking engagement and ensuring that students are interacting with video content as intended. For more details on how to use this feature, please refer to the article How to Use a Panopto Video as a Canvas Assignment.
No Action Needed
The upgrade process is seamless and requires no action on your part. You can continue using Panopto within Canvas just as you have before.
If a recording is not viewed by anyone for two years it will go into archive mode.
Archived recordings can be restored by any Panopto user with the link to the recording, or from the search page. Restored recordings will automatically be made available for viewing again within 48 hours.
Creators will also have access to an “Archive” list, similar to the Recycle Bin, where they can review all their archived content and restore it for viewing if they wish.
Attempting to access the recording before the restore has completed will display a countdown to its availability for any user accessing the link. If “Email me when sessions finish processing” is switched on in the requester’s Panopto notification settings, you will receive an email when the recording is ready to view again.
Here is more information about restoring an archived recording.
The archived recording will be automatically deleted from the archive folder 1 year after it was placed in this folder.
If you’ve recorded content that hasn’t been watched and you are concerned that this might be deleted after 3 years, all you have to do is restore the recording and watch part of it.
What are captions?
You find captioning (CC) on all TV and most online videos. It’s where you can see the text of what is being said at the bottom of the screen. It can help those with hearing impairments or trying to watch in a noisy environment.
LJMU introduced automatic captioning (CC) to all Panopto videos created after 25th of August 2020. This means all recordings made after this date will have automatically generated captions (CC) added to them. Anyone viewing these recordings will see a CC button on the viewer interface to turn on the subtitles.
What is the difference between captions and subtitles? Subtitles are text translations of what is being said into a different language, whereas captions are a text version of what is being said in the original language.
Why is this change happening?
This will support any staff or student with hearing impairment or those wishing to view the video in a noisy environment. This change will also help the institution to comply with changes in UK disability legislation.
General disclaimer for automated captions
Please be aware that automatically generated subtitles are not 100% accurate in their translation of speech to text. What this means is that the subtitles may misinterpret what is said and substitute the wrong word. This can happen when: those speaking have a strong accent, are speaking in a noisy environment, or are using very technical terms that the computer does not understand. Although this is less than desirable, the institution believes it is more useful to have them than not. Please take this inaccuracy into account when using the subtitles and check with your tutor if you are in any doubt about the information. We hope you find this new service useful.
What do I do if I want captions on older recordings in Panopto
All the recordings prior to 25th of august 2020 do not have captions. However, they can still have this added by a tutor.
How do I add Automatic Speech Recognition?
How to Add ASR (Automatic Speech Recognition) Captions into a Video
What do I do if the captions are inaccurate in Panopto?
If you wish to make amendments to the captions (CC) please use the following guidance.
How to Manually Caption Sessions in the Editor
This post provides you with some tips on how to quickly improve the quality of any video you are creating to present you in the best light!
Tip #1: Planning
Plan out your presentation. If you are going to be using different resources or artefacts plan how and when you intend to bring these into your video. Work out timings for each part of your video and run through it a few times to check timings and practice.
Tip #2: Audio
The sound quality of video recordings can often be more important than the visual quality. If you are delivering a spoken message but the viewer cannot hear or understand your words the message will be lost. You might be capturing your sound from a microphone built into your laptop or from a webcam, but try to carry out your recording in a quiet location. If needed close windows and doors to keep out unwanted noise and distraction. Position your microphone/ computer near to where you are sitting or standing. Try out a draft recording to check that everything is audible. There may be some hiss and background noise, but as long as your words are decipherable this will be enough.
Tip #3: Framing your shots
Videos (or photographs) look good if they follow the ‘rule of thirds’. If you look at the image from your camera on the viewfinder or live preview, the eyes of your subject should be roughly two-thirds of the way up the image. Angle or elevate your webcam to achieve this, such as on a stack of books. Eyes should be roughly be two-thirds of the way up the image
Very often, such as for interviews, or to add some extra ‘paz-zazz’ to shots, the subject of the photography also position themself to two thirds of the screen and leave a third of the frame empty to feature some other aspect as in the image below. Position yourself to two thirds of the screen.
Try to be quite close to the camera to produce a video that looks good on the web, where frame sizes on-screen are often smaller, with greater potential to create an emotional connection with the audience. When you watch TV, particularly the news, look out how people are framed and you will see that they follow the same rules.
Tip #4: Lighting (a big one but worth doing)
If you are planning to capture the video feed from a camera, even if you are using a very low-fi setup such as a basic webcam a couple of simple measures can dramatically increase the quality of the video.
Think about how you can lay out your recording setup so that the subject of the video is positioned in such a way that the main light source falls onto the subject and then back into the camera lens. The main strongest light source is often natural light, and have your subject (or yourself) face towards this light source. Now position the camera in between the subject and the light source, so the light re-bounds off the light source and back into the camera. Often it’s a case of sitting at a table looking towards the light with a webcam at the opposite side of the table facing you.
In professional photography the main light is called a ‘Key’ light, and ideally there would be two further light sources: the ‘Fill’ light, and the ‘Back’ light. If you take a look around your recording room, you may be able to provide these additional light sources with little extra effort, often just turning on all available electric lighting is enough.
