Staff Guide - Windows: Web streaming and recording lectures using Panopto

Advice from Panopto Inc

Note: When using a PowerPoint presentation in your webcast, PowerPoint will not show on any device when viewing live because slides only process after a recording is complete. To have your presentation appear in your webcast, record the screen that you are presenting on by ticking the screen capture field in the Panopto Record window, this item is also highlighted further down in this guide. When watching from a mobile device or in the embedded player, only the primary video source will be available to view, thus it is recommended that the students watch the web stream from their web browser on their smartphones or tablets.

How to create your lecture web stream placeholder

1. Sign into Blackboard (mymodule.tcd.ie) and go to the module where you want to web stream and record your lecture.
2. In this module, you should already have a Panopto Tool link created in the content area panel on the left (you may have called the Panopto tool link Lecture Recordings or something similar). Click on the Panopto Tool link to display the Panopto Content features within Blackboard.
3. Click on the Open in Panopto button (a square with a cross arrow pointing upwards) on the right-hand side of the screen.
4. This will open the Trinity Panopto website for your module’s Panopto folder in a new window.
   
   


5. Click on the Create button and choose Webcast to create the web stream waiting room placeholder link which you can provide to your students in advance of your lecture.
   
   


6. Choose a name for your lecture web stream, leave the default module folder as is. You can also add a short description of your lecture.
7. Click the Create button to create the lecture web stream placeholder.

Please note: You need to create a unique web stream placeholder for each lecture you will stream. Do not use the same placeholder as this will overwrite your previous web streams.




8. Your lecture web stream placeholder settings window will appear where you can review and adjust your settings. Here you have the option to add a preview image and decide whether your students can post comments to the comments section of your lecture’s web stream.
   
   


9. Copy the Viewer link (which is the lecture web stream placeholder link) and save it somewhere where you can access it later (e.g. Word document/NotePad) so you can share it with your students in advance of your lecture.
10. Click on the X at the top right to close the lecture web stream placeholder window.
11. You should now have your lecture web stream placeholder within your Blackboard Panopto folder.
    
    


12. You can now sign out of the Trinity Panopto website by clicking on your name and choosing to Sign out or close the Trinity Panopto website tab and return to your Blackboard module website tab.
13. Refresh your Blackboard window or click on the Panopto Lecture Tool link again and your Lecture web stream placeholder will appear in your module.
    
    

How to share your lecture web stream placeholder

To share your lecture web stream placeholder link with your students in advance of your lecture, you can create a Blackboard announcement. Your students will either receive the announcement notification by email or they will see the announcement when they access that module in their Blackboard profile.

By posting the web stream placeholder link as an announcement, you will make it easier for your students to access it from the relevant module on Blackboard, especially in cases where your Panopto recordings area is not by default visible to your students in their Blackboard view of the module.

1. Create an announcement with relevant text and type in a short title for your web stream link, e.g. 10am lecture web stream. Highlight the title, right click and choose the Link option to create a hyperlink.
   
   


2. A web link window will open. Here you can paste in the web stream placeholder URL for your lecture which you saved earlier, choose open in a new window (blank), and give a title for the web stream link. Click insert.
   
   


3. The announcement will now have a hyperlink to the web stream placeholder which your students can access on Blackboard to watch your web stream once you begin recording. Do not paste in the web stream placeholder link as an ordinary URL within the announcement as the link would display as ordinary text rather than a clickable hyperlink.
   
   


4. If you have multiple web stream placeholders created for a number of upcoming lectures you can create an announcement with distinguishing titles with a different web stream placeholder link for each title.
5. Please note: Advise your students to view the web stream by opening a web browser, logging into Blackboard, going to the relevant module, and clicking on the web stream placeholder link. Only students enrolled to the module can watch the web stream, so it is essential that the students have logged into Blackboard first before accessing the web stream link. If the student is not logged into Blackboard when accessing the web stream, they will be prompted to sign in first.

How to test your lecture web stream placeholder

You can test your lecture web stream placeholder in advance of sharing it with your students, by one of the following ways:

1. Click on the web stream hyperlink you have put into the announcement section of your module to see what your lecture web stream placeholder waiting room looks like for the students.
   
   


2. Alternatively, if your Panopto tool link area where you store your recordings is visible to the students (you can check this by using the student preview button), the students can go into their module in Blackboard and click on the placeholder to watch the live web stream once the recording of your lecture web stream placeholder has started.
   
   

How to set up your web stream and recording

On the day of your lecture, give yourself a few minutes before the lecture starts to get everything in place.

1. Log onto the computer you are using in the classroom, lecture hall, your office or at home (on reliable broadband). Double check that this computer has the Panopto Lecture Capture Software pre-installed.
2. Open your PowerPoint presentation for your lecture.
3. Log into Blackboard (mymodule.tcd.ie), go to the module where you have created your lecture web stream placeholder, click on the Panopto Lecture Capture tool link on the left-hand side and in your list of recordings you will see your lecture web stream placeholder for your lecture.
   
   


4. Click on the Create button and choose Record a new session from the drop-down menu.
   
   


5. Click on Open Panopto to launch the Panopto Lecture Capture software on the computer.
   
   


6. The Panopto Lecture Capture Software will open.
   
   


7. You may be familiar with the Panopto Record window from recording lectures. You will be recording the lecture while web streaming and the recording will be stored in your Blackboard module for viewing by students either right away or later once you release it, dependent on whether you have hidden your Panopto Tool link or not.
8. Panopto has already chosen the default folder to store your recording in your Blackboard module.
9. Beside the name field, click the Join session button and a drop-down menu of your lecture web stream placeholders will be displayed. Choose the relevant lecture web stream placeholder.
10. This replaces the default in the Name field with your Lecture web stream placeholder name and you will notice that the webcast option on the top right is now ticked. Check your camera and microphone settings.
11. Important: Ensure that the Capture PowerPoint and Capture Main Screen fields are ticked to record your presentation as otherwise the web stream will not show your presentation slides to the students when they are viewing.
    
    




12. Please note that the web cast link you have already created only shows in the webcast link field at the bottom after you press the Record button.

How to web stream and record your lecture after setting up

Now you are ready to record the lecture and web stream it live to your students who will use the lecture web stream link you gave them in the Blackboard announcement previously. Your students should have logged into Blackboard in advance within their web browser as only students enrolled to that module will be able to view the web stream.

1. Once you are ready to begin the lecture, click on the Record button in the Panopto window. Please note that once you start the recording/webcast, there is a short delay (approx. 30-60 seconds) before the students see the webcast on their devices.
2. The recording will begin, and your PowerPoint presentation will open. Begin presenting.
3. The students can view your presentation and hear the audio voiceover. Below is an example of what the student would see.
   
   


4. Once you lecture is finished, click the Stop button which will then give you two options:
   1. Resume the recording and web stream
      or
   2. Click the Done button which will begin to upload the recording to the Trinity Panopto site. The recording will appear in your Blackboard module within 10-15 minutes. Once the recording has uploaded your students can playback the lecture recording.


5. If your Panopto tool link for your lecture recordings is not visible in your module’s content area, then your recording is stored but not viewable by your students initially. If you have this setup, you need to review, edit and release the recording to the lecture recordings content area within your module that is not hidden. If you do not have this setup and all recordings are viewable immediately by your students within the module, then you don’t need to do this step.
   
   Please note: you can web stream your lecture from the hidden Panopto recordings area, students with the web stream placeholder link will be able to see the lecture online in real-time, but the lecture recording link that is stored would need to be released to the students in the non-hidden area of your module for them to playback later.

How to webcast without a pre-prepared lecture web stream placeholder link

If you haven’t had the chance to set up a web stream placeholder link in advance of your lecture, you can still web stream and record your lecture. This process is similar to the steps in Section 2, with one difference as outlined below:

1. When you have your Panopto software window open to record, instead of choosing from the Join Session drop-down menu in the Name field, you write the title of your lecture in the Name field and tick the same options as in Section 2. In addition you will need to tick the Webcast field in the top right hand corner.
   
   


2. Once you click the record button, your first slide will open, so you need to step back out of PowerPoint briefly to access the Panopto Record window to copy the webcast link which you should share with your students, e.g. by posting it to Blackboard as a hyperlink in an announcement and advise your students to log into Blackboard first if they want to watch the live stream.
   
   



Please note: Starting a web stream and recording without first preparing and sharing the web stream placeholder link with your students is not ideal, as you are already recording when sharing the link. We recommend preparing your lecture web stream placeholder well in advance of your lecture.