Transcript
Personal Capture Windows Guide & Macintosh Guide
Active Learning Platform October 2015
Table of Contents Personal Capture Guides ............................................................................................................ 1 Network considerations ........................................................................................................... 1 Error logs and recording file locations ................................................................................... 1 Personal Capture Specifications ................................................................................................ 3 System requirements for Personal Capture for Windows .................................................... 3 System requirements for Personal Capture for Mac ............................................................ 3 Capture inputs........................................................................................................................... 4 Capture options ........................................................................................................................ 4 Capture products ..................................................................................................................... 5 Personal Capture for Windows................................................................................................ 6 Recommended Devices for Classroom Capture and Personal Capture Windows ........... 7 Best practices for web cameras ............................................................................................. 7 Test Protocol for Web Cameras .............................................................................................. 7 Supported video devices (webcams) ................................................................................... 1 Supported video devices - other............................................................................................ 7 Supported audio devices (external USB microphones) .................................................... 11 Supported document cameras............................................................................................ 15 Install Personal Capture for Windows ........................................................................................ 1 Download the Installer ............................................................................................................. 1 Install the Program .................................................................................................................... 1 Uninstall from Windows............................................................................................................. 2 Configure Personal Capture for Windows Defaults ................................................................. 3 Configure login.......................................................................................................................... 3 Configure or view settings ....................................................................................................... 3 Configure Input and Output for Personal Capture for Windows ........................................... 5 Select inputs for recording....................................................................................................... 5 Select output quality for capture ........................................................................................... 6 Recording Captures with Personal Capture for Windows ...................................................... 8 Before you begin ...................................................................................................................... 8 Clean up the desktop .......................................................................................................... 8 Open the presentation file(s) .............................................................................................. 8 Enter a title and select publishing option .......................................................................... 8 Learn the keyboard shortcuts ............................................................................................. 9
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Table of Contents Start recording........................................................................................................................... 9 Stop the recording .................................................................................................................. 10 Deleting a recording .............................................................................................................. 12 Review and Edit Recordings in Personal Capture for Windows ........................................... 13 Open a recording for editing ................................................................................................ 13 Review the recording ............................................................................................................. 14 Trim the recording ................................................................................................................... 15 Cut segments from the recording ........................................................................................ 15 Publish Recordings with Personal Capture for Windows ....................................................... 17 Notes about publishing .......................................................................................................... 17 Auto-Publish a Recording ...................................................................................................... 17 Manually Publishing a Recording ......................................................................................... 19 Personal Capture for Mac ..................................................................................................... 21 Recommended Devices for Personal Capture Mac ............................................................ 22 Best practices for web cameras ........................................................................................... 22 Test Protocol for Web Cameras ............................................................................................ 22 Supported Video Devices ....................................................................................................... 1 Install Personal Capture for Mac ................................................................................................ 1 Download the Installer ............................................................................................................. 1 Install the Program .................................................................................................................... 1 Uninstall from Mac OS X ........................................................................................................... 2 Configure Personal Capture for Mac Preferences .................................................................. 3 Set General Preferences .......................................................................................................... 3 Set Server Preferences ............................................................................................................. 4 Configure Recording Devices for Personal Capture for Mac ................................................ 6 What Does It Mean to "Configure Devices"? ........................................................................ 6 Configuring audio and video settings ................................................................................... 6 Addressing Audio Issues ........................................................................................................... 8 Using Multiple or HD Cameras................................................................................................. 9 Create a Recording in Personal Capture for Mac ................................................................ 12 Workflow................................................................................................................................... 12 Best Practice - Use the keyboard shortcuts......................................................................... 12 Prepare and preview the recording space ........................................................................ 13 Clean up the desktop ........................................................................................................ 13 Open the presentation file(s) ............................................................................................ 13
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Table of Contents Preview the items being captured ................................................................................... 13 Start recording......................................................................................................................... 14 Pause and resume a recording ............................................................................................ 15 Stop recording......................................................................................................................... 16 Review and Edit a Recording in Personal Capture for Mac ................................................ 17 Review a recording ................................................................................................................ 17 Trim the ends of a recording ................................................................................................. 18 Cut one or more segments out of a recording .................................................................. 19 Reinstating cut segments....................................................................................................... 21 Permanently applying changes ........................................................................................... 22 Publish a Recording from Personal Capture for Mac............................................................ 23
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Personal Capture Guides Echo360 Personal Capture is a stand-alone application that runs on either Windows or Mac, and allows you to create recordings to supplement your in-class materials. Our goal is to keep the application simple and clean. Creating recordings is as simple as selecting the inputs and clicking Record. You can edit the recording if you want, then publish the recording to a class. YOU select which recordings are published, meaning you can create as many recordings as you want, select the best one for class, and delete the rest. Once published, the recording is available to students, or you can configure availability on a schedule if you prefer. Please refer to the following topics as appropriate for further information and instructions:
Personal Capture Specifications Personal Capture for Mac - Installation and user instructions for Mac users o See Also: Recommended Devices for Personal Capture Mac Personal Capture for Windows - Installation and user instructions for Windows users o See Also: Recommended Devices for CCAP and PCAP Windows
Network considerations A network or internet connection is NOT necessary to use Personal Capture to record or edit a capture. You will, however, need connectivity to upload and publish any captures to the Active Learning Platform. When you select to publish a recording, you are asked for your ALP login credentials. Once provided, these tells Personal Capture who you are and what courses you can select to receive the published capture. In addition, all uploaded personal captures appear in your LIBRARY page, for future use or sharing with other classes or individuals.
Error logs and recording file locations If you encounter problems using Personal Capture, you (or your System Administrator) may find it useful to inspect the logs. The log files retain information about the product actions, including any errors, which are helpful when debugging malfunctions or when working directly with Echo360 Technical Support. Unless you changed the location during installation, the default locations for the logs are:
Windows: C:\ProgramData\Echo360\Personal Capture\logs
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
MacOS: /System/Users/{user}/Documents/Echo360/Personal Capture/logs
The logs are kept separate from the actual recording media. If you require direct access to the recorded media files, they can be found at:
Windows: C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Echo360\Personal Capture\recordings MacOS: o Recordings: /System/Users/{user}/Documents/Echo360/Personal Capture/recordings o Backgrounder binaries and input/output folders: /System/Users/Shared/echo360
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Personal Capture Specifications Personal Capture (PCAP) is a downloadable, stand-alone application, for either Windows or Mac, that allows you to create captures using your personal computer, then publish them to one or more courses. Please refer to the following topics as appropriate for further information and instructions:
Personal Capture for Mac - Installation and user instructions for Mac users o See Also: Recommended Devices for Personal Capture Mac Personal Capture for Windows - Installation and user instructions for Windows users o See Also: Recommended Devices for CCAP and PCAP Windows
System requirements for Personal Capture for Windows In addition to the below-listed system requirements, PCAP for Windows also requires Windows .NET 3.5. If it is not present at installation, you will be prompted to install it. PCAP for Windows is not supported on netbook computers. The following are the minimum specifications for a Personal Capture for Windows PC:
Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 operating system Windows .NET 3.5 (required - you will be prompted to install it if necessary) Intel Core i5 Processor for A/V or A/D Intel i7 recommended for A/D/V or A/V/V 2 GB RAM 10/100 network interface 20 GB free hard drive space Internal audio device or USB port for audio capture
NOTE: Capturing CPU or memory-intensive applications such as CAD or 3D modeling software may require a more capable computer.
System requirements for Personal Capture for Mac Personal Capture for Mac is supported on the Mac OS X 10.7 and above. However, if you are planning to upgrade your Mac OS, refer to the below note before doing so. The following are the minimum specifications for a Personal Capture for Mac device:
Mac OS X 10.8 or 10.9 QuickTime 7.5.5 or later (installed with OS X, but you may need to update to the latest version) 3
Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Intel Single Core1.8 GHz processor (or equivalent) for A/V or A/D Intel Dual Core1.8 GHz processor (or equivalent) for A/D/V or A/V/V 2 GB RAM 10/100 network interface 20 GB free hard drive space Internal audio device or USB port for audio capture (audio is required)
NOTE about Upgrading Mac OS: Personal Capture for Mac is supported on Mac OS X 10.9 and 10.10, however upgrading the Mac OS may cause corruption in an existing PCAP installation. Captures will work fine but publishing the capture will get stuck in the "Transcode Pending" state. If possible, upgrade the OS before installing PCAP Mac. If that is not possible and you encounter this problem, save any un-published captures, then uninstall and reinstall Personal Capture.
Capture inputs Audio MUST be captured. You can use the built-in sound card input, a 1/8" line-in/mic-in connection, or a USB-attached audio device (including a microphone on an attached video camera, if there is one). Audio levels should be configured on the input to be as high as possible without reaching maximum levels during peaks, which can cause audible distortion during recording. Display is captured from the local VGA screen buffer, and requires no external connection or configuration. Video can be captured using the built in web-camera on the computer, or via one or more USB-attached video cameras. NOTE: If possible, for externally-attached devices, install only the necessary drivers for the device. Do not install the accompanying application software, as these programs can sometimes interfere with PCAP.
Capture options Personal Capture supports the following input combinations: Audio (A) Audio/Video (A/V) Audio/Display (A/D) Audio/Display/Video (A/D/V) Audio/Video/Video (A/V/V) BEST PRACTICE: A/D/V and A/V/V recordings can be processor-intensive. Do test captures to be sure your computer and input devices can capture the quality necessary. You may also want to review the published captures from the Classroom side, to be sure the output quality also meets your standards.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Capture products Personal Capture can generate the following output:
Classroom Player presentation, including audio and up to two visual inputs (any combination of display/video) Downloadable mp3 audio-only file Downloadable SD mp4 file, including audio, display, and/or video Downloadable HD mp4 file, including audio, display, and/or video
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Personal Capture for Windows Personal Capture (PCAP) is a stand-alone application designed to be used by Instructors on their personal computers to generate captures outside of the classroom environment. The PCAP for Windows program is closely aligned with the Classroom Capture program. This means that Academic Staff who use the Classroom Capture interface on the classroom PC will have a very similar experience using PCAP for Windows. Technical Detail: Since CCAP and PCAP for Windows are so similar, PCAP can also be installed via command line if you prefer to do that over using the UI installer. Refer to the Command Line Installation of Classroom Capture topic, using the PCAP settings identified in that topic. The topics in this section of the Online Help provide installation and user instructions for Personal Capture for Windows, and include:
Install Personal Capture for Windows Configure Defaults in Personal Capture for Windows Configure Input and Output for Personal Capture for Windows Recording Captures with Personal Capture for Windows Review and Edit Recordings in Personal Capture for Windows Publish Recordings with Personal Capture for Windows
Refer also to:
Personal Capture Specifications - for minimum Windows system requirements Recommended Devices for CCAP and PCAP Windows for a list of supported microphones and cameras.
See the Personal Capture for Mac guide for instructions for Mac OS users. If Your Capture Is Blank PCAP for Windows uses the Windows Media Foundation (WMF) for video capturing. Specifically the cameras should be YUY2 or RGB24 compliant (the camera packaging should indicate this) and supported on a Windows 7 or Windows 8 platform. If your capture is blank, first check to make sure the camera is attached (if external) and then try an Audio/Video capture. Refer to Test Protocol for Web Cameras for basic instructions. You may also try lowering the output quality of the capture, if you selected High Quality/Large Files. This setting requires significant system resources to process.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Recommended Devices for Classroom Capture and Personal Capture Windows Both Classroom Capture and Personal Capture for Windows use Windows Media Foundation (WMF) for capturing media. It is supported on Windows 7 and Windows 8. Windows Media Foundation is the latest toolkit from Microsoft and provides a solid foundation for supporting the latest input devices. For best results, the cameras should be YUY2, RGB24 and M-JPEG compliant (the camera packaging should indicate this). Personal Capture and Classroom Capture automatically detect attached USB devices. If the camera has a built-in microphone, you can use the same device to capture both audio and video.
Best practices for web cameras The following are best practices for using webcams to capture media:
Current drivers: Use the most current drivers for your web camera. You can find these drivers on the website of your PC or laptop manufacturer. You can also have the operating system of your computer search for current drivers. OS Updates: Please have the most current updates applied to your operating system. Driver-only installation: If possible, use the "driver-only" installation of the camera software. Most web camera vendors allow for this. In some cases, the software included with the web camera can interfere with the Personal Capture or Classroom Capture software, and the "driver-only" method is the supported method. Test a capture: Perform and review a test capture before using the camera routinely.
Test Protocol for Web Cameras To ensure successful recording, we encourage you to follow the below test protocol the first time you use any web camera, especially if you are using a camera not specifically listed as a recommended device. In many cases an unsupported web camera will work.
Testing web cameras 1. Ensure there are no other software applications accessing the web camera while Personal Capture is running. 2. Do a 15 minute A/V recording with the camera. 3. Examine the media using the Personal Capture software editor. 7
Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) 4. Publish the capture and wait for processing. 5. Evaluate the processed capture. Does the output meet your standards?
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Supported video devices (webcams) Manufacturer
Model
Qualification Status
Features/Description
Suitable for use with Personal Capture on presenter's computer
Live! Cam Socialize VF0640 Qualified by Echo360
Creative
Monitor mount 800x600/30fps camera (non-HD) Noise canceling microphone
Monitor mount 720p/30fps camera with 5x digital zoom
HD-3110
HP
Use Cases
Qualified by Echo360
Pan and tilt functionality Directional microphone Face tracking and auto-focus Adaptive lighting and white balance adjustments
Best for use when presenter stays in a static location Ideal as an inexpensive solution where video quality is not important Low capturing resolution ensure better compatibility with underpowered systems.
Suitable for both Classroom Capture and Personal Capture recording applications Best for capturing presenter as he/she moves around the room Ideal for rooms with poor lighting conditions
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) Manufacturer
Model
Qualification Status
Monitor mount 1080p/30fps camera with 5x digital zoom
HD-4110 Qualified by Echo360
HP
Features/Description
Pan and tilt functionality Directional microphone Face tracking and auto-focus Adaptive lighting and white balance adjustments
C270 Logitech
Qualified by Echo360
Monitor mount, fixed focus 720p/30fps camera Noise reducing microphone Automatic light correction
Use Cases
Suitable for both Classroom Capture and Personal Capture recording applications Best for capturing presenter as he/she moves around the room Ideal for rooms with poor lighting conditions
Suitable for use with Personal Capture on presenter's computer Best for use when presenter stays in a static location Ideal for rooms with poor lighting conditions
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) Manufacturer
Model
Qualification Status
Monitor mount, fixed focus 720p/30fps camera
C310 Qualified by Echo360
Logitech
Features/Description
Pan, tilt, and zoom controls Face tracking Motion detection Built-in mic with Logitech RightSound™ technology Monitor mount 720p/30fps camera with autofocus
C525 Logitech
Qualified by Echo360
Pan, tilt, and zoom controls Face tracking Motion detection Built-in mic with Logitech RightSound™ technology
Use Cases
Suitable for use with Personal Capture on presenter's computer Best for use when presenter stays in a static location Ideal for locations with increased background noise
Suitable for both Classroom Capture and Personal Capture recording applications Best for capturing presenter as he/she moves around the room Ideal for locations with increased background noise
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) Manufacturer
Model
Qualification Status
C615 Qualified by Echo360
Logitech
C905
Logitech
Qualified by Echo360
Features/Description
Use Cases
Monitor mount 1080p/30fps camera with autofocus
Suitable for both Classroom Capture and Personal Capture recording applications
Pan, tilt, and zoom controls
Best for capturing presenter as he/she moves around the room
Face tracking Motion detection
Ideal for locations with increased background noise
Noise reducing microphone
Ideal for rooms with poor lighting conditions
Automatic low-light correction
High capturing resolution ensures best video quality
Portable/notebook 720p/30fps camera with autofocus
Suitable for use with Personal Capture on presenter's computer
Built-in mic with Logitech RightSound™ technology
Best for capturing presenter as he/she moves around the room Ideal for rooms with poor lighting conditions
Can be mounted via desktop stand
Ideal for locations with increased background noise
Automatic low-light correction
Versatile mounting system provides additional placement options
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) Manufacturer
Model
Qualification Status
Monitor mount 1080p/30fps camera with autofocus
C910 Qualified by Echo360
Logitech
Features/Description
Built-in stereo mics with Logitech RightSound™ technology Automatic low-light correction Logitech RightLight 2 technology Tripod-mountable 1080p/30fps camera with autofocus
C920 Logitech
H.264 video compression Qualified by Echo360
Carl Zeiss® lens with 20step autofocus Built-in dual stereo mics with automatic noise reduction Automatic low-light correction
Use Cases Suitable for both Classroom and Personal Capture recording applications Best for capturing presenter as he/she moves around the room Ideal for high-quality audio recording Ideal for rooms with poor lighting conditions High capturing resolution ensures best video quality Suitable for both Classroom Capture and Personal Capture recording applications Best for capturing presenter as he/she moves around the room Ideal for high-quality audio recording in noisy conditions Ideal for rooms with poor lighting conditions High capturing resolution ensures best video quality Versatile mounting system provides additional placement options
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) Manufacturer
Model
Qualification Status
Lifecam Cinema Qualified by Echo360
Microsoft
Features/Description
Use Cases
Multi-mount 720p/30fps camera with autofocus
Suitable for both Classroom and Personal Capture recording applications
TrueColor Technology with face tracking
Best for capturing presenter as he/she moves around the room
Wide angle lens
Versatile mounting system provides additional placement options
360-degree rotation Wideband microphone Lifecam HD-3000 Qualified by Echo360
Microsoft
HP
HP Integrated Cameras
Qualified by Echo360
Multi-mount, fixed focus 720p/30fps camera TrueColor Technology Noise reducing microphone Specifications and features vary
Ideal for picking up audio during recording in large room Suitable for use with Personal Capture on presenter's computer Best for use when presenter stays in a static location Ideal for locations with increased background noise Leveraging built-in functionality of existing hardware
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Supported video devices - other Manufacturer
Model
Qualification Status
Features/Description
Use Cases
1080p/60fps high performance video frame grabber DVI2USB 3.0
Epiphan
Not Qualified by Echo360; Customers have reported success
NOTE: You must use the v3.30.1.0004 64-bit driver to ensure proper functionality; available from Epiphan.
Captures DVI/VGA and HDMI video display or camera sources
Suitable for both Classroom and Personal Capture (Windows only) recording applications
Captures video and audio from HDMI sources Supports USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 data uplink Supports true 24-bit color
Provides flexibility to record any VGA, HDMI, or DVI source
Provides consistent frame rate performance regardless of content
High capturing resolution ensures best video quality
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) Manufacturer
Model
Qualification Status
Features/Description
Use Cases
Format converter Captures Composite and S-Video sources with audio
NOTE: This device has been reported to work when used in tandem with the Epiphan device below
NTSC
COMP2VGA StarTech
Supported frequency range: Not Qualified by Echo360; Customers have reported success
Suitable as a signal chain connection to convert a Composite source into a compatible USB source for Personal Capture:
Horizontal = 31.4685KHz Vertical = 60 Hz Supported resolution: 720 x 480 PAL
Composite source -> COMP2VGA
Supported frequency range:
COMP2VGA -> AV.io HD
Horizontal = 31.25 KHz Vertical = 50 Hz
AV.io HD -> Personal Capture computer
Supported resolution: 720 x 576
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) Manufacturer
Model
Qualification Status
Use Cases NOTE: This device has been reported to work when used in tandem with the StarTech device above
Supports USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 data uplink
AV.io HD
Epiphan
Features/Description
Not Qualified by Echo360; Customers have reported success
Suitable as a signal chain connection to convert a Composite source into a compatible USB source for Personal Capture:
Captures HD video at 60 frames per second. Captures DVI/VGA and HDMI video display or camera sources
Composite source -> COMP2VGA
Captures video and audio from HDMI sources
COMP2VGA -> AV.io HD AV.io HD -> Personal Capture computer
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) Manufacturer
Model
Qualification Status
Features/Description
Use Cases
Supports USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 data uplink
XI100DUSB-HDMI Magewell
Not Qualified by Echo360; Customers have reported success
Supports up to 1920x1200p60 (CVT-RB) Video Input Video output support up to 1920x1200p60 in YUY2
Suitable for converting an HDMI source into a compatible USB source for Personal Capture
Video output support up to 1920x1080p60 in RGB24
High capturing resolution ensures best video quality
The process of video and audio is done by the dongle and will not occupy CPU
Vaddio
AV Bridge
Not Qualified by Echo360; Customers have reported success
Supports USB 2.0 data uplink
Suitable for converting an HDMI source into a compatible USB source for Personal Capture
Captures HDMI, RGBHV, SD or HD component video inputs
High capturing resolution ensures best video quality
Captures balanced or unbalanced audio
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Supported audio devices (external USB microphones) Manufacturer
Model
Qualification Status
Features/Description
Use Cases
Picks up ranges at up to 30 feet Automatic and electronic scanning “listening beam” with a field of view of 360°
Voice Tracker (USB Array Microphone) Not Qualified by Echo360;
Acoustic Magic
Customers have reported success *Sample Recording with Echo360
Spatial filtering for noise reduction Constructive addition of multiple microphone elements for longrange Rapidly converging AEC algorithm (Voice Tracker II only)
Best for use in a medium-to-large sized classrooms
Embedded algorithms for ease of use
Ideal for locations with increased background noise
Not Qualified by Echo360;
16-Bit, 44.1- 48kHz sample rates
Customers have reported success
Omni-directional pickup pattern
Suitable for capturing the presenter's audio as he/she moves remains near the podium, or for meetings and conferences
UB1
Samson
Suitable for capturing the presenter's audio as he/she moves around the room, as well as picking up questions from the class
Miniature, low-profile design
Best for use in a medium-sized rooms
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) Manufacturer
Model
Qualification Status
Features/Description
Use Cases
Omni-directional / Noise filter microphone
Suitable for capturing the presenter's audio as he/she moves remains near the podium, or for meetings and conferences
Jabra Speak 410
Qualified by Echo360
Jabra
Standard (E-STD) microphone sensitivity Mute function
Best for use in a medium-sized rooms
Multipattern condenser USB microphone Three custom condenser capsules and four different polar pattern settings: Cardioid, Stereo, Bidirectional and Omnidirectional
Yeti Pro USB & XLR Microphone
Blue
Qualified by Echo360
A/D converter chip and separate analog circuit path for use with professional studio mixers and preamps Built-in headphone amplifier for zero-latency monitoring, and direct controls for headphone volume, pattern selection, mute, and microphone gain 15 Hz-22 kHz frequency response and 92 kHz/24 bit Sample/Word
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Suitable for capturing the presenter's audio as he/she moves remains at the podium Best for use when presenter stays in a static location Ideal situations where high audio sampling rate is required
Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) Manufacturer
Model
Qualification Status
Snowball USB Condenser Microphone
Use Cases
Dual capsule design incorporates omnidirectional and cardioid elements to give you a choice Qualified by Echo360
Blue
Features/Description
-10dB pad switch eliminates noise and distortion when capturing signals at extreme volume levels 18 Hz-40 Hz frequency response and 44.1 kHz/16 bit Sample/Word
xTag Wireless Microphone RevoLabs
Not Qualified by Echo360; Customers have reported success
Can be configured for use with lapel mic Plug-and-play USB operation 65 foot range for microphone Bi-directional audio 8 hours of battery life
Suitable for capturing the presenter's audio as he/she moves remains near the podium Suitable for capturing the presenter's audio as he/she moves around the room, as well as picking up questions from the class using the microphone Best for use in large classrooms or auditoriums
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) Manufacturer
Model
Qualification Status
Features/Description
Use Cases
Not Qualified by Echo360;
Noise-canceling microphone
Customers have reported success
16 Hz-100 Hz frequency response
Ideal for capturing presenter's audio in a small desktop environment using Personal Capture
USB Desktop Microphone
Logitech
U7 USB Boundary Condenser Microphone CAD
Not Qualified by Echo360; Customers have reported success
Power switch
Frequency response tailored for speech Omnidirectional pick-up pattern for 360 degree coverage Condenser microphone element for high sensitivity
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Not recommended for classroom use
Ideal for meetings or conferences in small-to-medium sized rooms
Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Supported document cameras Manufacturer
Model
Qualification Status
SDP-760 Qualified by Echo360
Samsung
Features/Description
Use Cases
Compact 1080p/30fps document camera
Best for scenarios that require easy transport and storage
3 Megapixel CMOS sensor Digital 16x zoom & Digital Image Rotation User scalable display outputs from XGA to 1080p SXGA (1280x1024)/30fps document camera
SDP-860 Qualified by Echo360
Samsung
2D/3D Noise Reduction Technology 48X Combined Zoom (6X Optical + 8X Digital)
High capturing resolution ensures best video quality Best for capturing greater detail when pages are magnified Ideal for classrooms with poor lighting conditions
SXGA (1280x1024)/30fps document camera 48X Combined Zoom (6X Optical + 8X Digital)
SDP-960 Samsung
Qualified by Echo360
Built-in reference monitor Proprietary Chipset with Noise Reduction Accepts SD Cards and USB Thumb drives for image/video storage
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Best for capturing greater detail when pages are magnified Ideal for classrooms with poor lighting conditions
Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) Manufacturer
Model
Qualification Status
Features/Description
Use Cases
VZ-3
Wolfvizion
Not Qualified by Echo360; Customers have reported success
1280x960 (4:3)/30fps document camera 12x Optical Zoom + 2x Digital Zoom High-speed autofocus with manual focus
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Best for capturing high motion activities such as writing Ideal for use with transparencies
Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Install Personal Capture for Windows If you have not already done so, please see Personal Capture Specifications to be sure the computer you are using meets the minimum system requirement for Personal Capture for Windows. Do I Need to Remove Personal Capture If It's Already Installed? If you are installing a new version, re-installing Personal Capture (PCAP) to resolve some issue, or are migrating from an ESS version of PCAP to an ALP version, you must remove the old version first. The installer checks for any existing versions and may prompt you to remove the old version before installing, or may simply not allow installation until the old version is uninstalled. Be sure to back up your recordings to another location BEFORE removing the program. All recordings and logs are deleted when the program is removed.
Download the Installer Be sure you are running Windows 7 or Windows 8 before installing. 1. Log into the Active Learning Platform. 2. Click the Settings menu to open it and select Downloads, as shown in the below figure. 3. Click the Windows Download link from the Personal Capture section of the Downloads page, shown below. The installer must be run locally, so save the file to your computer.
Install the Program The Personal Capture Windows Download link downloads an .exe file for installing PCAP. Use the steps below to install Personal Capture from the .exe file. If an appropriate version of the .NET framework is not detected, the installer will attempt to download and install it for you. If it cannot be installed, installation will stop. If .NET must be installed or upgraded, you may be prompted to restart the computer after installation. 1
Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
To install Personal Capture on Windows 1. Locate the downloaded Echo360PersonalCaptureInstaller.exe file. It should be located in the Downloads folder. 2. On the warning message that appears, click Open. 3. Once the installer is launched, follow the prompts to complete installation. Use Local Directories for Installation and Capture Storage Directories! The Personal Capture installation and data directories must be on the local drive; they cannot be located on a network, remote (mapped), or USB thumb drive. Use the defaults provided during installation or select another local directory if desired. After Personal Capture is installed, launch it. Run a test capture to ensure it works as expected. If it does, you may delete the downloaded installer file.
Uninstall from Windows Uninstalling Personal Capture is easy, however, make sure that you have backed up your recordings to separate storage before uninstalling, or that they have been uploaded to ALP. All captures and logs are deleted when the program is removed.
To remove Personal Capture 1. Open the Start menu and select All Programs. 2. Click the Echo360 folder. 3. Select Uninstall Echo360 Personal Capture from the options. 4. Follow the prompts, clicking OK to remove the program.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Configure Personal Capture for Windows Defaults In general, Personal Capture will self-configure on installation. It defines the local storage locations for your recordings during installation, and identifies the Active Learning Platform location for uploading and publishing recordings. You can also configure the login to use for publishing recordings, so you don't have to re-enter it every time. Configure these items for Personal Capture the first time, and as long as the information doesn't change, the settings are used every time for publishing captures.
Configure login Click the Login link at the top of the Personal Capture window, shown in the below figure. The credentials you enter are used to identify your content library as well as the course sections to which you are associated.
Use the dialog box that appears to enter your ALP Login credentials.
Enable the Save Password checkbox to retain this information and use it for all captures published from this installation. Or leave the box unchecked and enter your credentials every time you publish a capture. Once you are logged in, the "Login" label at the top of the window changes to show your username.
Configure or view settings Click the Settings button at the top of the Personal Capture window, identified in the below figure (it looks like a gear).
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
The Settings page, shown below, contains the following information:
Server URL: Identifies the ALP server and location for uploading content from this installation of PCAP. Port: If your system administrator asks that you specify a particular port for PCAP communication, enter that number into the Port text box. By default, PCAP uses port 443 for capture uploads. If you are having problems with publishing or make changes in this tab, click Test Connection.
After a few moments, you should see a message in the tab indicating the settings are correct. If you receive a different message, contact your system administrator. Server Proxy: The communication proxy for PCAP is automatically configured. Edit this section only if your system administrator provides you with specific direction for configuring Manual proxy or to turn HTTP proxy off. Storage Location: Identifies the local directory where recordings are saved. Click Browse to change this location if necessary. Use Local Directory for Capture Storage Location The Personal Capture storage location must be on the local drive; it cannot be located on a network, remote (mapped), or USB thumb drive.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Configure Input and Output for Personal Capture for Windows Personal Capture allows you to select the inputs you want to capture for each recording, and the output quality for the capture. The below figure identifies the locations of the drop-down lists for selecting recording inputs and capture quality output.
The input and output selections you make are retained, even after you close the program. This means you can configure these settings once and use the same ones each time you create a recording, without the need to re-select them.
Select inputs for recording Personal Capture allows you to record up to three inputs, as follows:
Audio only - capturing only audio input. This will generate an MP3 file for students to listen to. Audio and Video (A/V) - capturing sound and video input from the built in or USB-connected video camera. Audio and Display (A/D) - capturing sound and whatever is shown on the computer screen. Audio, Display, and Video (A/D/V) - capturing sound, the display on the computer screen, and video input. Audio and Dual Video (A/V/V) - capturing sound and the input from two different video sources.
Use the three drop-down lists on the left side of the preview screen, identified in the above picture, to select the inputs you want to use. Choose None Selected if applicable to that input. 5
Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) Note the following about Audio input:
You cannot choose None Selected for audio input; audio is always captured. You can use the internal microphone, an externally-attached microphone, or a microphone on an externally-attached camera if there is one. You MUST have at least one audio input. Personal Capture will not record without audio.
After you select the appropriate inputs, check the preview of those inputs shown on the screen. Each are identified in the following figure and described below.
Microphone Input is level shown in the light-bar above the preview panes. If you do NOT see this bar changing as sounds are made, check your microphone connection and functionality. If the sound bar on the screen is not registering sounds, your capture may not have audio.
Display or Second Video Input is shown in the left panel of the preview panes. Capturing Primary Display, captures whatever appears on the computer screen (or selected display device). If you are using two video inputs, this will show whatever the selected camera is currently aimed to view.
Primary Video Input is shown in the right panel of the preview panes. If you are not capturing video, this option will show None Selected, and the right preview pane will be blank.
Select output quality for capture The output selection drop-down list is located on the right side of the preview screen above the Primary Video preview pane. It is circled in the figure at the top of this page. This selection allows you to determine the resolution of the video and display output of the capture, which in turn determines the size of the capture files. The selections available are as follows:
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Good Quality/Smaller Files - This creates a capture with low resolution video and display. The lower resolution keeps the final file size to a minimum. This is a good choice if file storage size is a concern, or if you or your students have bandwidth issues that may cause larger file uploads or capture playback to fail.
Better Quality/Medium Files - This is the default setting. It generates a capture with medium resolution video and display. This setting creates medium sized files for the recording. This setting is the default and is probably sufficient for most recording needs
Best Quality/Larger Files - This setting creates high-definition resolution for video and display. Consequently this setting also creates very large files for these captures. Use this setting if you have visual details in the display or video of the capture that requires students to see the recording in very high resolution. Otherwise this setting should be used sparingly, due to the time required to upload and process the completed capture. In addition, this setting uses significant computer resources; if your computer cannot process a high quality capture properly, your capture may be blank. If you DO need to use the High Quality setting, run a test capture first, to be sure it will work.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Recording Captures with Personal Capture for Windows Before recording a capture withe Personal Capture (PCAP) for Windows, be sure you have installed Personal Capture for Windows, and properly installed the devices you want to use for capture, if necessary.
Before you begin Before beginning a recording, you have the opportunity to preview the inputs being captured. You may also want to take this opportunity to clear the computer desktop of unneeded programs, and open any presentations or materials you plan to show.
Clean up the desktop We recommend that you close (or at least minimize) all applications and windows except for Personal Capture and any applications you will use during the recording. The recording will be less cluttered and more professional looking.
Open the presentation file(s) If your capture will include computer Display input, open any files or other items you plan to show on the computer during capture. This helps reduce any "fumbling" or unnecessary computer actions, all of which are captured in the recording, and help ensure a smooth presentation of materials. After opening the presentation(s) or other files, minimize any you won't be showing at the beginning, and note their location in the taskbar. This provides a clean space to capture, and for smoother transitions from one item to the next.
Enter a title and select publishing option If you haven't yet, launch Personal Capture by double-clicking the desktop icon, or by selecting Launch Echo360 Personal Capture from the Windows Start menu. Enter a Title for the recording in the title bar. This is optional; you can add a title later if you prefer. Check or uncheck the Auto-publish checkbox. If checked, the following occurs:
When you click Record, you will be required to select a course section to publish the capture to.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
The recording will be automatically published to the selected section as soon as the recording is stopped. You will not be given the opportunity to edit the recording in PCAP.
See Publish Recordings with Personal Capture for Windows for additional information.
Learn the keyboard shortcuts For more streamlined and professional looking results, we recommend learning and using the keyboard shortcuts to pause, resume, and stop the capture. Action
Keyboard Shortcuts
Pause & Resume (toggle)
Alt +F5
Stop the recording
Alt+F6
Practice! Practice! Practice! We recommend you spend some time creating test captures, just so you get used to working with PCAP. Go ahead! Make a holiday greetings video for some relatives, or the product advertisement you always thought they should make. Edit your captures, so you understand the PCAP editor's capabilities and limitations. All recordings are saved locally (until you publish them), so no one even has to know you did it. And you can delete any capture at any time.
Start recording If you have performed some/all of the above Before you begin recommended activities, you can skip the first steps in the below procedure.
To start a Personal Capture recording: 1. Launch Personal Capture. 2. Enter a Title for the recording into the title bar at the top of the page. 3. Check or set the capture inputs. Use the Preview window to make sure they are capturing what you need to include in the recording. 4. Check or set the capture output quality. 5. Set up the presentation or visual experiment or other items you are planning to capture, and check the Preview panes for verification. 6. Check or clear auto-publish as appropriate.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) 7. Click Record. The locations for performing each of these steps is identified in the below figure.
8. If Auto-publish is checked, you will be asked to log in if you have not already entered login information. Then the following dialog box appears asking you to enter (or confirm) a Title and select a Upload location for the published recording, either a course or your Personal Library.
9. Click Record (if you needed to enter publishing information). The following occurs:
A five second countdown appears in the window, shown in the below figure. Once the countdown finishes, recording begins and the preview window minimizes to the taskbar. The Record button changes to show Stop and Pause.
You can use the Stop and Pause buttons in the interface to manipulate the recording, or you can use the keyboard shortcuts.
Stop the recording When you are done recording, maximize the PCAP window and click Stop, or press Alt+F6.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) If Auto-publish was checked, the capture is automatically uploaded, processed, and published to the selected course when you stop recording.
Regardless of whether it is auto published or not, the recording appears in the list of recordings at the bottom of the Personal Capture window. From there you can publish, review and edit, or delete the recording. The figure below shows the Publish, Edit and Delete icons that appear when you hover your mouse over a recording in the list.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Deleting a recording If you no longer need to keep a recording, you can delete it. Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. Deleting a recording in Personal Capture only deletes the recording locally. It does not delete any published captures from ALP. Whether or not the recording was published (and to where) is shown with the recording in the Recordings list.
To delete a recording
Hover the mouse over the recording you want to delete and click the Delete icon (the X), shown in the above figure.
You will be asked to confirm the deletion.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Review and Edit Recordings in Personal Capture for Windows Personal Capture (PCAP) allows you to review any recording you've made, and contains some basic editing functions that allow you to trim or cut out portions of the recording as needed. NOTE: Captures that are Auto-Published cannot be edited in Personal Capture first; they are automatically published to course as soon as recording ends. You can, however, can edit the locally saved version of the recording, and manually re-publish the capture, replacing the original, if appropriate.
Open a recording for editing Review and edit of a PCAP recording are both performed in the Editing window.
To open the editing window,
Hover your mouse over the recording and click the Edit button, as shown in the below figure.
Long Recordings Take Time to Load for Editing If you are editing a very long recording (multiple hours) it may take up to several minutes for the capture to fully load in the Editing Window. You will see the capture in the window, along with the editing tools, and you can make temporary cuts or trim the recording as needed. However you may notice that the Apply edits button reads Loading... instead. This will continue until the entire capture is loaded for editing.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) The Edit Window appears, as shown in the below figure. Identified in the graphic are the main editing features, including Save Title, the Playback controls, the Playhead (showing where you are in the playback of the recording), and the right-trim slider (there's one on the left too). These are discussed in more detail later on this page.
Review the recording Use the playback controls to play the recording. If you have made cuts in the recording, the playback will skip the cut areas, so you can see how the edits affect the final product. The figure below shows the playback controls, and has the current location of the playhead identified, both as the timed location, and within the playback bar itself.
It can be useful to note the timed location of the playhead when the recording gets to a point you need to edit, either as a cut, or to trim the beginning or end of the recording. Jotting down the timed location can help you move the trim sliders or cut marks more quickly and accurately, to make edits.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) When the playhead gets to a cut location (identified as the lighter area in the playback bar), the playhead will skip over the cut in the bar, and the timed location will change in conjunction with the skip.
Trim the recording Also referred to as "top and tail", the editing window allows you to cut off the beginning and ending of the recording as needed. The figure below shows the trim sliders circled (located on either end of the timeline).
Click and drag the trim sliders to move them.
For example, you may begin recording then have to start over again. With the Trim capability, you don't have to stop and create a new recording. You can simply begin again while the current session is running, and then trim the "false start" from the beginning of the capture when finished. This also allows you to remove any last keystrokes or other movements used to end the recording, such as opening the Personal Capture window and clicking Stop to end the session. This too can be trimmed from the final capture.
Notice that as you drag the sliders toward the center of the playback bar, the start time and end time change in conjunction with the new start or end points of the recording.
When finished, click Apply edits to permanently apply these changes to the recording. This cannot be undone!
Cut segments from the recording When you first open the Edit window, you see a larger triangle positioned at the beginning of the recording. If you click the triangle and slide it, you will notice that it is made up of two smaller triangles. These are cut markers and are used to identify the beginning and end points of a section to cut from the recording. NOTE: Any cuts you make are temporary until you select to Apply edits. This is discussed in more detail below.
To temporarily cut a segment from the recording: 1. Click and drag the two smaller triangles to the appropriate beginning and end points of a segment. 2. Click Make cut, located at the bottom right of the window.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) The below figure shows the two parts of this process.
Once the cut is made, the segment turns darker than the original playback bar. Clicking Make cut frees up the cut markers to make another cut in the recording. The figure below shows a playback bar with multiple temporary cuts made.
As long as the cuts remain temporary, you can remove the cut and return that section of the recording to its original state.
To remove a temporary cut:
Double-click the cut segment in the playback bar.
When a cut is removed, the segment returns to the same color as the rest of the playback bar.
To clear all temporary cuts:
Click Clear Cuts, located on the bottom left side of the window.
Use the playback controls to review your edited recording. The playback head will skip over any cuts you have made so you can see how the recording will look when it is published.
To permanently apply changes:
Click Apply edits, located in the bottom right corner of the window, as identified in the above figure.
Clicking Apply edits makes your changes permanent. This cannot be undone! You will receive a warning message to be sure you want to apply your changes to the recording. In the list of your recordings at the bottom of the Preview Window, those that have been edited are marked as Edited. This allows you to quickly determine which recordings may still require edits before publishing.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Publish Recordings with Personal Capture for Windows Publishing a Personal Capture recording uploads the file to the Active Learning Platform for processing. Once processed, the recording is posted in the Class list for the section you identify or to your Library. If you select to make the capture available on publish, students can view it as soon as processing and publishing is complete. There are two publishing modes for Personal Capture:
Auto-Publish Manual Publish
Notes about publishing You should also understand the following about the publishing process as a whole, which applies to both Auto and Manual publishing:
While the actual file upload process happens in the background, you MUST wait until the "Finalization" and "Prepare to Publish" processes have finished, BEFORE closing the application. These statuses are noted on the screen and you will receive a notice if you attempt to close the application before they are complete. The Prepare to Publish process should take less than a minute.
The Finalization process may take several seconds, or several minutes, depending on the length of the recording. Plan to allot for this time for longer recordings.
The Publishing process occurs in the background but does require an active network connection. If this process is interrupted (network outage, turning off the computer or putting it to sleep), publishing will resume once the connection is reestablished.
Once the recording is uploaded, it must be processed before it is published to the section. This may take from several minutes to several hours, depending on the current load of the ALP server. Wait an appropriate period of time, then check your Library page or the Class List page for the section to find the newly published capture.
Auto-Publish a Recording The Preview Window of Personal Capture provides an Auto-publish option, shown in the below figure. Auto-publish allows you to complete the recording, after which the capture is immediately uploaded and published to the section you selected before the recording began.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
If you plan to use Auto-publish, keep in mind:
You cannot review or edit the recording before it is auto-published to the selected course section. The recording is still saved locally, so you can edit the capture and re-publish it later, replacing the original capture, if appropriate.
To auto-publish a recording: 1. Before you record, check the Auto-publish checkbox, shown in the figure above. 2. Click Record. 3. If you are not logged in, you will receive a Login dialog box. Enter your login credentials and click Login. 4. In the publishing information dialog box, enter or edit the Title of the capture 5. Select an Upload To location for the capture from the drop-down list. Your options include one of your courses or your personal ALP Library page. Note that all recordings you publish to a course automatically appear in your Library.
6. When finished, click Record.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) 7. When you are finished recording, click Stop. The recording is immediately uploaded to the server, processed, then placed in your Library or published immediately to the selected course.
Manually Publishing a Recording If the Auto-publish checkbox is NOT checked, you will need to manually publish your captures to your courses. You can also manually published edited versions of your captures to replace those that may have been auto-published originally.
To manually publish a recording 1. Hover the mouse over the recording you want to publish and click the Publish icon, as shown in the below figure.
2. If you are not logged in, the Login window appears, asking for your Username and Password.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) 3. Once logged in, the Recordings list changes to display the Publishing Details fields shown in the below figure.
4. Enter or edit the capture Title 5. Select the Upload To location to publish the recording to. You can select one of your courses or your personal ALP Library page. Note that all recordings you publish to a course also appear in your Library page. 6. When finished, click Upload. You will see a status bar, indicating the status of the file upload.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Personal Capture for Mac Personal Capture (PCAP) is a stand-alone application designed to be used by Instructors on their personal computers to generate captures outside of the classroom environment. The topics in this section of the Online Help provide installation and user instructions for Personal Capture for Mac, and include:
Install Personal Capture for Mac Configure Personal Capture for Mac Configure Recording Devices for Personal Capture for Mac Create a Recording in Personal Capture for Mac Review and Edit a Recording in Personal Capture for Mac Publish a Recording from Personal Capture for Mac
Refer also to:
Personal Capture Specifications - for minimum Mac system requirements Recommended Devices for Personal Capture Mac for a list of supported microphones and cameras.
See Personal Capture For Windows for instructions for Windows users. Known Issues for Display capture on some Retina Macbook Pro/Macbook Air models: On the Macbook Air 11" Retina Display model, the native resolution is 1366x768. Personal capture does not support this resolution/ratio. Workaround: Open System Preferences and change the screen resolution to something smaller (i.e., 1280x720). On the Macbook Pro 15" Retina Display model, the native resolution is 2880x1880. Personal Capture does not support this resolution/ratio. Furthermore the Macbook Pro does not provide the ability to change screen resolution settings. Workaround 1 (for Macbook Pro 15" Retina Display model): Use an External Monitor via the Macbook Pro Thunderbolt port. Workaround 2 (for Macbook Pro 15" Retina Display model): Install a third-party application that allows you to select a different screen resolution. Echo360 has been successful testing with QuickRes, available at http://www.quickresapp.com. QuickRes is priced at $2.99 at the time of this update. Install and run QuickRes first, setting the screen resolution below 2880 x 1880, then launch Personal Capture. If Display capture still shows issues or distortion, try a different resolution.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Recommended Devices for Personal Capture Mac Personal Capture for Mac uses QT Kit for capturing media. It is supported on OS X 10.8 and above. Personal Capture for Mac automatically detects attached USB devices. If the camera has a built-in microphone, you can use one camera for both audio and video capture.
Best practices for web cameras The following are best practices for using webcams to capture media:
Current drivers: Use the most current drivers for your web camera. You can find these drivers on the website of your PC or laptop manufacturer. You can also have the operating system of your computer search for current drivers. OS Updates: Please have the most current updates applied to your operating system. Driver-only installation: If possible, use the "driver-only" installation of the camera software. Most web camera vendors allow for this. In some cases, the software included with the web camera can interfere with the Personal Capture or Classroom Capture software, and the "driver-only" method is the supported method. Test a capture: Perform and review a test capture before using the camera routinely.
Test Protocol for Web Cameras To ensure successful recording, we encourage you to follow the below test protocol the first time you use any web camera, especially if you are using a camera not specifically listed as a recommended device. In many cases an unsupported web camera will work.
Testing web cameras 1. Ensure there are no other software applications accessing the web camera while Personal Capture is running. 2. Do a 15 minute A/V recording with the camera. 3. Examine the media using the Personal Capture software editor. 4. Publish the capture and wait for processing. 5. Evaluate the processed capture. Does the output meet your standards?
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Supported Video Devices Manufacturer
Model
Qualification Status
iSight Camera (Macbooks and iMacs)
Use Cases
Specifications and features vary Qualified by Echo360
Apple
Features/Description
Either external or builtin solution
Leveraging built-in functionality of existing hardware
Requires no additional drivers
C910 Logitech
Qualified by Echo360
Monitor mount 1080p/30fps camera with autofocus
Suitable for both Classroom and Personal Capture recording applications
Built-in stereo mics with Logitech RightSound™ technology
Best for capturing presenter as he/she moves around the room
Automatic low-light correction
Ideal for rooms with poor lighting conditions
Logitech RightLight 2 technology
High capturing resolution ensures best video quality
Ideal for high-quality audio recording
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) Manufacturer
Model
Qualification Status
Features/Description Tripod-mountable 1080p/30fps camera with autofocus H.264 video compression
C920 Logitech
Qualified by Echo360
Carl Zeiss® lens with 20-step autofocus Built-in dual stereo mics with automatic noise reduction Automatic low-light correction
Use Cases Suitable for both Classroom Capture and Personal Capture recording applications Best for capturing presenter as he/she moves around the room Ideal for high-quality audio recording in noisy conditions Ideal for rooms with poor lighting conditions High capturing resolution ensures best video quality Versatile mounting system provides additional placement options
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Install Personal Capture for Mac If you have not already done so, please see Personal Capture Specifications to be sure the computer you are using meets the minimum system requirement for Personal Capture for Mac. Do I Need to Remove Personal Capture If It's Already Installed? If you are installing a new version, re-installing Personal Capture (PCAP) to resolve some issue, or are migrating from an ESS version of PCAP to an ALP version, you must remove the old version first. The installer checks for any existing versions and may prompt you to remove the old version before installing, or may simply not allow installation until the old version is uninstalled. Be sure to back up your recordings to another location BEFORE removing the program. All recordings and logs are deleted when the program is removed.
Download the Installer 1. Log into the Active Learning Platform. 2. Click the Settings menu to open it and select Downloads, as shown in the below figure. 3. Click the Mac Download link from the Personal Capture section of the Downloads page, shown below. The installer must be run locally, so save the file to your computer.
Use Local Directories for Installation and Capture Storage Directories! The Personal Capture installation and data directories must be on the local drive; They cannot be located on a network, remote (mapped), or USB thumb drive.
Install the Program The Personal Capture Mac Download link downloads an .app file for installing PCAP. Use the steps below to install Personal Capture from the .app file. 1
Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) Mac OS Security settings may not allow for clicking the .app file to launch it When you click the .app file in the Downloads list in the Mac toolbar, or double-click it from the Downloads folder, you may receive the following dialog box indicating that the installer cannot be opened.
In this case, you must either right-click or control+click the .app file from the Downloads folder, then select Open from the popup menu. This launch method is identified in the procedure below.
To install Personal Capture on Mac OS 1. Locate the downloaded Echo360PersonalCaptureInstaller.app file. It should be located in the Downloads folder (Finder > Downloads). Your security settings will probably not allow you to launch the installer from the Downloads list in the Mac toolbar. 2. Right-click or control+click the .app file and select Open from the pop-up menu. 3. On the warning message that appears, click Open. 4. Once the installer is launched, follow the prompts to complete installation. After Personal Capture is installed, launch it. Run a test capture to ensure it works as expected. If it does, you may delete the downloaded installation file, as it is no longer needed.
Uninstall from Mac OS X Uninstalling Personal Capture is easy, however, make sure that you have backed up your recordings to separate storage before uninstalling, or that they have been uploaded to ALP. All captures and logs are deleted when the program is removed.
To remove Personal Capture, delete it from the Applications folder (Finder > Applications).
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Configure Personal Capture for Mac Preferences In general, Personal Capture will self-configure on installation. It defines the local storage locations for your recordings during installation, and identifies the Active Learning Platform location for uploading and publishing recordings. These configurations are maintained in the Personal Capture Preferences, and can be viewed or edited at any time. The Preferences dialog box contains a General tab and a Server tab, allowing you to set or change the corresponding preferences, as described below.
Set General Preferences General preferences include configurable items as follows:
The Default presenter name to appear The local directory where recordings are saved Whether to show the Welcome screen or My Recordings list at startup
To configure PCAP general preferences 1. Open Personal Capture. 2. From the main menu, select Echo360 Personal Capture > Preferences. The General tab appears by default.
3. If necessary, e the Default presenter name (usually your name). When students see this recording listed, the name specified here will be associated with it. You can customize the name any time you need to. 4. If necessary, edit the Recordings folder (local storage location). This is the location established during installation. All recordings made with PCAP are
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) saved to this location. Unless you changed it at installation, this is /System/Users/{user}/Documents/Echo360/Personal Capture/recordings 5. To change the storage location, click Change... and navigate to the desired directory. Use Local Directory for Capture Storage Location The Personal Capture storage location must be on the local drive; it cannot be located on a network, remote (mapped), or USB thumb drive. 6. Check or clear the Show welcome screen at startup box.
If you check the box, you see the Welcome Screen at startup:
If you clear the box, you see the My Recordings screen at startup:
7. When finished, click OK to close the Preferences box, or click Server to open the Server tab, described below.
Set Server Preferences Personal Capture automatically configures the location of the ALP server to which you will publish your recordings. This is based on the location from which you downloaded the installer. Change Server settings only under direction from your System Administrator.
To view or change PCAP server preferences 1. Open Personal Capture. 2. From the main menu, select Echo360 Personal Capture > Preferences.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) 3. Click Server to open the server preferences tab.
4. The fields shown on the tab are as follows: Server URL: Identifies the ALP server and location for uploading content from this installation of PCAP. Port: If your system administrator asks that you specify a particular port for PCAP communication, enter that number into the Port text box. By default, PCAP uses port 443 for capture uploads. HTTP Proxy: The communication proxy for PCAP is automatically configured. Edit this section only if your system administrator provides you with specific direction for configuring Manual proxy or to turn HTTP proxy off. 5. If you are having problems with publishing or make changes in this tab, click Test Connection. After a few moments, you should see a message in the tab indicating the settings are correct. If you receive a different message, contact your system administrator.
6. When finished, click OK to close the dialog box, or click General to return to the general tab.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Configure Recording Devices for Personal Capture for Mac What Does It Mean to "Configure Devices"? There are two different parts to configuring devices for Personal Capture (PCAP): Selecting which inputs to record (audio, display, and/or video). This is done at the time you create the recording. Selecting which device will typically capture each input and the output settings for each device. This page is devoted to the second of these two, selecting and configuring the devices and settings for each input.
See Personal Capture Specifications for information on input and output options for PCAP recordings, and Recommended Devices for Personal Capture Mac for a list of suggested devices. If your device does not appear in the drop-down lists described below, exit Personal Capture, re-attach the device, and restart Personal Capture. Devices not detected by the operating system are not usable by Personal Capture.
Configuring audio and video settings Configuring audio and video settings simply defines the devices and settings you normally want to use. You can change these selections any time you need to.
To configure audio/video settings 1. From the Welcome Screen or My Recordings screen, click Start Recording. This opens the capture preview page.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) 2. In the bottom panel of the capture preview page, click Configure.
3. The Audio/Video Settings page appears, containing three sections, one for each input that can be captured. Review and configure the selections as described in the next steps.
4. In the Audio section of the dialog box, use the Device drop-down list to select the device you typically want to use to capture audio input. All captures must have audio. 5. In the Video (Left) section of the dialog box, use the Device drop-down list to select the device where your Display input (Powerpoint or other computerscreen-based presentation)will appear and from which will be captured. If you 7
Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) typically plan to capture dual-video, select your Secondary Video device here. Understand the following points about your Video (Left) selections:
The preview for this selection appears in the left panel of the preview pane.
Video (Left) is used for Display capture input selection. If you will normally capture Display input, you must select a display device here (shown as Screen 1 above).
Alternately, you can use this selection for Secondary video if you are capturing A/V/V.
6. Under Video Quality, select the appropriate choice as follows:
Actual Size (Lower Framerate): This is the default and is probably fine for your needs. It creates the best capture but may require a large amount of storage and processing time, particularly if you are capturing two video inputs.
Smaller Size (Higher Framerate): Select this option if you are concerned about file size or processing time. This may be more appropriate for one or both video inputs, if high-resolution detail is not required for the capture.
7. In the Video (Right) section of the dialog box, use the Device drop-down list to select the device to use for your primary Video input. This selection must identify a video input device. 8. Under Video Quality, select the appropriate choice as described in the step above. 9. When finished, click Save. Understand that you have simply identified the devices that will provide the input for each type. You do not have to capture video or display all the time (only audio is required for captures). You can select which inputs are captured when you create the recording.
Addressing Audio Issues In certain circumstances, audio recorded on a Macintosh sounds unusually loud when the recording is played back within Personal Capture but is too low when students play the Echo. This occurs because playback within Personal Capture artificially raises the audio volume. When you hear this loud volume during playback, you may attempt to compensate by adjusting the Sound system preferences. If you encounter this and you are concerned about it, create and publish a short test capture, then review it through the ALP Classroom. Be sure to remove the test recording from the class it is published to, to be sure students cannot view it accidentally. It will remain in your library until you delete it. 8
Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) If you do need to adjust the input volume: 1. Open the Sound settings in Mac System Preferences (System Preferences > Sound). 2. Click the Input tab to activate it. The Sound Input tab appears, including the Input volume slider and Input level indicator, identified in the below figure.
3. If you are using audio input other than the built-in microphone, be sure to select that device from the list. 4. Speak for several seconds at the normal volume you use for captures. Notice the Input level indicator changing. It should register to at least 2/3 to 3/4 of the maximum volume level. If, however, you find it "maxing out" frequently, you may need to adjust the input level lower, to avoid distortion that can happen during peaking. 5. If necessary, adjust the Input volume slider up or down as appropriate. 6. Run a test capture and publish the recording. Review the recording in the classroom to appraise volume level. 7. Repeat the steps above if necessary.
Using Multiple or HD Cameras Echo360 gives you the ability to capture multiple and High Definition (HD) video inputs. However, using multiple cameras can introduce significant computational and storage loads on personal computers and laptops. Even with the increased power of newer hardware, dual and HD camera captures can strain some machines. When you use multiple and/or HD video cameras, please consider these issues:
Insufficient processing power. The sheer amount of data captured by newer video cameras, especially if the cameras are capturing at high definition, can strain the processing power and internal bandwidth (data transfer) of your computer. 9
Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Mis-sychronization. Differences in camera quality, initialization/start-up time, and configuration can cause the multiple and/or HD videos to be slightly missychronized.
Follow the below tips to minimize potential issues. Perform Some Test Captures. This is a good idea for any camera or any change in input devices but especially important with newer, high definition cameras, which can strain the processing power of your computer. Make sure the capture proceeds well, editing and publishing are successful, and the output as viewed in the classroom is what you expect. Adjust Video Quality to alleviate synchronization issues. On Macintosh systems, we have found that adjusting the Video Quality settings to a Smaller Size for both video channels (as shown below) alleviates synchronization issues in an A/V/V capture. On the Macintosh, the Smaller Size resolution is equivalent to TV/VCR quality and requires less processing power from your computer.
When recording A/D/V captures, if you are having synchronization issues, mix Actual Size and Smaller Size, choosing Actual Size (Lower Framerate) for the Video (Left)/Display input, and Smaller Size (Higher Framerate) for the Video (Right)/Camera input. This mixed configuration (shown below) provides high-quality display while optimizing the size of the video capture.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Create a Recording in Personal Capture for Mac Before creating a Personal Capture (PCAP) recording, be sure you have installed Personal Capture for Mac and have identified and configured the recording devices you want to use for the input types you want to capture.
Workflow 1. Launch Personal Capture: Double-click the desktop icon, or select Echo360 Personal Capture from the Applications folder. 2. Prepare and preview the items to be recorded. 3. Start the recording. 4. Pause and resume the recording as needed. 5. Stop the recording. 6. Review and edit the recording as needed. 7. Publish the recording. Once your capture is published, it is processed and placed into the classroom for student viewing. You may need to make it unavailable if you don't want students viewing it immediately. Practice! Practice! Practice! We recommend you spend some time creating test captures, just so you get used to working with PCAP. Go ahead! Make a holiday greetings video for some relatives, or the product advertisement you always thought they should make. Edit your captures, so you understand the PCAP editor's capabilities and limitations. All recordings are saved locally (until you publish them), so no one even has to know you did it. And you can delete any capture at any time.
Best Practice - Use the keyboard shortcuts For more streamlined and professional looking results, we recommend learning and using the keyboard shortcuts to pause, resume, and stop the capture. This allows to control the recording without showing your actions (either on video or on the display being captured), potentially reducing items that may need to be edited from the capture before publishing. Action
Keyboard Shortcuts
Pause & Resume (toggle)
Command + 6
Stop the recording
Command + 8
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Prepare and preview the recording space Before beginning a recording, you have the opportunity to preview the inputs being captured. You may also want to take this opportunity to clear the computer desktop of unneeded programs, and open any presentations or materials you plan to show.
Clean up the desktop We recommend that you close (or at least minimize) all applications and windows except for Personal Capture and any applications you will use during the recording. The recording will be less cluttered and more professional looking.
Open the presentation file(s) If your capture will include computer Display input, open any files or other items you plan to show on the computer during capture. This helps reduce any "fumbling" or unnecessary computer actions, all of which are captured in the recording, and help ensure a smooth presentation of materials. After opening the presentation(s) or other files, minimize any you won't be showing at the beginning, and note their location in the taskbar. This provides a clean space to capture, and for smoother transitions from one item to the next.
Preview the items being captured
Launch Personal Capture, then click Start Recording.
RELAX! This doesn't actually start the capture. It does, however, open the preview screen, shown below, where you can select what inputs you want to capture (display and/or video), and preview them before actually beginning to record. It also allows you to enter a Title for the recording (though you can add this later if you prefer).
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Check or Uncheck each input to see how it changes the preview. Use the preview to be sure what you want to capture is actually being captured. What you see on the screen is what will be recorded. Audio is always captured. You cannot uncheck the audio input. If the input device you want is not showing: If, for example, your input selections show a display device and a video input, but you want to capture dual video, you will have to change the recording device input configuration. Be sure the second camera is attached to the computer, then click Configure from the preview screen (shown above). From there, be sure that the Device selections for Video (Left) and Video (Right) are both cameras. You may also want to lower the video quality, depending on the processing power of the computer you are using.
Start recording After setting up the items you want to capture, and selecting and previewing the inputs, you are ready to begin recording. 1. From the preview screen, shown above, click Start Capture. 2. The Personal Capture window minimizes and a countdown dialog box appears. This countdown box also provides a reminder of the keyboard shortcuts you can use to control the capture. If your capture aborts at this point, see the note below this procedure for possible cause/resolution. 14
Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) 3. When the countdown timer disappears, notice that a Personal Capture icon and timer appears in the menu bar at the top of the screen to let you know how long you've been recording. Clicking the icon also provides access to the pause/resume/stop commands for the recording. 4. Begin the presentation. 5. During the recording you can pause and resume the capture, using the keyboard shortcuts or the commands accessed from the Personal Capture icon. 6. When finished, stop the recording. After the recording stops, the Personal Capture window re-appears on the screen. At this point, you can review and edit the recording, and publish it when you are ready. If your capture aborts immediately after starting This situation, while rare, typically occurs when performing dual-video capture using two high definition cameras. It can occur if your computer does not have sufficient resources to process the flood of data from both cameras. You have these alternatives: -- Reduce the resolution on one or both cameras and restart your capture -- Capture a single video input using just one high definition camera, then restart your capture
Pause and resume a recording To pause a capture
Press Command + 6, or click on the Echo360 icon in the menu bar and select Pause.
To resume a capture
Press Command + 6, or click Resume in the Personal Capture window (which appears when you pause).
You can pause a capture for up to 15 minutes. After that, you are prompted to either continue or stop the capture. Best Practice: Use the Keyboard Shortcuts We strongly recommend that you use the keyboard shortcuts for pause, resume, and stop. If you do not use the shortcuts, your capture will include screen actions that you will have to cut out in the editor.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Stop recording When you are finished with your recording, you can stop it. Once stopped, the recording file is saved to your local computer, and can be reviewed, edited, and ultimately published to a class.
To stop a capture
Press Command + 8, or click on the Echo360 icon in the menu bar and select Stop Recording.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Review and Edit a Recording in Personal Capture for Mac Personal Capture (PCAP) allows you to review any recording you've made, and contains some basic editing functions that allow you to trim or cut out portions of the recording as needed.
Review a recording Reviewing and editing is done in the View/Edit screen of Personal Capture. This allows you to review the original recording as well as review the edited version before applying the final edits. Keep in mind that you can make changes, review those changes, then apply successful edits as you go. That way if you make a change you like, you can save those changes, then re-open the recording for editing. The view/edit screen appears automatically when a recording is stopped. Otherwise it is accessed from the My Recordings list.
To open the view/edit screen 1. Navigate to the My Recordings list. Depending on your preferences settings, My Recordings may appear when you launch PCAP or you may need to click Go to My Recordings from the Welcome screen.
2. Select the recording you want to review or edit from the list. 3. Click View/Edit. 17
Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) 4. Use the playback control buttons to view and/or listen to the recording. The playback buttons and volume control are located in the bottom-left, below the preview pane of the View/Edit screen.
If you have made temporary edits, those edits are reflected in the playback, so you can review the changes and made adjustments as needed before applying final edits.
Trim the ends of a recording You may want to trim off the beginning and end of a presentation, to remove the preparation or closing actions, or perhaps a false start for the recording. The trim function is useful because it lets you re-do the beginning without having to stop and generate a new recording. Helpful Tip: Play the recording to find the location from which you want the final capture to start, then use the location of the playhead (identified in the below figure) to show where your opening trim marker should go. Do the same for the end of the recording, to determine where you want it to stop.
To trim (remove) the beginning and end of a recording 1. If necessary, select the recording to be edited from the My Recordings list and click View/Edit. The view/edit screen appears automatically after stopping a recording.
2. Drag the left slider 3. Drag the right slider
in (toward the right) to trim the beginning of the recording. in (toward the left) to trim the end of the recording. 18
Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) 4. Play the recording with the trims in place to see how the recording opens and/or ends. 5. If necessary, make adjustments to the trim slider locations. As suggested in the Tip above, you can play and pause the recording to put the playhead at the location where you want the trim markers to go. 6. If you need to remove your changes, click Clear Cuts. This removes ALL changes and reverts to the recording you started with. 7. If you are happy with the trim changes, click Apply Edits to save your changes. Apply Edits makes your changes permanent. You will receive a confirmation dialog box for applying your changes.
8. After applying edits, the My Recordings screen appears as the changes are applied to the recording. Once finished, the recording is listed as Edited.
Cut one or more segments out of a recording The PCAP editor lets you cut segments from the recording. If you had to change materials in the middle of the recording, or move the camera to capture a different scene, you can simply cut these actions out of the recording. The cut segments function is useful because it lets you perform activities without pausing the recording, or alternately to cut out the recorded actions that invoked the pause/resume actions. Helpful Tip: Play the recording to find the location where you want to place the first cut, pause at that location, then click the mark-in button (left triangle next to the scissors). This places the beginning of the cut at the location of the playhead. Click Play again,
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) then pause and do the same with the mark-out button. This is an easy way to identify both ends of a segment to cut out or remove.
To cut segments out of a recording NOTE: You can mark only one cut at a time. Click Cut (the scissors button) to temporarily apply each cut. This frees up the markers to identify another segment to cut. No changes are final until you click Apply Edits. 1. If necessary, select the recording to be edited from the My Recordings list and click View/Edit. The view/edit screen appears automatically after stopping a recording.
2. Mark the segment you want cut, using the playhead and mark-in/mark-out buttons as described in the Tip above, or slide the mark-in/mark-out sliders to the proper locations. 3. Click Cut (the scissors button). RELAX! This is a temporary cut. No edits are final until you select to Apply Edits. But you must cut each segment separately to freeup the markers for another segment.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) 4. The cut area now appears gray in the timeline. At this point you can mark and cut another segment by repeating the above two steps.
5. Play the recording with the cuts in place. 6. If you are not happy with the edits made, you have the following choices: To clear a single cut, double-click in the cut segment. The segment reverts to its original state, and appears in the same color blue as the rest of the timeline. To clear all of the cuts you have made (during this editing session), click Clear Cuts. This only reverts the cut segments to their original state; it does not alter any trim changes made to the recording. 7. If you are happy with the cuts, click Apply Edits to save your changes. Apply Edits makes your changes permanent. You will receive a confirmation dialog box for applying your changes.
8. After applying edits, the My Recordings screen appears as the changes are applied to the recording. Once finished, the recording is listed as Edited.
Reinstating cut segments All changes you make to a recording can be reverted or "undone" up until the point you click Apply Edits. Undoing trims to the ends of the recording are reverted by sliding the trim sliders back to their original locations. Reverting cut segments is performed as follows:
To clear a single cut, double-click in the cut segment. The segment reverts to its original state, and appears in the same color blue as the rest of the timeline. 21
Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
To clear all of the cuts you have made (during this editing session), click Clear Cuts. You will receive a confirmation message, to be sure this is your intent.
NOTE: This only reverts the cut segments to their original state; it does not alter any trim changes made to the recording.
Permanently applying changes 1. Click Apply Edits. As indicated by the confirmation dialog box that appears, this makes your changes permanent. Once applied these edits cannot be undone.
2. Click OK. After applying edits, the My Recordings screen appears as the changes are applied to the recording. Once finished, the recording is listed as Edited.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac)
Publish a Recording from Personal Capture for Mac Publishing a Personal Capture (PCAP) recording is the process of both uploading the recording to the server and publishing it to a class for students to view. Once published, PCAP recordings are available immediately for students. You can change the availability of the recording through the class list page if necessary. Transcoding and Publishing May Take Some Time Publishing time depends on the edits you made, the size of the recording, and network conditions. Once you click Publish, the process of transcoding and publishing the media happens in the background, though you will see a progress bar in the My Recordings page. Background publishing means that as long as the computer is running (not in "sleep" mode) and there is an active internet connection, these tasks will continue to run until they are complete, even if you close the application. In the event your internet connection is interrupted during the publishing process, the publishing task will start again when the connection is restored.
To publish a PCAP recording 1. Navigate to the My Recordings list. Depending on your preferences settings, My Recordings may appear when you launch PCAP or you may need to click Go to My Recordings from the Welcome screen.
2. Select the recording you want to publish.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) 3. Click Publish Recording. A Login dialog box appears.
4. Enter your Username and Password, and click Login. A Select Course dialog box appears.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) 5. Select the location you want to publish the recording to, then click Next.
6. Select whether you are creating a new published echo for the system or if you are replacing a previously published PCAP recording. The latter option is provided in the event you make additional edits to a recording and want to replace the old one with a new one. 7. Set the date and time for the published recording. This identifies the class that gets created to hold the capture. 8. Click Next. The Edit Echo Details page appears.
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Personal Capture Guides (Windows & Mac) 9. If necessary, enter or edit the title of the recording. Be sure it is descriptive enough to easily identify in your library, and so that students can both find it and understand its purpose or content. 10. When finished, click Publish. The My Recordings list appears, first showing the status of Transcoding, with a progress bar, then Publishing with a progress bar. When publishing is complete, the recording is listed as Published. If published to a course, the capture is available to students immediately. You may need to change the availability of the capture on the Class list page. If published to your LIBRARY page, you can review the capture prior to publishing to one or more courses.
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